化 (huà): to make into, to change into, -ization, to ... -ize, to transform, abbr. for 化學|化学

化 (huà) is a Chinese character meaning “to make into.” Classified as HSK Level 3 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 亻 (structural) and 匕 (structural). It ranks #178 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. to make into
  2. to change into
  3. -ization
  4. to ... -ize
  5. to transform
  6. abbr. for 化學|化学

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4

Practice writing 化 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

HSK Vocabulary with 化

WordPinyinMeaningHSK
变化verb/nounbiàn huà(intransitive) to change3
文化nounwén huàculture3
化学nounhuà xuéchemistry5
化妆verbhuà zhuāngto put on makeup6
进化verbjìn huàto evolve (biologically, technologically etc)6
融化verbróng huàto melt6
消化verbxiāo huàto digest (food)5
二氧化碳nounèr yǎng huà tàncarbon dioxide CO26
强化verbqiáng huàto strengthen6
简化verbjiǎn huàto simplify6
化石nounhuà shífossil6
现代化verbxiàn dài huàmodernization5
数字化verbshù zì huàto digitize6
优化verbyōu huàto optimize6
绿化verblǜ huàto make green with plants6

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
恶化verbè huàto worsen
化妆品nounhuà zhuāng pǐncosmetic
生化shēng huàbiochemistry
化验verbhuà yànchemical examination
化疗nounhuà liáochemotherapy
净化verbjìng huàto purify
情绪化adjectiveqíng xù huàemotional
化合物huà hé wùchemical compound
化身nounhuà shēnincarnation
化名verbhuà míngto go by an alias
火化verbhuǒ huàto cremate
化装verbhuà zhuāng(of actors) to make up
硬化verbyìng huàto harden
氧化verbyǎng huàto oxidize
转化verbzhuǎn huàto change
121
Total compounds
21
As first character
74
As last character
6
As middle character

化 appears in 121 compound words: 21 as the first character, 74 as the last, and 6 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.

Strongest Collocations

Characters that most frequently co-occur with 化 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

文wén
0.578510,806 co-occurrences
氧yǎng
0.56760,318 co-occurrences
孵fū
0.5538,454 co-occurrences
催cuī
0.55018,108 co-occurrences
变biàn
0.54470,382 co-occurrences
彰zhāng
0.54031,594 co-occurrences
石shí
0.46362,650 co-occurrences
碳tàn
0.45718,580 co-occurrences
妆zhuāng
0.4555,022 co-occurrences
学xué
0.451114,714 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (38)

变化多端biànhuàduōduānHSK 6+

varied; changeable; capable of being changed in a variety of ways

phrase
变化莫测biànhuàmòcèHSK 7+

to be unpredictable and changeable

phrase
变化无常biànhuàwúchángHSK 4+

irregular, fickle, capricious

phrase
春风化雨chūnfēnghuàyǔHSK 3+

benefits of education; positive influence of a teacher

phrase
大而化之dà'érhuàzhīHSK 4+

to do something carelessly and not pay attention to details

phrase
动脉硬化dòngmài yìnghuàHSK 7+

arteriosclerosis

noun
二氧化硫èryǎnghuàliú

sulfur dioxide

noun
二氧化碳èryǎnghuàtànHSK 6+

carbon dioxide

noun
分析化学fēnxīhuàxuéHSK 5+

analytical chemistry

noun
逢凶化吉féngxiōnghuàjíHSK 7+

to get through a dangerous crisis; to land on one's feet

phrase
钢化玻璃gānghuà bōliHSK 5+

toughened glass; tempered glass

noun
光天化日guāng tiān huà rìHSK 4+

the full light of day (idiom); fig. peace and prosperity; in broad daylight

phrase

Showing 12 of 38 idioms containing 化.

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

老师教我们化字的发音和笔顺。

lǎo shī jiào wǒ men huā zì de fā yīn hé bǐ shùn .

The teacher taught us the pronunciation and stroke order of the character "化."

中国新闻网_梳理天下新闻Feb 2026

...文垂:期待“为奥运喝彩”项目组持续发挥文化桥梁作用

. . . wén chuí : qī dài wéi ào yùn hē cǎi xiàng mù zǔ chí xù fā huī wén huà qiáo liáng zuò yòng

... Venturi: I look forward to the "Cheer for the Olympics" project team continuing to play a role as a cultural bridge

EttodayFeb 2026

...宣布“欧洲新车累积销量突破百万辆”!电动化布局成核心动能

. . . xuān bù ōu zhōu xīn chē lěi jī xiāo liàng tū pò bǎi wàn liàng ! diàn dòng huà bù jú chéng hé xīn dòng néng

... announced that "the cumulative sales of new cars in Europe exceeded one million units"! Electrification layout has become the core driving force

UdnnewsindexFeb 2026

...潭9岁男童溺毙 纵管处:与地方政府共同强化管理

. . . tán 9 suì nán tóng nì bì zòng guǎn chǔ : yǔ dì fāng zhèng fǔ gòng tóng qiáng huà guǎn lǐ

... Tan 9-year-old boy drowned Longitudinal Management Office: Strengthen management with local governments

百度新闻Feb 2026

倒酱油、拌肉馅,看春晚机器人化身“新春大厨”

dǎo jiàng yóu , bàn ròu xiàn , kàn chūn wǎn jī qì rén huà shēn xīn chūn dà chú

Pour soy sauce, mix meat filling, and watch the Spring Festival Gala robot transform into a "New Year chef"

百度新闻Feb 2026

高标准高质量推进雄安新区建设现代化城市丨雄安新区新..

gāo biāo zhǔn gāo zhì liàng tuī jìn xióng ān xīn qū jiàn shè xiàn dài huà chéng shì 丨 xióng ān xīn qū xīn . .

Promote the construction of Xiong'an New Area into a modern city with high standards and high quality丨Xiong'an New Area New:

Tatoeba

谁能融化你的铁石心肠?

Shéi néng rónghuà nǐ de tiěshíxīncháng?

Who could melt that stone heart of yours?

Tatoeba

霜还没有开始溶化。

Shuāng hái méiyǒu kāishǐ rónghuà.

The hoarfrost hasn't yet begun to thaw.

Tatoeba

我们要尊重传统文化。

Wǒmen yào zūnzhòng chuántǒng wénhuà.

We must have respect for tradition.

Tatoeba

这些年空气质量恶化了。

Zhèxiē nián kōngqì zhìliàng èhuà le.

Air quality has deteriorated these past few years.

Character Family

匕 Radical Family — Characters sharing the spoon radical

Related Characters

Homophones — Characters pronounced huà

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 化 (huà) mean in Chinese?
化 (huà) primarily means "to make into." It is classified as HSK Level 3, making it a beginner-level character. It ranks #178 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 化 have?
化 is written with 4 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.
What is the radical of 化?
The radical associated with 化 is 匕 (spoon). This radical appears in many characters related to spoon.
What are the components of 化?
化 is composed of: 亻 (structural), 匕 (structural). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰亻匕 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 化?
Common words with 化 include: 变化 (biàn huà, "(intransitive) to change"); 文化 (wén huà, "culture"); 化学 (huà xué, "chemistry"); 化妆 (huà zhuāng, "to put on makeup"); 恶化 (è huà, "to worsen"). There are over 121 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 化 (huà)?
Several characters share the pronunciation huà: 话 (speech, words), 花 (flower), 划 (to row), 华 (Mount Hua 華山|华山 in Shaanxi), and 4 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 化 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 化 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 化 with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

Character data sourced from Unihan (Unicode Consortium), SUBTLEX-CH frequency corpus (Cai & Brysbaert, 2010), and Make Me a Hanzi (stroke data). Collocation strength measured via NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information). Verified by the HanziFeed linguistics team.

HSK classification follows the HSK 3.0 Standard (Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, 2022 revision). Idiom data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Data last verified: March 2026.