Meaning
length; long; forever; always; constantly; chief
Chinese: 长度大；读 zhǎng 时表示生长或年长。
Hear the Four Tones
The same syllable “chang” becomes a different word in each tone. 长 is the 2nd tone. Tap any tone to hear a native voice and see its pitch shape.
Stroke Order
Tap Animate to watch the strokes in order, or Practice to trace it yourself.
Common Words
- 长大zhǎng dàto grow up
- 家长jiā zhǎnghead of a household; family head; patriarch; parent or guardian of a child
- 队长duì zhǎngcaptain; team leader
- 校长xiào zhǎng(college, university) president; headmaster
- 市长shì zhǎngmayor
Example Sentence
这条河很长。Zhè tiáo hé hěn cháng.This river is very long.
这Zhèthis条tiáostrip河hériver (CL:条,道)很hěnvery长chánglong。
Go deeper
Where this character comes from
A pictograph of long, flowing hair on an old person leaning on a stick. It means ‘long’ (cháng) and ‘to grow / senior’ (zhǎng). Simplified from 長.
A way to remember it
Long hair streaming down — long, and grown-up.
Easy to confuse with
- 短‘Short’: the opposite of 长 in length.