占 meaning in English

zhàn

to take possession of; to occupy

HSK 2verb5 strokes

Meaning of 占

Definitions from CC-CEDICT.

zhàn

to take possession of
to occupy
to take up

zhàn

variant of 占[zhan4]

zhān

to observe
to divine

How to use 占

Most often 占 (zhàn) means to take up or occupy space, time, or a share, as in 占座位 (zhàn zuòwèi, to save a seat) or 占百分之几 (to make up a percentage). Example: 女生占了一半。(Nǚshēng zhàn le yí bàn.) Girls make up half.

占 is built from 卜 (bǔ, divination) on top of 口 (kǒu, mouth). Picture someone reading cracks for a fortune and speaking it aloud, then claiming the spot as theirs.

Common mistake: Learners often say 占卜 with the fourth tone, but in the sense of divining it is read zhān, first tone: zhānbǔ. Also do not confuse 占 with 站 (zhàn, to stand), which has the same sound but adds 立 on the left.

占 in example sentences

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

这zhè张zhāng桌zhuō子zi太tài占zhàn空kōng间jiān了le。

This desk takes up too much room.

对duì不bù起qǐ，这zhè位wèi子zi是shì否fǒu被bèi人rén家jiā占zhàn了le？

Excuse me, is this seat taken?

我wǒ们men的de市shì场chǎng占zhàn有yǒu率lǜ为wèi20%。

We have a 20% share of the market.

火huǒ星xīng人rén占zhàn领lǐng了le地dì球qiú。

Martians have taken over the earth.

这zhè台tái机jī器qì很hěn占zhàn空kōng间jiān。

The machine takes a lot of room.

Stroke order for each character

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

占 zhàn · to take possession of · 5 strokes

Related words

Words that share a character with 占.

占领	zhànlǐng	to capture; to seize; to occupy by force
占有	zhànyǒu	to have; to own
占据	zhànjù	to occupy; to hold
占用	zhànyòng	to occupy
占卜	zhānbǔ	to divine
侵占	qīnzhàn	to invade and occupy (territory)
霸占	bàzhàn	to occupy by force; to seize
强占	qiángzhàn	to occupy by force
独占	dúzhàn	to have all to oneself; to monopolize
攻占	gōngzhàn	to seize control of (an enemy position); (fig.) to take by storm
占便宜	zhànpiányi	advantageous; favorable
占上风	zhànshàngfēng	to take the lead; to gain the upper hand

Questions about 占

What does 占 mean?

占 (zhàn) means "to take possession of; to occupy" and is used as a verb.

How do you write 占?

占 is made of 1 character: 占 (5 strokes). That is 5 strokes in total.

Is 占 an HSK word?

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

What does 占便宜 mean?

占便宜 (zhàn piányi) means to take advantage of someone or get something for less than it is worth. It can be neutral, like getting a good deal, or negative, like exploiting someone.

How do I say a percentage with 占?

Use 占 plus 百分之 and a number: 占百分之三十 (zhàn bǎi fēn zhī sānshí) means to account for 30 percent. This is very common in news and reports.