HSK 6 · Verbs

着手 zhuóshǒu “to set about” in Chinese

Traditional 著手

What 着手 means

  1. to set about
  2. to start
  3. to begin
  4. to put one’s hand to it
  5. to start out on a task
More meanings from CC-CEDICT
  • to set out

How to say 着手

  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale着zhuó2nd tone, rising
  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale手shǒu3rd tone, dipping

着手 in a sentence

  1. 我们已经着手准备明年的计划了。

    Wǒmen yǐjīng zhuóshǒu zhǔnbèi míngnián de jìhuà le.

    We’ve already started preparing next year’s plan.

    Sentence by WillyChina

  2. 这件事要马上着手解决。

    Zhè jiàn shì yào mǎshàng zhuóshǒu jiějué.

    We need to start dealing with this right away.

    Sentence by WillyChina

How 着手 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zhuóto wear
  • 羊sheep · yáng
  • 目eye · mù
The character 手 (shǒu) drawn as one shape
手shǒuhand

手 is a single shape of 4 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.

Memory aidDrawn from a hand with its fingers spread. On the left of a character it is written 扌.

How to write 着手

着 11 strokes · 手 4 strokes

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

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

Words related to 着手

Words with 着

着zhe · particle for an ongoing action or state (-ing)着急zháojí · to worry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沉着chénzhuó · calm and collected执着zhízhuó · persistent

Words with 手

手shǒu · hand手表shǒubiǎo · watch手机shǒujī · mobile phone洗手间xǐshǒujiān · toilet分手fēnshǒu · to break up手术shǒushù · (surgical) operation手指shǒuzhǐ · finger手套shǒutào · glove对手duìshǒu · opponent握手wòshǒu · to shake hands

More words: Common Verbs

拄zhǔ · to lean on (a stick)拽zhuài · to pull转移zhuǎnyí · to transfer坠zhuì · to fall注视zhùshì · to gaze at铸造zhùzào · to cast (metal)揍zòu · to beat up阻碍zǔ'ài · to hinder

FAQs

着手 (zhuóshǒu) means “to set about” or “to start”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it zhuóshǒu: zhuó with a 2nd tone, then shǒu with a 3rd 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, 着手 is written 著手. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type zhuoshou with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 着手 from the suggestions. Typing zhuoshou into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
着手 is an HSK 6 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 written by WillyChina. Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.