HSK 5 · Verbs

抓 zhuā “to grab” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 抓 means

  1. to grab
  2. to catch
  3. to arrest
  4. to snatch
  5. to scratch

How to say 抓

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale抓zhuā1st tone, high and level

抓 in a sentence

  1. 他抓了一把米。

    Tā zhuā le yì bǎ mǐ.

    He grabbed a handful of rice.

    Sentence #6314510 from Tatoeba

  2. 这只猫不抓老鼠。

    Zhè zhī māo bù zhuā lǎoshǔ.

    This cat doesn’t catch mice.

    Sentence #8500215 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 我昨天抓了条大鱼。

    Wǒ zuótiān zhuā le tiáo dà yú.

    I caught a big fish yesterday.

    Sentence #10522528 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters

How 抓 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 抓 (zhuā) with each of its parts in a different colour
抓zhuāto grab
  • 扌hand form of 手 · shǒu
  • 爪claw · zhǎo

How to write 抓

抓 7 strokes

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

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

Words related to 抓

Words with 抓

抓紧zhuājǐn · to keep a firm grip on

More words: Common Verbs

制定zhìdìng · to draw up制造zhìzào · to manufacture制作zhìzuò · to make重复chóngfù · to repeat撞zhuàng · to knock against装修zhuāngxiū · to renovate主持zhǔchí · to host (a programme or event)抓紧zhuājǐn · to keep a firm grip on

FAQs

抓 (zhuā) means “to grab” or “to catch”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it zhuā: zhuā with a 1st tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 抓 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type zhua with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 抓 from the suggestions. Typing zhua into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
抓 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.