Meaning
to (be) call(ed)
Chinese: 呼喊、称作或让人做事。
Hear the Four Tones
The same syllable “jiao” becomes a different word in each tone. 叫 is the 4th 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
- 叫作jiào zuòto call; to be called
- 叫好jiào hǎoto applaud; to cheer
- 叫板jiào bǎnto signal the musicians (in Chinese opera, by prolonging a spoken word before attacking a song); (coll.) to challenge
- 叫道jiào dàoto call; to shout
- 叫法jiào fǎterm; name; way of referring to sb or sth
Example Sentence
妈妈叫我早点儿回家。Mā ma jiào wǒ zǎo diǎnr huí jiā.Mom told me to come home early.
妈妈mā mamama叫jiàoto shout我wǒI早点儿zǎo diǎn ra bit earlier回家huí jiāto return home。
Go deeper
Where this character comes from
The mouth radical 口 (meaning) plus 丩 (jiū, sound): a sound from the mouth — ‘to shout / call’.
A way to remember it
A mouth letting out a cry — to call.
Easy to confuse with
- 吖‘(exclamation)’: also a mouth (口) plus a small element on the right — many 口-words look alike, so read the right side carefully.