What does 做 mean in Chinese?

做 (zuò) means "to do" in Chinese. The new HSK exam expects you to recognise it at HSK 1.

How do you write 做?

做 is written with 11 strokes, starting from the 亻 (person) radical and following standard Chinese stroke order (top to bottom, left to right). See the interactive stroke-order tool for the full animation.

What is the radical of 做?

The radical of 做 is 亻 (person, Kangxi radical #9). Other common HSK characters using the same radical include 作, 保, 体, 信.

How many strokes does 做 have?

The Chinese character 做 has 11 strokes.

What HSK level is 做?

On the new HSK exam syllabus, 做 is a character to recognise at HSK 1.

做 (zuò): Meaning, Stroke Order, Radical & Examples

做

zuò

to do

HSK 1 character 11 strokes Radical: 亻 (person)

Quick Answer

做 (zuò) means "to do" with 11 strokes, radical 亻 (person), HSK 1 on the new exam.

Full dictionary entry for 做 →Animated stroke-order for 做 →

Pronunciation

zuò

Meaning

Primary: to do

Etymology

Oracle-bone origin

做 is a late character and has no oracle bone, bronze, or seal-script form. It was coined during or after the Song dynasty as a written variant of 作, itself an ancient character depicting a hand making or creating something. Structurally 做 is a phono-semantic compound with 亻 (person) as the semantic component and 故 supplying the phonetic value.

Form evolution

Because 做 appears only in later vernacular writing, its form has not changed significantly since it entered common use. It has always been written in regular 楷书 style with 亻 on the left and 故 on the right. Some older dictionaries treat it merely as a colloquial alternative to 作 rather than a distinct character.

How the meaning evolved

做 and 作 overlap heavily, both covering the senses of doing, making, acting as, and producing. In modern Mandarin a rough division has settled: 做 tends to attach to concrete actions and objects (做饭 cook, 做生意 do business), while 作 is more often used in abstract, formal, or compound contexts (作文 composition, 工作 work). The split is usage-driven, not etymological.

Cultural note

The 做 / 作 distinction trips up most learners because native speakers themselves disagree on some collocations, and older texts freely swap them. A common rule of thumb is that if the action produces a tangible result, 做 is safer; if it is an abstract act or a fixed compound, 作 usually wins.