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.
主zhǔowner
丶dot · zhǔ
王king · wáng
Memory aidThe dot 丶 on top was once the flame of a lamp: the main one, the master.
要yàoto want; to need; to ask for
覀cover form of 襾 · yà
女woman · nǚ
Memory aidOnce drawn as a person with hands on the waist, its first meaning. That meaning moved to 腰 (yāo), and 要 became “to want”.
How to write 主要
主 5 strokes · 要 9 strokes
Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.
Stroke order chart for 主要 (zhǔyào). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.
主要 (zhǔyào) means “main” or “principal”. It is an HSK 3 word.
Say it zhǔyào: zhǔ with a 3rd tone, then yào with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 主要 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type zhuyao with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 主要 from the suggestions. Typing zhuyao into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
主要 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.
主zhǔ3rd tone, dipping
要yào4th tone, falling
