教 (jiào): (bound form) to teach, to instruct, a religion, to cause (sb to do sth), to tell (sb to do sth)
教 (jiào) is a Chinese character meaning “(bound form) to teach.” Classified as HSK Level 2 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 孝 (phonetic) and 攵 (semantic). It ranks #191 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 教 script. Its radical form 攵 (rap) appears in many related characters such as 放 (fàng, to put, to release), 收 (shōu, to receive), 改 (gǎi, to change).
Definitions
- (bound form) to teach
- to instruct
- a religion
- to cause (sb to do sth)
- to tell (sb to do sth)
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 教 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 教
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 教练noun | jiào liàn | to coach | 4 |
| 教授noun | jiāo shòu | to teach (a subject) | 4 |
| 教育noun/verb | jiào yù | to educate | 4 |
| 教训verb/noun | jiào xun | to provide guidance | 6 |
| 教师noun | jiào shī | teacher | 4 |
| 教室noun | jiào shì | classroom | 2 |
| 教学noun | jiāo xué | to teach | 4 |
| 请教verb | qǐng jiào | to ask for guidance | 5 |
| 教材noun | jiào cái | teaching material | 5 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 教堂noun | jiào táng | church |
| 宗教noun | zōng jiào | religion |
| 教会noun | jiāo huì | to show |
| 主教 | zhǔ jiào | bishop |
| 教导verb | jiào dǎo | to instruct |
| 天主教 | tiān zhǔ jiào | Catholicism |
| 基督教proper-noun | jī dū jiào | Christianity |
| 教皇noun | jiào huáng | (Catholicism) pope |
| 教徒noun | jiào tú | disciple |
| 教书verb | jiāo shū | to work as a teacher |
| 教父noun | jiào fù | godfather |
| 教养verb | jiào yǎng | to educate |
| 异教徒noun | yì jiào tú | member of another religion |
| 天主教徒noun | tiān zhǔ jiào tú | Catholic |
| 教区noun | jiào qū | diocese |
教 appears in 114 compound words: 49 as the first character, 46 as the last, and 4 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 教 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (25)
to have been taught many times, but still do wrong anyway; to be incorrigible
Showing 12 of 25 idioms containing 教.
Example Sentences
他是这个团队的主要负责人，经验丰富。
Tā shì zhè gè tuánduì de zhǔyào fùzé rén, jīngyàn fēngfù.
He is the main person in charge of this team and has rich experience.
米兰大教堂雕像 赞助修复便可有条件借展
mǐ lán dà jiào táng diāo xiàng zàn zhù xiū fù biàn kě yǒu tiáo jiàn jiè zhǎn
Statues of Milan Cathedral can be loaned conditionally if they sponsor the restoration
公务员上相亲节目 夸大资产被批评教育
gōng wù yuán shàng xiāng qīn jié mù kuā dà zī chǎn bèi pī píng jiào yù
Civil servants on blind date shows are criticized for exaggerating assets and education
教师发成绩工具Top1-5榜单,一线教师亲...
jiào shī fā chéng jì gōng jù T o p 1 5 bǎng dān , yī xiàn jiào shī qīn . . .
Teachers issue the Top 1-5 list of grade tools, and front-line teachers pro...
青岛恒星科技学院:产教融合协同出海,绘就全球化新图..
qīng dǎo héng xīng kē jì xué yuàn chǎn jiào róng gě xié tóng chū hǎi , huì jiù quán qiú huā xīn tú . .
Qingdao Stellar Institute of Science and Technology: Industry-Education Integration and Collaboration to Go to Sea, Drawing a New Map of Globalization...
地域文化在国际中文教育中的应用
dì yù wén huā zài guó jì zhōng wén jiào yù zhōng de yīng yòng
The Application of Regional Culture in International Chinese Language Education
是谁教她怎么说英语的？
Shì shéi jiāo tā zěnme shuō Yīngyǔ de?
Who taught her how to speak English?
您能教我下国际象棋吗？
Nín néng jiāo wǒ xià guójì xiàngqí ma?
Can you teach me to play chess?
最近的教堂在哪里？
Zuì jìn de jiàotáng zài nǎlǐ?
Where's the nearest church?
您昨天为什么离开教室？
Nín zuótiān wèishénme líkāi jiàoshì?
Why did you leave the classroom yesterday?
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 攵 (script) component
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 教 (jiào) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 教 and 学?
How many strokes does 教 have?
What is the radical of 教?
What are the components of 教?
What are common words containing 教?
What characters sound the same as 教 (jiào)?
Is 教 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 教 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.