着 (zhe): -ing, to wear
着 (zhe) is a Chinese character meaning “-ing, to wear.” Classified as HSK Level 2 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 羊 (structural) and 目 (structural). It ranks #41 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Definitions
- -ing, to wear
Stroke Order
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Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 着
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 意味着verb | yì wèi zhe | to signify | 5 |
| 接着verb/adverb | jiē zhe | to catch and hold on | 4 |
| 有着verb | yǒu zhe | to have | 4 |
| 随着preposition | suí zhe | along with | 4 |
| 着急adjective | zháo jí | to worry | 3 |
| 着火verb | zháo huǒ | to catch fire | 4 |
| 着凉verb | zháo liáng | to catch cold | 5 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 睡着 | shuì zháo | to fall asleep |
| 穿着 | chuān zhuó | attire |
| 跟着 | gēn zhe | to follow after |
| 来着 | lái zhe | auxiliary showing sth happened in the past |
| 着呢 | zhe ne | comes at the end of the sentence to indicate a strong degree |
| 沿着 | yán zhe | to go along |
| 着迷 | zháo mí | to be fascinated |
| 着想 | zhuó xiǎng | to give thought (to others) |
| 着陆 | zhuó lù | landing |
| 着手 | zhuó shǒu | to put one's hand to it |
| 顺着 | shùn zhe | to follow |
| 朝着 | cháo zhe | towards |
| 衣着 | yī zhuó | clothes |
| 挨着 | āi zhe | near |
| 当着 | dāng zhe | in front of |
着 appears in 100 compound words: 34 as the first character, 60 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 着 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (14)
to be able to tell the truth or general trend from a tiny phenomenon or early signs; see the forest for the trees
to be a step ahead of the opponent (idiom); to outsmart one's opponent
to have used the wrong method or have had no intention of doing something but arrive at the correct result nevertheless
(idiom) to fail at every step of the way; Taiwan pr. [zhuo2zhuo2shi1bai4]
to be able to tell the truth or general trend from a tiny phenomenon or early signs; see the forest for the trees
to be a step ahead of the opponent (idiom); to outsmart one's opponent
Showing 12 of 14 idioms containing 着.
Example Sentences
他穿着一件黑色西装，看起来很正式。
Tā chuān zhe yí jiàn hēisè xīzhuāng, kàn qǐlái hěn zhèngshì.
He is wearing a black suit and looks very formal.
柴火灶里烧出的“团聚”,藏着最浓的奉贤年味丨有一种..
chái huǒ zào lǐ shāo chū de tuán jù , zàng zhe zuì nóng de fèng xián nián wèi 丨 yǒu yī zhǒng . .
The "reunion" burned in the wood stove hides the strongest Fengxian New Year's flavor丨There is a kind:
在米兰,冰雪赛场藏着中国式浪漫
zài mǐ lán , bīng xuě sài chǎng zàng zhe zhōng guó shì làng màn
In Milan, the ice and snow arena hides Chinese romance
东西问丨全球政要马年“集体说马” 背后藏着三重文化..
dōng xī wèn 丨 quán qiú zhèng yāo mǎ nián jí tī shuō mǎ bēi hòu zàng zhe sān chóng wén huā . .
The world's top politicians are talking about horses in the Year of the Horse, a trio of cultural...
浙江男子铁锅里泡澡,底下还烧着火,一个接一个!杭州..
zhè jiāng nán zǐ tiě guō lǐ pāo zǎo , de xià hái shāo zhe huǒ , yī gě jiē yī gě ! háng zhōu . .
Zhejiang man in the iron pot bath, underneath the fire, one after another! Hangzhou ...
与沈腾马丽一起“搭戏”的机器人,还藏着这样的技术突..
yú 沈 téng mǎ lí yī qǐ dā xì de jī qì rén , hái zàng zhe zhè yàng de jì shù tū . .
The robot acting alongside Shen Teng and Ma Li also hides such technological breakthroughs...
为什么你昨晚睡不着？
Wèishénme nǐ zuówǎn shuìbuzháo?
Why couldn't you sleep last night?
这个消息预示着什么？
Zhège xiāoxi yùshì zhe shénme?
What does this news augur?
他的话暗示着什么？
Tā de huà ànshì zhe shénme?
What do his words imply?
这是不是意味着你不会来了？
Zhè shìbùshì yìwèizhe nǐ bù huì lái le?
Does that mean you won't come?
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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What characters sound the same as 着 (zhe)?
Is 着 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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