Where 超 comes from
run
- Meaning part
- 走 (“to walk”)
- Sound part
- 召 (“to call together”)
How to write 超 (chāo, “to exceed”)
超 (chāo), an HSK 1 character, means “to exceed”, “to overtake” and “to surpass”. It is HSK 1 in the 2025 syllabus, down from level 2 in the 2021 standard. It pairs a meaning part, 走 (“to walk”), with a sound part, 召 (“to call together”). On its own it is an HSK 5 word; it also forms 超市 (“supermarket”), 超过 (“to surpass”) and 超出 (“to exceed”). Japanese reads it chou, “transcend”, as a JLPT N2 kanji.
- Pinyin
- chāo
- Strokes
- 12
- HSK
- 1
- Radical
- 走 (“to walk”)
Stroke by stroke
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
As a bottom-left wrap character it splits into 走 (“to walk”, the radical), strokes 1–7; 召 (“to call together”), strokes 8–12, written the wrap first.
- top leftrightwards
- top leftdownwards
- leftrightwards
- leftdownwards
- Dotcentera dot
- leftdown and left
- leftdown and right → rightwards
- toprightwards → downwards → leftwards
- topdown and right → down and left
- centerdownwards
- centerrightwards → down and left
- bottomrightwards
Japanese and Chinese
The two models differ in shape, so our comparison does not claim an order; compare the numbered frames yourself (12 strokes in Japanese, 12 strokes in Chinese).
Trace it
Follow the numbers. Tracing help
Pinyin and meaning
| Pinyin | Meanings | Traditional | In words |
|---|---|---|---|
| chāo first tone | to exceed; to overtake; to surpass; to transcend; to pass | — | 超市 超过 超出 超级 |
- HSK 2025 syllabus
- level 1
- 2021 standard
- level 2
- HSK 2.0
- in a level 3 word
- Words with it
- 125 in CC-CEDICT
Words with 超
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 超 | chāo | to exceed; to overtake HSK 5 |
| 超市 | chāoshì | supermarket (abbr. for 超级市场 (chāojíshìchǎng)) HSK 1 |
| 超过 超過 | chāoguò | to surpass; to exceed HSK 4 |
| 超出 | chāochū | to exceed; to overstep HSK 5 |
| 超级 超級 | chāojí | super-; ultra- HSK 5 |
| 超速 | chāosù | to exceed the speed limit; to speed HSK 5 |
| 高超 | gāochāo | excellent; superlative HSK 6 |
| 超越 | chāoyuè | to surpass; to exceed HSK 6 |
| 超前 | chāoqián | to be ahead of one's time; to surpass or outdo one's predecessors HSK 7-9 |
| 超标 超標 | chāobiāo | to cross the limit; to be over the accepted norm HSK 7-9 |
HSK words first (CC-CEDICT).
Practice sheet
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HSK 1, in list order: