HSK 5 · Function Words

照常 zhàocháng “as usual” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 照常 means

  1. as usual

How to say 照常

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale照zhào4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale常cháng2nd tone, rising

照常 in a sentence

  1. 就算下雨，比赛也将照常进行。

    Jiùsuàn xiàyǔ, bǐsài yě jiāng zhàocháng jìnxíng.

    Even if it rains, the match will go ahead as usual.

    Sentence #1923687 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 就连最黑暗的夜晚都会结束，太阳仍会照常升起。

    Jiùlián zuì hēi'àn de yèwǎn dōu huì jiéshù, tàiyáng réng huì zhàocháng shēngqǐ.

    Even the darkest night will end, and the sun will rise as usual.

    Sentence #5068216 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 照常 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 照 (zhào) with each of its parts in a different colour
照zhàoto shine
  • 昭bright · zhāoSound part
  • 灬fire form of 火 · huǒMeaning part

灬 hints at the meaning (fire); 昭 (zhāo) hints at the sound. Compare it with zhào.

Memory aidFire 灬 under 昭 (zhāo) “bright”: to shine, to light up, and also a photo.

The character 常 (cháng) with each of its parts in a different colour
常chángalways
  • 尚still · shàngSound part
  • 巾napkin · jīnMeaning part

巾 hints at the meaning (napkin); 尚 (shàng) hints at the sound. Compare it with cháng.

Memory aidCloth 巾 with 尚 (shàng) for the sound. Its first meaning was a skirt; now it means “often, usual”.

How to write 照常

照 13 strokes · 常 11 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

照常 (zhàocháng) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 照常 (zhàocháng). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 照常

Words with 照

照顾zhàogu · take care of护照hùzhào · passport照片zhàopiàn · picture拍照pāizhào · to take a photo照相zhàoxiàng · to take a photo照相机zhàoxiàngjī · camera照zhào · to shine按照ànzhào · according to执照zhízhào · licence参照cānzhào · to refer to

Words with 常

非常fēicháng · extremely常cháng · often经常jīngcháng · often常见chángjiàn · common常用chángyòng · commonly used常常chángcháng · often正常zhèngcháng · regular平常píngcháng · ordinary常识chángshí · common sense日常rìcháng · day-to-day

More words: Function Words & Grammar

与其yǔqí · rather than (与其 A，不如 B: B rather than A)再三zàisān · over and over again在于zàiyú · to lie in则zé · then阵zhèn · measure word for short bursts (of rain整个zhěnggè · whole正zhèng · just (in the middle of doing something)支zhī · measure word for pens

FAQs

照常 (zhàocháng) means “as usual”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it zhàocháng: zhào with a 4th tone, then cháng with a 2nd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 照常 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type zhaochang with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 照常 from the suggestions. Typing zhaochang into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
照常 is an HSK 5 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.