租 (zū) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

租

zū[zu1]Tone 1

to rent / lease / rent

HSK 2

Guru Deep Dive

English · to rent / lease / rent

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:10

Writing Balance Rule: The left side (禾) is narrower and compressed, while the right side (且) is slightly broader to maintain horizontal equilibrium.

1. Meaning

to rent or lease

to hireto charterrent paymentland tax

Verb / NounNeutral#finance#housing#contracts

Sample Usage

我想租一套公寓。
Wǒ xiǎng zū yī tào gōngyù.
I want to rent an apartment.
房租是多少？
Fángzū shì duōshǎo?
How much is the rent?

2. Sound

/[tsu⁵⁵]/Tone: 55

租

zūzu1

¯(55)

=zū

Initial Consonant

Type: Unaspirated Dental Sibilant

Sounds like: ts sound as in 'cats'

Unaspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: No air puff (sounds like 'ds' in English 'cards'). Tissue still.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Tongue tip touches behind the lower front teeth, releasing flat friction.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -u vowel group

Sounds like: oo sound as in 'boot'

Mouth Shape Guide: Pronounce as standalone vowel 'oo'.

Common Learner Trap: Keep vowel quality steady across all 4 tone contours.

Tone

T1 (55)

5 → 5 (55)

1st Tone (High-Flat)

Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 1 stays constantly high and flat, resembling a sustained musical high note.

👂

Listening trap: Do not confuse 'zū' with 'zhū'. 'z' is an alveolar flat sound (like 'ts' in 'cats'), whereas 'zh' is a retroflex sound.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: Tone 1 is a high, steady flat musical note, like holding a high pitch on a piano.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 10 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The left side (禾) is narrower and compressed, while the right side (且) is slightly broader to maintain horizontal equilibrium.

4. Components

Radical 禾 · Grain radical (grain, cereal crop)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 禾 (indicates agricultural produce or grain paid as tax or rent historically)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 且 (original sound: jū / zū)

The grain crop (禾) combined with the platform/ancestor altar symbol (且) originally denoted taxes paid in grain harvests, which evolved into general renting and leasing.

禾 grain / crop
且 phonetic clue / platform

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Originally a compound of 禾 (grain) and 且 (table/altar), representing agricultural taxation where farmers paid grain rent to landlords or the state.

Semantic Evolution: Shifted from grain tax and agricultural rent to broader modern meanings of renting houses, cars, and general leasing.

In ancient China, taxes were frequently paid in physical grain rather than currency.

6. Sinosphere

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: ソ (so)

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

To rent (zū) an apartment, you bring bags of grain (禾) and stack them neatly on the table (且) as your monthly payment.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

组

zǔgroup, teamUses the silk thread radical (纟) instead of grain, meaning threads woven into a group.

祖

zǔancestorUses the spirit/altar radical (礻) on the left for ancestors.

阻

zǔto block, to obstructUses the mound/earth radical (阝) indicating a geographical obstacle.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

组(zǔ)

组 has the silk radical (纟) for groups; 租 has the grain radical (禾) for renting.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

我每个月都要交____。

Clue: fáng zū

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the left radical with similar-looking ones like 纟 (silk) or 礻 (altar), leading to mixing up words like 组 and 祖.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: What does the character 租 mean, and what is its Pinyin with tone?

Production: How do you write the character for 'to rent' (zū) using the grain radical?

租zūto rent / lease / rent

Speed:

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