咋 meaning and stroke order
Question-forming particle: why? what? how?; to bite; loud
How to write 咋, stroke by stroke
8 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
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Meaning of 咋
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- dialectal equivalent of 怎麼|怎么[zen3 me5]
- Taiwan pr. [ze2]
- (literary) to bite; to gnaw
- used in 咋呼[zha1 hu5]
- Taiwan pr. [ze2]
How 咋 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Mouth.
口 gives the meaning and 乍 hints at the sound.
Radical: 口 (mouth), shared by 428 characters on this site.
How to remember 咋
A mouth 口 next to 乍 (zhà), which gives the sound. Picture a mouth suddenly popping open to ask "zǎ?", meaning how or why.
In colloquial and northern dialect speech, 咋 (zǎ) replaces 怎么 (zěnme) to ask how or why. It is common in casual talk and online chat but sounds too informal for writing. Example: 你咋了？ (Nǐ zǎ le?) What's wrong with you?
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 咋 with 昨 (zuó, as in 昨天 yesterday) because both use 乍. Check the left side: 口 mouth for zǎ, 日 sun for zuó.
咋 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 咋
How many strokes are in 咋?
咋 is written with 8 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 咋 mean?
咋 (zǎ) means question-forming particle: why? what? how?; to bite; loud.
How do you pronounce 咋?
咋 is pronounced zǎ, in the third tone (dipping).
What is the radical of 咋?
The radical of 咋 is 口, which carries the idea of "mouth". Dictionaries list 咋 under this radical.
What does 咋呼 mean and how is it pronounced?
咋呼 is read zhāhu, not zǎhu. It means to shout or make a loud fuss, or to show off noisily. This is where the "loud" sense of 咋 comes from.
Is 咋办 the same as 怎么办?
Yes. 咋办 (zǎ bàn) is a casual way to say 怎么办 (zěnme bàn), "what should we do?" Use 怎么办 in formal settings and 咋办 with friends.