HSK 3 · Verbs

着急 zháojí “to worry” in Chinese

Traditional 著急

What 着急 means

  1. to worry
  2. feel anxious
  3. to feel a sense of urgency
  4. to be in a hurry

How to say 着急

  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale着zháo2nd tone, rising
  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale急jí2nd tone, rising

着急 in a sentence

  1. 别着急，慢慢说。

    Bié zháojí, mànmàn shuō.

    Don’t rush — just speak slowly.

    Sentence #1759727 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 她更着急了。

    Tā gèng zháojí le.

    She got even more anxious.

    Sentence #2347850 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 我很着急。

    Wǒ hěn zháojí.

    I’m really worried.

    Sentence #2318389 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 着急 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 着 (zhe) with each of its parts in a different colour
着zháoto touch
  • 羊sheep · yáng
  • 目eye · mù
The character 急 (jí) with each of its parts in a different colour
急jíurgent
  • 刍to mow · chúSound part
  • 心heart · xīnMeaning part

心 hints at the meaning (heart); 刍 (chú) hints at the sound. Compare it with jí.

How to write 着急

着 11 strokes · 急 9 strokes

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

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

Words related to 着急

Words with 着

着zhe · particle for an ongoing action or state (-ing)接着jiēzhe · next随着suízhe · along with着凉zháoliáng · to catch a cold着火zháohuǒ · to catch fire着想zhuóxiǎng · to consider (the needs of)着重zhuózhòng · to emphasise着手zhuóshǒu · to set about沉着chénzhuó · calm and collected执着zhízhuó · persistent

Words with 急

急jí · anxious急诊jízhěn · emergency treatment紧急jǐnjí · urgent急忙jímáng · hastily急剧jíjù · sharp焦急jiāojí · anxious急切jíqiè · eager急躁jízào · impatient急功近利jígōngjìnlì · eager for quick results and profit急于求成jíyúqiúchéng · too eager for success

More words: Thinking & Talking

要求yāoqiú · to request应该yīnggāi · should影响yǐngxiǎng · influence愿意yuànyì · be willing注意zhùyì · pay attention to保证bǎozhèng · guarantee抱歉bàoqiàn · to be sorry表示biǎoshì · to express

FAQs

着急 (zháojí) means “to worry” or “feel anxious”. It is an HSK 3 word.
Say it zháojí: zháo with a 2nd tone, then jí with a 2nd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 着急 is written 著急. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type zhaoji with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 着急 from the suggestions. Typing zhaoji into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
着急 is an HSK 3 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.