照 meaning in English

zhào

according to; in accordance with

HSK 3verbpreposition13 strokes

Meaning of 照

Definitions from CC-CEDICT.

zhào

according to
in accordance with
to shine
to illuminate
to reflect
to look at (one's reflection)
to take (a photo)
photo

zhào

variant of 照[zhao4]
to shine
to illuminate

How to use 照

照 is used for light shining, for looking in a mirror, and for taking photos, as in 照镜子 (zhào jìngzi) and 拍照 (pāizhào). As a preposition it means "according to," often in 按照 (ànzhào) or alone in set phrases like 照他说的做. Example: 请按照说明做。(Qǐng ànzhào shuōmíng zuò.) Please do it according to the instructions.

照 has 日 (sun) on the left, 召 (zhào) on the right, and four fire dots 灬 at the bottom. Picture the sun and fire together giving off light, so 照 means to shine or illuminate.

Common mistake: Learners often drop the four dots 灬 at the bottom, which turns the character into 昭 (zhāo), a different character. Also keep 照 (zhào, fourth tone) apart from 找 (zhǎo, to look for), which sounds similar but has a different tone and meaning.

照 in example sentences

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

你nǐ是shì从cóng哪nǎ里lǐ照zhào的de相xiāng？

Where did you have your picture taken?

让ràng我wǒ看kàn看kàn那nà些xiē照zhào片piān。

Let me have a look at those photos.

他tā偷tōu偷tōu地dì给gěi我wǒ看kàn了le她tā的de照zhào片piān。

He secretly showed me her photo.

她tā在zài那nà里lǐ买mǎi的de是shì一yī台tái照zhào相xiàng机jī。

What she bought there was a camera.

我wǒ照zhào他tā说shuō的de做zuò了le。

I did it the way he told me to.

Stroke order for each character

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

照 zhào · according to · 13 strokes

Related words

Words that share a character with 照.

照片	zhàopiàn	photograph
照顾	zhàogù	to take care of; to show consideration
护照	hùzhào	passport
照相	zhàoxiàng	to take a photograph
按照	ànzhào	according to; in accordance with; on the basis of
拍照	pāizhào	to take a picture
驾照	jiàzhào	driver's license (abbr. for 駕駛執照\|驾驶执照[jia4 shi3 zhi2 zhao4])
依照	yīzhào	according to; in light of
照耀	zhàoyào	to shine; to illuminate
照样	zhàoyàng	as before; (same) as usual
执照	zhízhào	license; permit
照料	zhàoliào	to tend; to take care of sb

Questions about 照

What does 照 mean?

照 (zhào) means "according to; in accordance with" and is used as a verb and preposition.

How do you write 照?

照 is made of 1 character: 照 (13 strokes). That is 13 strokes in total.

Is 照 an HSK word?

Yes. 照 is on the HSK 3 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.

What is the difference between 照相 and 拍照?

Both mean to take a photo. 拍照 (pāizhào) is more common in everyday speech today, while 照相 (zhàoxiàng) sounds a little older but is still widely understood.

Does 照顾 have anything to do with light or photos?

No. 照顾 (zhàogù) means to take care of someone or to show consideration, for example 照顾孩子 (zhàogù háizi), to look after children. Here 照 carries the idea of watching over, not shining.