求 qiú — to seek; to look for; to request; to demand; to beseech
遇到困难时可以向老师求助。Yù dào kùn nan shí kě yǐ xiàng lǎo shī qiú zhù.When you meet difficulties, you can ask the teacher for help.
Common words: 要求 (yāo qiú)、请求 (qǐng qiú)、需求 (xū qiú)
Meaning Index
Chinese characters meaning "to look for"
Learn Chinese characters with the meaning "to look for", including 求 (qiú), 找 (zhǎo), 寻 (xún). Study pinyin, English meanings, traditional forms…
How to Study This Meaning Group
The English word "to look for" covers 3 different Chinese characters — 求 (qiú), 找 (zhǎo), 寻 (xún) — and each is its own word with its own feel. These 3 characters do not share a sound — their readings span qiú, zhǎo, xún — so confirm the pinyin and tone for each one separately. The example sentences further down show how 求 and the others are actually used, so you learn them in context rather than as a single translation.
- 求 qiúto seek; to look for; to request; to demand; to beseechUseful words: 要求, 请求
- 找 zhǎoto try to find; to look for; to call on (sb); to find; to seek; to returnUseful words: 找到, 找出
- 寻 xúnto search; to look for; to seekUseful words: 寻找, 寻求
Common words for these 3 "to look for" characters
Anchor each of these 3 characters in a word you can picture — start with 求 (qiú) — so "to look for" turns into concrete usage instead of a one-to-one translation.
要求yāo qiúto request; to require; requirement; to stake a claim请求qǐng qiúto request; to ask; request (需求xū qiúrequirement; to require; (economics) demand找到zhǎo dàoto find找出zhǎo chūto find; to search out寻找xún zhǎoto seek; to look for寻找xún zhǎoto seek; to look for寻求xún qiúto seek; to look for寻觅xún mìto look for
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 3 ways to say "to look for".
找 zhǎo — to try to find; to look for; to call on (sb); to find; to seek; to return
我在找我的钥匙。Wǒ zài zhǎo wǒ de yào shi.I am looking for my keys.
Common words: 找到 (zhǎo dào)、找出 (zhǎo chū)、寻找 (xún zhǎo)
寻 xún — to search; to look for; to seek
他到处寻找丢失的小狗。Tā dào chù xún zhǎo diū shī de xiǎo gǒu.He searched everywhere for his lost dog.
Common words: 寻找 (xún zhǎo)、寻求 (xún qiú)、寻觅 (xún mì)
All 3 characters
Open 求、找、寻 or any character below to hear it read aloud and see it used in an example sentence.