战 zhàn — to fight; fight; war; battle
人们都希望和平，不要战争。Rén men dōu xī wàng hé píng, bú yào zhàn zhēng.People all hope for peace, not war.
Common words: 战争 (zhàn zhēng)、挑战 (tiǎo zhàn)、战斗 (zhàn dòu)
Meaning Index
Chinese characters meaning "battle"
Learn Chinese characters with the meaning "battle", including 战 (zhàn), 仗 (zhàng). Study pinyin, English meanings, traditional forms, common words…
How to Study This Meaning Group
The English word "battle" covers 2 different Chinese characters — 战 (zhàn), 仗 (zhàng) — and each is its own word with its own feel. These 2 characters do not share a sound — their readings span zhàn, zhàng — so confirm the pinyin and tone for each one separately. The example sentences further down show how 战 and the others are actually used, so you learn them in context rather than as a single translation.
- 战 zhànto fight; fight; war; battleUseful words: 战争, 挑战
- 仗 zhàngbattleUseful words: 打仗, 对仗
Common words for these 2 "battle" characters
Anchor each of these 2 characters in a word you can picture — start with 战 (zhàn) — so "battle" turns into concrete usage instead of a one-to-one translation.
战争zhàn zhēngwar; conflict挑战tiǎo zhànto challenge; to take on a challenge; a challenge战斗zhàn dòuto fight; to engage in combat; struggle; battle打仗dǎ zhàngto fight a battle; to go to war对仗duì zhàngantithesis (two lines of poetry matching in sense and sound); to fight; to wage war开仗kāi zhàngto start a war; to open hostilities
See each character in a sentence
Each character below is shown in a short example sentence with pinyin and an English translation — the quickest way to feel the difference between the 2 ways to say "battle".
仗 zhàng — battle
古时候，两国之间常常打仗。Gǔ shí hou, liǎng guó zhī jiān cháng cháng dǎ zhàng.In ancient times, the two countries often went to war.
Common words: 打仗 (dǎ zhàng)、对仗 (duì zhàng)、开仗 (kāi zhàng)
All 2 characters
Open 战、仗 or any character below to hear it read aloud and see it used in an example sentence.