作 (zuò) means "to do, make" with 7 strokes, radical 亻 (person), HSK 1 on the new exam.
Pronunciation
Meaning
Primary: to do
Other meanings:
- make
Etymology
Oracle-bone origin
In oracle bone script 作 was originally written simply as 乍, showing what is usually interpreted as a cutting or notching action, possibly a knife making a cut in a piece of material. Later the person radical 亻 was added on the left to specify a human agent doing the cutting or making. The resulting compound 作 keeps 亻 as semantic and 乍 as both phonetic and original-graph element.
Form evolution
Oracle bone and bronze forms show only 乍, with varied angular strokes suggesting a blade and the material being worked. By the late Zhou and seal period the person radical had been added to disambiguate the verbal sense. Clerical script regularised 乍 into its current shape with one horizontal stroke crossing the vertical, and modern 楷书 has retained the left-right structure unchanged.
How the meaning evolved
The original concrete sense was to make or to do through a physical act such as cutting, carving, or crafting. This broadened early to mean to create, to compose, to produce, and generally to act or behave in a certain way. Modern uses split across to do (做/作 overlap), to write or compose (作家, 作品), and to pretend or pose (装作, 作态), all traceable to the core idea of bringing something into being.
Cultural note
作 and 做 are near-synonyms and historically the same word, but modern usage tends to assign 作 to abstract or literary creation (作文, 作曲) and 做 to concrete actions (做饭, 做生意). The distinction is not absolute and native speakers often disagree about which to write in borderline cases.
Mnemonic
A person suddenly starts — to make, to work
Decomposition
Breaking a character into its components makes it far easier to recall. Each component above links to its own detail page.
Basic info
| Pinyin | zuò |
| Meanings | to do, make |
| Stroke count | 7 strokes |
| Radical | 亻 (#9: person) |
| New HSK exam | Recognise at HSK 1, write by hand at HSK 1-2 |
| Frequency | #44 most common |
Example sentences
Words containing 作
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 作 | zuò | to do, make | |
| 工作 | gōngzuò | to work | HSK 1 |
| 作业 | zuòyè | homework | HSK 3 |
| 作用 | zuòyòng | impact | HSK 4 |
| 动作 | dòngzuò | action | HSK 4 |
| 作家 | zuòjiā | writer | HSK 4 |
| 作者 | zuòzhě | author | HSK 4 |
| 合作 | hézuò | cooperation | HSK 5 |
| 写作 | xiězuò | writing | HSK 5 |
| 作文 | zuòwén | composition | HSK 4 |
| 制作 | zhìzuò | Make | HSK 5 |
| 作品 | zuòpǐn | works | HSK 4 |
| 作为 | zuòwéi | As | HSK 4 |
| 操作 | cāozuò | to operate, operation | HSK 5 |
| 炒作 | chǎozuò | to hype, to speculate | HSK 7-9 |
| 创作 | chuàngzuò | to create, to write | HSK 5 |
| 当作 | dāngzuò | to treat as, to regard as | HSK 5 |
| 副作用 | fùzuòyòng | side effect | HSK 7-9 |
Related characters
Similar meaning (action)
On the new HSK 1 exam
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Frequently Asked Questions
Appears in these articles
Reviewed by RJ Murray, Founder, HSK Lord.