Language/Mandarin-chinese/Vocabulary/做-zuò-do;-make

做 zuò do; make in Mandarin Chinese

Definition

Radical is 人 rén “person”, which is written 亻 when occurring at the left side of a character so as not to get in the way of the component at the right. The colloquial name for this radical is 人字旁 rénzìpáng “side made up of the character 人.” The other component is 故 gù “reason”. A “person” 人 “does something” 做 for a “reason” 故. In older writings, the homonym 作 was often used for 做, but now the two characters are usually distinguished.

Examples

• 做 zuò do; make [V]

• 做饭 (做飯) zuòfàn cook, make food [VO]

• 做衣服 zuò yīfu make clothes [PH]

• 做买卖 (做買賣) zuò măimài do business [PH]

• 做事 zuòshì do things, work [VO]

• 做菜 zuòcài cook, make food [VO]

• 做准备 (做準備) zuò zhŭnbèi make preparations [PH]

Sources

Book: Intermediate Written Chinese by Cornelius C. Kubler

Other Lessons

• 味 wèi taste; smell; flavour
• 妈(媽) mā mom
• 底 dĭ bottom, base; ground
• Body
• 团(團) tuán group; organization
• 将(將) jiāng will, be about to; take
• 啊 a particle
• How to Say Hello and Greetings
• 争(爭) zhēng compete; fight
• Useful phrases