找 (zhǎo) means "to look for" with HSK 1 on the new exam.
Pronunciation
Meaning
Primary: to look for
Etymology
Oracle-bone origin
找 has no oracle bone or bronze inscription form and is a late phono-semantic compound, probably post-Tang in its current sense. It combines 扌 (hand) with 戈 (gē, a dagger-axe) on the right. The right-hand component is historically identical to the 戈 in 戋 and was originally pronounced close to zhǎo, giving the modern reading.
Form evolution
Early dictionaries sometimes write the character as 划 or confuse it with 戈-based variants, and the form 找 only stabilised during the Ming and Qing periods. In clerical and 楷書 forms 扌 occupies the left third and 戈 the right, with its characteristic slanting stroke and hook preserved. Simplified and traditional Chinese share the same glyph.
How the meaning evolved
The original sense recorded in Ming sources was to make up a shortfall, specifically to return change after a payment, a meaning still active in 找錢 (give change). From this it broadened during the Qing to the general sense of searching for something missing, which is now the dominant modern meaning 找 (to look for). The older commercial sense survives only in fixed phrases.
Cultural note
Learners often pair 找 with 到 to form 找到 (find, as a result) and contrast it with 找 alone (search without implication of success), a distinction that parallels English look-for versus find. The character is sometimes mistakenly written with 戊 or 戍 instead of 戈 because of the visual similarity of the right-hand components.
Basic info
| Pinyin | zhǎo |
| Meanings | to look for |
| New HSK exam | Recognise at HSK 1 |
| Frequency | #1036 most common |
Example sentences
Words containing 找
On the new HSK 1 exam
Studying for HSK 1? Keep 找 with the rest of your level.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Reviewed by RJ Murray, Founder, HSK Lord.