How to say “early” in Chinese
early
“Early” in Chinese is 早, zǎo: the meaning, a recording of how it sounds, the characters stroke by stroke and examples.
How to pronounce it
早 is read zǎo. The tone is part of the word: with another melody you get another word, or just a jumble of sounds.
How to write it
On top, 日 “sun”.
Strokes go in order: top to bottom and left to right, horizontal before vertical. Tap a character to open its page, with the strokes shown large and the words it appears in. To train your hand, print a handwriting sheet for “早”.
Examples
Sentences from the course lessons with 早. Tap the sound icon to listen.
- 早上好zǎoshanghǎoGood morning!
- 我早上七点起床。wǒzǎoshangqīdiǎnqǐchuángI get up at seven in the morning.
- 你几点吃早饭nǐjǐdiǎnchīzǎofànWhat time do you have breakfast?
- 我八点吃早饭wǒbādiǎnchīzǎofànI have breakfast at eight.
- 早饭我吃面包和鸡蛋zǎofànwǒchīmiànbāohéjīdànFor breakfast I eat bread and eggs.
- 我早上去跑步wǒzǎoshangqùpǎobùIn the morning I go jogging.
More characters by topic — happiness, luck, strength, nature — on the page “Chinese characters with meanings”.
More words from the lesson “My day”
Look up another word in the Chinese–English dictionary: in English, in pinyin or in characters.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say “early” in Chinese?
“Early” in Chinese is 早, pinyin zǎo.
What does 早 mean?
早 (zǎo) means “early”.
How do you write 早?
早 is 1 character. The stroke order of each one is shown step by step on this page.
How do you pronounce 早?
早 is read zǎo. Tones: zǎo — third tone. The page has a native speaker recording.
“early” in the lesson “My day”
This word is from the topic “Time and the day” of HSK 1. In the lesson you hear it in a dialogue, build a sentence with it and say it out loud. Start for free, no sign-up needed.
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