做 meaning in English

zuò

to make; to produce; to write; to compose

HSK 1verb11 strokes

Meaning of 做

Definitions from CC-CEDICT.

zuò

to make; to produce
to write; to compose
to do; to engage in; to hold (a party etc)
(of a person) to be (an intermediary, a good student etc); to become (husband and wife, friends etc)
(of a thing) to serve as; to be used for
to assume (an air or manner)

How to use 做

做 is used for making things and doing activities, as in 做饭 (zuòfàn, to cook) and 做生意 (zuò shēngyi, to do business). It can also mean to be or serve as a role. Example: 你在做什么？(Nǐ zài zuò shénme?) What are you doing?

做 is made of a person 亻 on the left and 故 (gù) on the right. Picture a person getting busy and doing work, which is what 做 means: to do or to make.

Common mistake: Learners often mix up 做 (zuò) with 作 (zuò), which has the same sound. Use 做 for concrete actions like 做饭 and 做作业, while 作 appears more in formal or abstract words like 工作 (gōngzuò) and 作家 (zuòjiā).

做 in example sentences

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

我wǒ不bù认rèn为wéi我wǒ会huì那nà么me做zuò。

I don't think I'm going to do that.

我wǒ就jiù是shì想xiǎng那nà么me做zuò的de。

That's what I mean to do.

看kàn我wǒ为wèi你nǐ做zuò了le什shén么me。

Look what I made for you.

你nǐ可kě以yǐ做zuò到dào，不bú是shì吗ma？

You can do it, can't you?

我wǒ不bù能néng相xiāng信xìn他tā做zuò到dào了le。

I can't believe he did that.

Stroke order for each character

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

做 zuò · to make · 11 strokes

Related words

Words that share a character with 做.

做到	zuòdào	to accomplish; to achieve
做法	zuòfǎ	way of handling sth; method for making
做饭	zuòfàn	to prepare a meal; to cook
做客	zuòkè	to be a guest or visitor
做梦	zuòmèng	to dream; to have a dream; (fig.) to indulge in wishful thinking
做生意	zuò shēngyi	to do business
做证	zuòzhèng	variant of 作證\|作证[zuo4 zheng4]
定做	dìngzuò	to have something made to order
做出	zuòchū	to put out; to issue
叫做	jiàozuò	to be called; to be known as
做爱	zuò'ài	to make love
做事	zuòshì	to work; to handle matters

Questions about 做

What does 做 mean?

做 (zuò) means "to make; to produce; to write; to compose" and is used as a verb.

How do you write 做?

做 is made of 1 character: 做 (11 strokes). That is 11 strokes in total.

Is 做 an HSK word?

Yes. 做 is on the HSK 1 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.

What is the difference between 做 and 干 (gàn)?

Both can mean to do. 干 is more casual and colloquial, as in 你干什么？, while 做 is neutral and works in both speech and writing.

How do you say to dream in Chinese?

Use 做梦 (zuòmèng). For example, 我昨天做了一个梦 (Wǒ zuótiān zuò le yí gè mèng) means I had a dream yesterday.