Zhè piān zuòwén huā le wǒ liǎng ge xiǎoshí lái wánchéng.
This essay took me two hours to finish.
Sentence #623197 from Tatoeba · translation adapted
How 作文 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.
作zuòto do; to engage in
亻person form of 人 · rén
乍first time · zhà
Memory aidPerson 亻 with 乍 (zhà) for the sound: to make, to do.
文wénlanguage
亠lid · tóu
乂to govern · yì
Memory aidDrawn from a person with a pattern on the chest. It came to mean writing and culture.
How to write 作文
作 7 strokes · 文 4 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 作文 (zuòwén). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.
作文 (zuòwén) means “to write an essay” or “composition (student essay)”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it zuòwén: zuò with a 4th tone, then wén with a 2nd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 作文 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Use 篇 (piān). For example, one to write an essay is 一篇作文 (yì piān zuòwén).
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type zuowen with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 作文 from the suggestions. Typing zuowen into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
作文 is an HSK 5 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.
Turn words into conversations
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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.
作zuò4th tone, falling
文wén2nd tone, rising
