早 (zǎo): early, morning
早 (zǎo) is a Chinese character meaning “early, morning.” Classified as HSK Level 1 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 日 (structural) and 十 (structural). It ranks #462 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 早 the first rays 十 of the sun 日. Its radical form 日 (sun) appears in many related characters such as 日 (rì, sun, day), 时 (shí, time, hour), 明 (míng, bright, tomorrow).
Definitions
- early, morning
Etymology & Origin
ideographicThe first rays 十 of the sun 日
Decomposition: ⿱日十 (layout: top-bottom)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 早 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 早
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 早上noun | zǎo shang | early morning | 1 |
| 早餐noun | zǎo cān | breakfast | 4 |
| 早晨noun | zǎo chén | early morning | 4 |
| 早饭 | zǎo fàn | breakfast | 1 |
| 早期noun | zǎo qī | early period | 5 |
| 早已adverb | zǎo yǐ | for a long time | 5 |
| 早晚noun/adverb | zǎo wǎn | morning and evening | 5 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 早就 | zǎo jiù | already at an earlier time |
| 明早 | míng zǎo | tomorrow morning |
| 迟早 | chí zǎo | sooner or later |
| 早安 | zǎo ān | Good morning! |
| 早点 | zǎo diǎn | breakfast |
| 一早 | yī zǎo | early in the morning |
| 提早 | tí zǎo | ahead of schedule |
| 一大早 | yī dà zǎo | at dawn |
| 早起 | zǎo qǐ | to get up early |
| 早日 | zǎo rì | soon |
| 尽早 | jǐn zǎo | as early as possible |
| 过早 | guò zǎo | premature |
| 早先 | zǎo xiān | previously |
| 为时过早 | wéi shí guò zǎo | premature |
| 早班 | zǎo bān | early shift |
早 appears in 100 compound words: 65 as the first character, 23 as the last, and 12 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 早 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (8)
to give birth to a son soon; wish you early birth of a healthy baby (propitiatory compliment to the newly-weds)
Example Sentences
早上交通拥堵，建议你提前半小时出门。
Zǎoshang jiāotōng yōngdǔ, jiànyì nǐ tíqián bàn xiǎoshí chūmén.
Traffic is congested in the morning; I suggest you leave half an hour early.
中国网军4千帐户攻击高市早苗 矢板明夫:台日两国正面对相同挑战
zhōng guó wǎng jūn 4 qiān zhàng hù gōng jī gāo shì zǎo miáo shǐ bǎn míng fū : tái rì liǎng guó zhèng miàn duì xiāng tóng tiāo zhàn
4,000 accounts of China's cyber army attacked Sanae Takaichi Akio Yaita: Taiwan and Japan are facing the same challenges
跨越八百里守护 湘雅医院助超早产三胞胎平安回家团圆
kuà yuè bā bǎi lǐ shǒu hù 湘 yǎ yī yuàn zhù chāo zǎo chǎn sān bāo tāi píng ān huí jiā tuán yuán
Spanning 800 Li to Safeguard: Xiangya Hospital Helps Extremely Premature Triplets Return Home Safely for Family Reunion
线下门店排长队 线上订单早高峰 京东七鲜春节双线共..
xiàn xià mén diàn pái cháng duì xiàn shàng dìng dān zǎo gāo fēng jīng dōng qī xiān chūn jié shuāng xiàn gòng . .
Long lines at physical stores, early morning rush for online orders—JD.com's 7Fresh delivers dual-channel convenience during the Spring Festival.
...有人称一家四口亏了4000!网友:后悔买早..
. . . yǒu rén chèn yī jiā sì kǒu kuī le ! wǎng yǒu hòu huǐ mǎi zǎo . .
... Someone claimed that a family of four lost 4000!Netizen:Regret buying early...
你昨天早上在打网球吗？
Nǐ zuótiān zǎoshang zài dǎ wǎngqiú ma?
Were you playing tennis yesterday morning?
你明早7点来接我吗？
Nǐ míngzǎo qī diǎn lái jiē wǒ ma?
Are you picking me up at 7 tomorrow morning?
你今天早上喂过狗了吗？
Nǐ jīntiān zǎoshang wèi guo gǒu le ma?
Did you feed the dog this morning?
你早餐吃了些什么？
Nǐ zǎocān chī le xiē shénme?
What did you eat for breakfast?
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 早 (zǎo) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 早 and 晚?
How many strokes does 早 have?
What is the radical of 早?
What are the components of 早?
What are common words containing 早?
What characters sound the same as 早 (zǎo)?
Is 早 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 早 with real-time feedback
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