How to write 走 (zǒu, “to walk”)

走 (zǒu), an HSK 2 character, means “to walk”, “to go” and “to run”. It is HSK 2 in the 2025 syllabus, up from level 1 in the 2021 standard. Make Me a Hanzi uses it in 23 other characters, such as 起 (“to rise”) and 超 (“to exceed”). On its own it is an HSK 2 word; it also forms 走路 (“to walk”), 行走 (“to walk”) and 走廊 (“corridor”). Japanese reads it sou, “run”, as a JLPT N4 kanji.

Pinyin: zǒu
Strokes: 7
HSK: 2
Radical: 走 (“to walk”)

Stroke by stroke

As a top-bottom character it splits into 土 (“earth”), strokes 1–3; 止 (“to stop”), strokes 4–7, written the top first.

Horizontal ㇐top leftrightwards
Vertical ㇑topdownwards
Horizontal ㇐leftrightwards
Vertical ㇑centerdownwards
Horizontal ㇐centerrightwards
Left-falling stroke ㇒leftdown and left
Right-falling stroke ㇏centerdown and right → rightwards

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

走 inside other characters

Make Me a Hanzi count: 23 characters.

Trace it

Follow the numbers. Tracing help

Pinyin and meaning

Pinyin	Meanings	Traditional	In words
zǒu third tone	to walk; to go; to run; to move (of vehicle); to visit	—	走路行走走廊出走

HSK 2025 syllabus: level 2
2021 standard: level 1
HSK 2.0: in a level 2 word
Words with it: 193 in CC-CEDICT

Words with 走

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
走	zǒu	to walk; to go HSK 2
走路	zǒulù	to walk; to go on foot HSK 2
行走	xíngzǒu	to walk HSK 5
走廊	zǒuláng	corridor; aisle HSK 6
出走	chūzǒu	to leave home; to go off HSK 7-9
走过场走過場	zǒuguòchǎng	to go through the motions HSK 7-9
走向	zǒuxiàng	direction; strike HSK 7-9
走势走勢	zǒushì	tendency; trend HSK 7-9
走漏	zǒulòu	to leak (information, secrets etc); to smuggle and evade tax HSK 7-9
走私	zǒusī	to smuggle HSK 7-9

HSK words first (CC-CEDICT).

Practice sheet

Print at 100%. Several characters: worksheet maker.

Keep going

Contain it:

HSK 2, in list order: