着急 meaning in English
to worry; to feel anxious; to feel a sense of urgency; to be in a hurry
Meaning of 着急
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- to worry; to feel anxious
- to feel a sense of urgency; to be in a hurry
- Taiwan pr. [zhao1ji2]
How to use 着急
着急 describes feeling anxious or being in a rush, and it often appears in the negative to calm someone down. 别着急，慢慢来。(Bié zháojí, mànmàn lái.) Don't worry, take your time.
着 (zháo) can mean to catch or be affected by, as in 着火 (zháohuǒ) to catch fire, and 急 (jí) means urgent, as in 紧急 (jǐnjí). So 着急 is to catch urgency, like your mind has caught fire with worry.
Common mistake: Learners often read 着 here as zhe, the light-tone particle in 接着 (jiēzhe) or 意味着 (yìwèizhe), but in 着急 it is zháo, the same reading as in 睡着 (shuìzháo). Also, 着急 is not used with an object directly, so say 为他着急 (wèi tā zháojí) rather than 着急他.
着急 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
着 zhe · aspect particle indicating action in pr… · 11 strokes
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- 2
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- 9
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急 jí · urgent · 9 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 着急.
| 接着 | jiēzhe | to catch and hold on; to continue |
| 紧急 | jǐnjí | urgent; emergency |
| 睡着 | shuìzháo | to fall asleep |
| 着火 | zháohuǒ | to catch fire |
| 急忙 | jímáng | hastily |
| 意味着 | yìwèizhe | to signify; to mean |
| 随着 | suízhe | along with; in the wake of |
| 有着 | yǒuzhe | to have; to possess |
| 用不着 | yòngbuzháo | not need; have no use for |
| 沿着 | yánzhe | to go along; to follow |
| 指着 | zhǐzhe | |
| 背着 | bèizhe | carrying on one's back |
Questions about 着急
What does 着急 mean?
着急 (zháojí) means "to worry; to feel anxious; to feel a sense of urgency; to be in a hurry".
How do you write 着急?
着急 is made of 2 characters: 着 (11 strokes), 急 (9 strokes). That is 20 strokes in total.
Is 着急 an HSK word?
Yes. 着急 is on the HSK 4 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 着急 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 着急 is written 著急.
What is the difference between 着急 and 担心?
担心 (dānxīn) means to worry about something and takes an object, as in 担心考试. 着急 stresses restless, urgent anxiety or impatience, and it usually does not take a direct object.
Can 着急 mean being in a hurry to do something?
Yes. You can put a verb after it, as in 他着急回家 (tā zháojí huí jiā), he is in a hurry to go home. In Taiwan you may hear it pronounced zhāojí.