斟 (zhēn): to pour

斟 (zhēn) is a Chinese character meaning “to pour.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 甚 (phonetic) and 斗 (semantic). It ranks #3050 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 斟 measuring cup. Its radical form 斗 (dipper) appears in many related characters such as 料 (liào, material), 斜 (xié, inclined), 斗 (dǒu, dry measure for grain equal to ten 升 or one-tenth of a 石).

Spoken pronunciation

HSK 7-9 Radical: 斗 dipper13 strokesFrequency #3050甚 phonetic 斗 semantic

Definitions

to pour

Etymology & Origin

斟

pictophoneticmeasuring cup

Decomposition: ⿰甚斗 (layout: left-right)

Components:甚phonetic 斗semantic

Stroke Order

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
斟酌verb	zhēn zhuó	to consider
斟酒verb	zhēn jiǔ	to pour wine or liquor
字斟句酌	zì zhēn jù zhuó	weighing every word
斟酌决定权	zhēn zhuó jué dìng quán	discretionary power
斟酌字句	zhēn zhuó zì jù	to measure one's words

Total compounds

As first character

As last character

As middle character

斟 appears in 5 compound words: 80 as the first character, 0 as the last, and 20 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 斟 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

酌zhuó

0.809930 co-occurrences

灌guàn

0.500172 co-occurrences

酒jiǔ

0.443294 co-occurrences

浇jiāo

0.40810 co-occurrences

寻xún

0.40774 co-occurrences

介jiè

0.400196 co-occurrences

氏shì

0.372164 co-occurrences

灭miè

0.36640 co-occurrences

杯bēi

0.36646 co-occurrences

句jù

0.36348 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (1)

字斟句酌zì zhēn jù zhuóHSK 7+

weighing every word

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

学习斟字需要反复练习，才能写得工整。

xué xí zhēn zì xū yāo fǎn fù liàn xí , cái néng xiě dé gōng zhěng .

Mastering the character "斟" requires repeated practice to write it neatly.

中国新闻网·文化Aug 2026

绘画过程中，蔡皋查了大量资料，某些细节的斟酌渗透着她自己的理解。

huì huà guò chéng zhōng , Cài 皋 chá le dà liàng zī liào , mǒu xiē xì jié de zhēn zhuó shèn tòu zhe tā zì jǐ de lǐ jiě .

While painting, Cai Gao researched a great deal of material, and her careful consideration of certain details reflects her own understanding.

StheadlineMar 2026

英超│曼联斟介般奴古马雷斯到最后阶段转会费8000...

yīng chāo 曼 lián zhēn jiè bān nú gǔ mǎ léi sī dào zuì hòu jiē duàn zhuǎn huì fèi 8 0 0 0 . . .

Premier League | Manchester United pursue Bruno Guimarães until the final stages; transfer fee of 80 million...

EttodayFeb 2026

...诉!律师喊不理解“这很难成立”曝原因:要斟酌

. . . sù ! lǜ shī hǎn bù lǐ jiě zhè hěn nán chéng lì pù yuán yīn : yāo zhēn zhuó

... Sue! The lawyer shouted that he did not understand that "this is difficult to establish" and exposed the reason: it must be considered

Character Family

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 斟 (zhēn) mean in Chinese?

斟 (zhēn) primarily means "to pour." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #3050 in character frequency.

What's the difference between 斟 and 勘?

斟 (zhēn) and 勘 (kān) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 斗 vs 力 (same 甚 component).

How many strokes does 斟 have?

斟 is written with 13 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 斟?

The radical associated with 斟 is 斗 (dipper). This radical appears in many characters related to dipper.

What are the components of 斟?

斟 is composed of: 甚 (phonetic), 斗 (semantic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰甚斗 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.

What are common words containing 斟?

Common words with 斟 include: 斟酌 (zhēn zhuó, "to consider"); 斟酒 (zhēn jiǔ, "to pour wine or liquor"); 字斟句酌 (zì zhēn jù zhuó, "weighing every word"); 斟酌决定权 (zhēn zhuó jué dìng quán, "discretionary power"); 斟酌字句 (zhēn zhuó zì jù, "to measure one's words"). There are over 5 compound words containing this character.

Is 斟 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?

Yes, 斟 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 斟 with real-time feedback

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