How to write 找 (zhǎo, “to look for”)

找 (zhǎo), an HSK 1 character, means “to look for”, “to try to find” and “to call on sb”. It is a character whose parts combine into its meaning. On its own it is an HSK 1 word; it also forms 查找 (“to search for”), 寻找 (“to seek”) and 找事 (“to look for employment”). Japanese reads it sou, “look for”.

Pinyin: zhǎo
Strokes: 7
HSK: 1
Radical: 扌 (“hand”)

Stroke by stroke

As a left-right character it splits into 扌 (“hand”, the radical), strokes 1–3; 戈 (“spear”), strokes 4–7, written the left part first.

Horizontal ㇐leftrightwards
Vertical hook ㇚top leftdownwards → leftwards
Rising stroke ㇀bottom leftup and right
Horizontal ㇐centerrightwards
Slanted hook ㇂topdown and right → upwards
Left-falling stroke ㇒rightdown and left
Dot ㇔top rightdown and right

Names of the strokes

Japanese and Chinese

Japanese and Chinese draw all 7 strokes in the same order and direction, by our stroke-by-stroke comparison.

Japanese · KanjiVG · 7 strokes

Chinese · Make Me a Hanzi · 7 strokes

Where 找 comes from

To go searching with a spear 戈 in hand 扌

Trace it

Follow the numbers. Tracing help

Pinyin and meaning

Pinyin	Meanings	Traditional	In words
zhǎo third tone	to look for; to try to find; to call on sb; to find; to seek	—	查找寻找找事找出

HSK 2025 syllabus: level 1
2021 standard: level 1
HSK 2.0: in a level 2 word
Words with it: 45 in CC-CEDICT

Words with 找

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
找	zhǎo	to try to find; to look for HSK 1
查找	cházhǎo	to search for; to look up HSK 4
寻找尋找	xúnzhǎo	to seek; to look for HSK 5
找事	zhǎoshì	to look for employment; to pick a quarrel
找出	zhǎochū	to find; to search out
找到	zhǎodào	to find
找回	zhǎohuí	to retrieve
找见找見	zhǎojiàn	to find (sth one has been looking for)
找钱找錢	zhǎoqián	to give change; to seek funding
找零	zhǎolíng	to give change (after a cash transaction); the change (money) given…

HSK words first (CC-CEDICT).

Practice sheet

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Keep going

HSK 1, in list order: