Pinyin Syllable

Chinese characters pronounced zhang

Learn common Chinese characters pronounced zhang, including 张 zhāng, 章 zhāng, 掌 zhǎng, 障 zhàng, 丈 zhàng. Compare tones, meanings, traditional forms, words…

How to Pronounce This Syllable

For zhang, curl the tongue back on zh and join it smoothly to ang; keep it as a single syllable and hold the tone steady.

Initial zh

Put the tongue slightly curled back. Do not pronounce it like English “j”.

Final ang

Let the sound move toward the back of the mouth.

Study Tip

Start with the most common characters (张 zhāng, 章 zhāng, 掌 zhǎng, 障 zhàng, 丈 zhàng) and lock in their tones. 11 common characters share the sound zhang, so lean on words to tell the rest apart.

Learn by Tone

zhang turns up here with 3 different tones; a change of tone usually means a different character, so the groups below are split by tone.

1st tone

Taking the 1st tone here: 张, 章 (2 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.

张zhāng(a measure word); (a surname); open up 章zhāng(surname); chapter; seal; section

3rd tone

Taking the 3rd tone here: 掌, 涨 (2 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.

掌zhǎngin charge of; palm of hand 涨zhǎng / zhàngto rise (of prices; rivers); to swell; distend

4th tone

Taking the 4th tone here: 障, 丈, 帐… (7 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.

障zhàngto block; to hinder; to obstruct 丈zhàngten feet 帐zhàngaccount; mosquito net; tent; curtain; debt; credit 仗zhàngbattle 胀zhàngdropsical; swollen; to swell; to be bloated 账zhàngaccount

Common Words With This Sound

Seeing zhang inside whole words makes it clear which character is meant — here are common ones.

紧张jǐn zhāngnervous; keyed up; intense; tense 主张zhǔ zhāngto advocate; to stand for; view; position 慌张huāng zhāngflustered; agitated 文章wén zhāngarticle; essay; literary works; writings 规章guī zhāngrule; regulation 章程zhāng chéngrules; regulations; constitution; statute 鼓掌gǔ zhǎngto applaud; to clap 掌握zhǎng wòto grasp (often fig.); to control; to seize (initiative, opportunity, destiny); to master 掌声zhǎng shēngapplause 障碍zhàng àibarrier; obstruction; hindrance; impediment

Characters

11 common characters in this group.

Character#1 张 zhāng(a measure word); (a surname); open upTraditional: 張 Character#2 章 zhāng(surname); chapter; seal; sectionTraditional: 章 Character#3 掌 zhǎngin charge of; palm of handTraditional: 掌 Character#4 障 zhàngto block; to hinder; to obstructTraditional: 障 Character#5 丈 zhàngten feetTraditional: 丈 Character#6 帐 zhàngaccount; mosquito net; tent; curtain; debt; creditTraditional: 帳 Character#7 仗 zhàngbattleTraditional: 仗 Character#8 涨 zhǎng / zhàngto rise (of prices; rivers); to swell; distendTraditional: 漲 Character#9 胀 zhàngdropsical; swollen; to swell; to be bloatedTraditional: 脹 Character#10 账 zhàngaccountTraditional: 賬 Character#11 杖 zhàngcane; walking stickTraditional: 杖