作 (zuò): to work, to make
作 (zuò) is a Chinese character meaning “to work, to make.” Classified as HSK Level 1 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 亻 (structural) and 乍 (structural). It ranks #49 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 作 a person 亻 making something for the first time 乍; 乍 also provides the pronunciation. Its radical form 亻 (person) appears in many related characters such as 人 (rén, person), 什 (shén, what), 今 (jīn, now).
Definitions
- to work, to make
Etymology & Origin
ideographicA person 亻 making something for the first time 乍; 乍 also provides the pronunciation
Decomposition: ⿰亻乍 (layout: left-right)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 作 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 作
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 工作verb/noun | gōng zuò | to work | 1 |
| 作为verb/preposition | zuò wéi | one's conduct | 4 |
| 合作verb | hé zuò | to cooperate | 5 |
| 动作noun | dòng zuò | movement | 4 |
| 作用noun/verb | zuò yòng | to act on | 4 |
| 作品noun | zuò pǐn | work (of art) | 4 |
| 制作verb | zhì zuò | to make | 5 |
| 当作verb | dàng zuò | to treat as | 5 |
| 作家noun | zuò jiā | author | 4 |
| 作业noun | zuò yè | school assignment | 3 |
| 作出verb | zuò chū | to put out | 5 |
| 操作verb | cāo zuò | to work | 5 |
| 作者noun | zuò zhě | author | 4 |
| 创作verb/noun | chuàng zuò | to create | 5 |
| 写作verb | xiě zuò | to write | 5 |
| 称作verb | chēng zuò | to be called | 6 |
| 看作verb | kàn zuò | to look upon as | 5 |
| 著作noun | zhù zuò | to write | 6 |
| 叫作verb | jiào zuò | to call | 4 |
| 作文verb/noun | zuò wén | to write an essay | 4 |
| 工作日noun | gōng zuò rì | workday | 3 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 作证verb | zuò zhèng | to bear witness |
| 所作所为 | suǒ zuò suǒ wéi | one's conduct and deeds |
| 发作verb | fā zuò | to flare up |
| 振作adjective | zhèn zuò | to bestir oneself |
| 作案verb | zuò àn | to commit a crime |
| 运作verb | yùn zuò | to operate |
| 作战 | zuò zhàn | combat |
| 工作室noun | gōng zuò shì | studio |
| 作弊verb | zuò bì | to practice fraud |
| 恶作剧noun | è zuò jù | practical joke |
| 装作verb | zhuāng zuò | to pretend |
| 杰作noun | jié zuò | masterpiece |
| 副作用noun | fù zuò yòng | side effect |
| 作风noun | zuò fēng | style |
作 appears in 126 compound words: 33 as the first character, 50 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 作 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (45)
(idiom) to deliberately create obstacles; to obstruct from behind the scenes; to throw a wrench in the works
lit. find a stage, put on a comedy (idiom); to join in the fun; to play along according to local conditions
Showing 12 of 45 idioms containing 作.
Example Sentences
这份报告需要在周五之前完成，工作量比较大。
Zhè fèn bàogào xūyào zài zhōuwǔ zhīqián wánchéng, gōngzuòliàng bǐjiào dà.
This report needs to be completed by Friday; the workload is quite large.
英超|北伦敦打吡阿仙奴作客4:1胜热刺 伊斯、约基尼斯梅开二度
yīng chāo běi lún dūn dǎ 吡 ā xiān nú zuò kè 4 : 1 shèng rè cì yī sī , yuē jī ní sī méi kāi èr dù
Premier League|North London Derby Arsenal beat Tottenham Hotspur 4:1 away from home Isis and Jokinis scored twice
英超|阿仙奴作客4:1胜热刺 伊斯及基奥基尼斯各入两球
yīng chāo ā xiān nú zuò kè 4 : 1 shèng rè cì yī sī jí jī ào jī ní sī gè rù liǎng qiú
Premier League | Arsenal beat Tottenham Hotspur 4-1 away to Isis and Keoginis scored two goals each
小床铺我整理,合作互助乐成长
xiǎo chuáng pù wǒ zhěng lǐ , gě zuò hù zhù lè chéng cháng
I make my own bed, cooperate and help each other to grow up.
...25年收获满满,山东信息职业技术学院向合作单位..
. . . nián shōu huò mǎn mǎn , shān dōng xìn xī zhí yè jì shù xué yuàn xiàng gě zuò shàn wèi . .
...25 Years of Fruitful Collaboration: Shandong Information Vocational College Expresses Gratitude to Partner Institutions...
抖音集团李亮:炒作“字节是恒科的最大空头”很荒唐也..
dǒu yīn jí tuán lǐ liàng chǎo zuò zì jié shì héng kē de zuì dà kōng tóu hěn huāng táng yě . .
Li Liang of Douyin Group: Hyping "ByteDance is Hengke's biggest short seller" is utterly absurd and...
嗨！你在这儿工作吗？
Hāi! Nǐ zài zhèr gōngzuò ma?
Hi! Do you work here?
我？鼓励你去工作？不可能！
Wǒ? gǔlì nǐ qù gōngzuò? bù kěnéng!
Me? Encourage you to work? Blasphemy!
为什么没写作业？快说！
Wèishéme méi xiězuò yè? kuài shuō!
Why didn't you do your homework? Speak up!
可以给我们看看你的一些作品样本吗？
Kěyǐ gěi wǒmen kànkan nǐ de yīxiē zuòpǐn yàngběn ma?
Would you show us some samples of your work?
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 作 (zuò) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 作 have?
What is the radical of 作?
What are the components of 作?
What are common words containing 作?
What characters sound the same as 作 (zuò)?
Is 作 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 作 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.