Learn Chinese Characters

Meaning

to form; compose; make up; group; to organize; cord

Chinese: 组合、小组或组织。

Hear the Four Tones

The same syllable “zu” becomes a different word in each tone. 组 is the 3rd 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

  • 小组xiǎo zǔgroup
  • 组成zǔ chéngto form; to make up; to constitute
  • 组长zǔ zhǎnggroup leader
  • 组合zǔ héto assemble; to combine; to compose; combination
  • 分组fēn zǔto divide into groups; group (formed from a larger group); subgroup; (computer networking) packet

Example Sentence

老师把我们分成了四个小组。Lǎo shī bǎ wǒ men fēn chéng le sì ge xiǎo zǔ.The teacher divided us into four small groups.

老师Lǎo shīteacher(marks the object)我们wǒ menwe分成fēn chéngto divide (into)le(completed action)fourge(measure word)小组xiǎo zǔgroup

Go deeper

Where this character comes from

The silk radical 纟 plus 且 (sound): originally a woven cord/ribbon — ‘to organize, form, group; a group, team, set; the measure word for sets’ (组织, 小组, 一组). Simplified from 組.

A way to remember it

Threads (纟) woven together — to form a group, a set.