租 (zū): to hire, to rent, to charter
租 (zū) is a Chinese character meaning “to hire.” Classified as HSK Level 1 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 禾 (structural) and 且 (structural). It ranks #1389 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 租 regularly paid 且 tribute in grain 禾. Its radical form 禾 (grain) appears in many related characters such as 秋 (qiū, autumn), 科 (kē, branch of study), 称 (chèn, to fit).
Definitions
- to hire
- to rent
- to charter
Etymology & Origin
ideographicRegularly paid 且 tribute in grain 禾
Decomposition: ⿰禾且 (layout: left-right)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 租 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 租
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 出租车noun | chū zū chē | taxi | 1 |
| 房租noun | fáng zū | rent for a room or house | 4 |
| 出租verb | chū zū | to rent | 4 |
| 租金noun | zū jīn | rent | 5 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 租约 | zū yuē | lease |
| 租赁 | zū lìn | to rent |
| 租用 | zū yòng | to lease |
| 租借 | zū jiè | to rent |
| 转租 | zhuǎn zū | to sublet |
| 租户 | zū hù | tenant |
| 出租汽车 | chū zū qì chē | taxi |
| 租房 | zū fáng | to rent an apartment |
| 地租 | dì zū | land rent |
| 包租 | bāo zū | to rent |
| 招租 | zhāo zū | (of a house or room) to be for rent |
| 承租人 | chéng zū rén | leaser |
| 承租 | chéng zū | to rent |
| 租界 | zū jiè | foreign concession, an enclave occupied by a foreign power (in China in the 19th and 20th centuries) |
| 租价 | zū jià | rent price |
租 appears in 52 compound words: 38 as the first character, 44 as the last, and 17 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 租 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (1)
Example Sentences
老师教我们租字的发音和笔顺。
lǎo shī jiào wǒ men zū zì de fā yīn hé bǐ shùn .
The teacher taught us the pronunciation and stroke order of the character "租."
东京建商打造宠物宅 租客数5年翻倍成长
dōng jīng jiàn shāng dǎ zào chǒng wù zhái zū kè shǔ 5 nián fān bèi chéng cháng
Tokyo builder builds pet houses The number of tenants has doubled in 5 years
传Meta租用Google TPU 签数十亿美元AI...
chuán M e t a zū yòng G o o g l e T P U qiān shǔ shí yì měi yuán A I . . .
It is rumored that Meta rents Google TPU to sign billions of dollars in AI...
53岁女星离婚“消失20年”摇身东京包租婆“拥3间房”
5 3 suì nǚ xīng lí hūn xiāo shī 2 0 nián yáo shēn dōng jīng bāo zū pó yōng 3 jiān fáng
The 53-year-old actress divorced and "disappeared for 20 years" and turned into a Tokyo charter woman "with 3 rooms"
【日常里的神明】李奕萱/神明指路找租屋
rì cháng lǐ de shén míng lǐ 奕 萱 shén míng zhǐ lù zhǎo zū wū
[Gods in daily life] Li Yixuan/Gods show the way to find a rental house
“周秀娜劲敌”瑜伽租场发生意外 学生整亲头索5万心灵补偿
zhōu xiù 娜 jìn dí 瑜 伽 zū chǎng fā shēng yì wài xué shēng zhěng qīn tóu suǒ 5 wàn xīn líng bǔ cháng
"Zhou Xiuna's rival" yoga rental had an accident, and the student asked for 50,000 yuan in spiritual compensation
为什么这个月房东还不来收房租？
Wèishénme zhège yuè fángdōng hái bù lái shōu fángzū?
Why hasn't the landlord come to collect rent this month?
为什么今天火车站没有出租车？
Wèishénme jīntiān huǒchēzhàn méiyǒu chūzūchē?
Why are there no taxis at the station today?
你要不要我们给你叫辆出租车？
Nǐ yàobù yào wǒmen gěi nǐ jiào liàng chūzūchē?
Do you want us to call you a taxi?
一个月的租金多少？
Yī gè yuè de zūjīn duōshao?
How much is the rent per month?
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 租 (zū) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 租 have?
What is the radical of 租?
What are the components of 租?
What are common words containing 租?
What characters sound the same as 租 (zū)?
Is 租 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 租 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear native pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.