交 meaning in English

jiāo

to hand over; to deliver; to pay (money); to turn over; to make friends

HSK 2verb6 strokes

Meaning of 交

Definitions from CC-CEDICT.

jiāo

to hand over; to deliver; to pay (money); to turn over
to make friends
(of lines) to intersect
variant of 跤[jiao1]

How to use 交

交 is a common verb for handing in or paying, as in 交作业 (jiāo zuòyè, hand in homework) and 交钱 (jiāo qián, pay money). It also means forming connections, as in 交朋友 (jiāo péngyou, make friends). Example: 我明天交作业。(Wǒ míngtiān jiāo zuòyè.) I will hand in my homework tomorrow.

Picture 交 (jiāo) as a person standing with legs crossed: a head and arms on top, and two lines crossing below. Crossing lines suggest things meeting and passing between people, like handing something over or making friends.

Common mistake: Learners often confuse 交 with 文 (wén, writing), which looks like 交 without the dot and two short strokes on top. Also remember 交 is first tone, unlike 教 (jiào or jiāo, to teach), a different character with the same sound.

交 in example sentences

Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.

你nǐ买mǎi不bù来lái朋péng友yǒu，你nǐ只zhǐ能néng交jiāo朋péng友yǒu。

You cannot buy friends, you can only make friends.

你nǐ什shén么me时shí候hòu需xū要yào交jiāo作zuò文wén？

When have you got to hand in your essay?

我wǒ不bù喜xǐ欢huān跟gēn人rén打dǎ交jiāo道dào。

I don't like to socialize.

他tā们men可kě能néng在zài等děng交jiāo警jǐng吧ba。

They're probably waiting for the traffic police.

他tā的de儿ér子zi于yú交jiāo通tōng事shì故gù去qù世shì了le

Her son was killed in a traffic accident.

Stroke order for each character

Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.

交 jiāo · to hand over · 6 strokes

Related words

Words that share a character with 交.

交给	jiāo gěi	to give; to deliver; to hand over
交通	jiāotōng	to be connected; traffic
交朋友	jiāo péngyou	to make friends; (dialect) to start an affair with sb
公交车	gōngjiāochē	public transport vehicle; town bus
交易	jiāoyì	to deal; to trade; to transact; transaction; deal
交流	jiāoliú	to exchange; exchange
交往	jiāowǎng	to associate (with); to have contact (with)
外交	wàijiāo	diplomacy; diplomatic
交警	jiāojǐng	traffic police (abbr. for 交通警察[jiao1 tong1 jing3 cha2])
交费	jiāofèi	to pay a fee
交换	jiāohuàn	to exchange; to swap
外交官	wàijiāoguān	diplomat

Questions about 交

What does 交 mean?

交 (jiāo) means "to hand over; to deliver; to pay (money); to turn over; to make friends" and is used as a verb.

How do you write 交?

交 is made of 1 character: 交 (6 strokes). That is 6 strokes in total.

Is 交 an HSK word?

Yes. 交 is on the HSK 2 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.

What is the difference between 交 and 交给?

交 alone usually takes the thing as its object, like 交钱 (jiāo qián, pay money). 交给 (jiāo gěi) adds the receiver, as in 把作业交给老师 (bǎ zuòyè jiāo gěi lǎoshī, hand the homework to the teacher).

Why does 交 appear in words like 交通 and 公交车?

These words use the sense of things crossing and connecting. 交通 (jiāotōng) means traffic, and 公交车 (gōngjiāochē) is a public bus, short for 公共交通 (gōnggòng jiāotōng, public transport).