HSK 2 · Common Verbs

准备 zhǔnbèi “to prepare” in Chinese

Traditional 準備

What 准备 means

  1. to prepare
  2. preparation
  3. to intend
  4. to be about to
  5. reserve (fund)

How to say 准备

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale准zhǔn3rd tone, dipping
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale备bèi4th tone, falling

准备 in a sentence

  1. 妈妈为我准备了午饭。

    Māma wèi wǒ zhǔnbèi le wǔfàn.

    Mum made lunch for me.

    Sentence #332840 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 我正在准备明天的数学考试。

    Wǒ zhèngzài zhǔnbèi míngtiān de shùxué kǎoshì.

    I’m preparing for tomorrow’s maths exam.

    Sentence #11837364 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 大家准备好了吗？

    Dàjiā zhǔnbèi hǎo le ma?

    Is everyone ready?

    Sentence #1440615 from Tatoeba

How 准备 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 准 (zhǔn) with each of its parts in a different colour
准zhǔnto allow
  • 冫ice · bīngMeaning part
  • 隹short-tailed bird · zhuīSound part

冫 hints at the meaning (ice); 隹 (zhuī) hints at the sound. Compare it with zhǔn.

The character 备 (bèi) with each of its parts in a different colour
备bèito prepare; to equip
  • 夂go · zhǐ
  • 田field · tián

How to write 准备

准 10 strokes · 备 8 strokes

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

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

Words related to 准备

Words with 准

标准biāozhǔn · standard准确zhǔnquè · accurate准时zhǔnshí · on time批准pīzhǔn · to approve瞄准miáozhǔn · to aim at准则zhǔnzé · principle

Words with 备

责备zébèi · to blame具备jùbèi · to possess设备shèbèi · equipment戒备jièbèi · to guard against配备pèibèi · to equip完备wánbèi · complete筹备chóubèi · to prepare储备chǔbèi · reserves备份bèifèn · to back up装备zhuāngbèi · equipment

More words: Common Verbs

唱歌chànggē · to sing旅游lǚyóu · to travel游泳yóuyǒng · to swim完wán · to finish知道zhīdao · to know (a fact)觉得juéde · to feel希望xīwàng · to hope告诉gàosu · to tell

FAQs

准备 (zhǔnbèi) means “to prepare” or “preparation”. It is an HSK 2 word, so it is one of the words learners meet early.
Say it zhǔnbèi: zhǔn with a 3rd tone, then bèi with a 4th 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, 准备 is written 準備. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type zhunbei with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 准备 from the suggestions. Typing zhunbei into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
准备 is an HSK 2 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.