走 (zǒu) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

走

zǒu[zou3]Tone 3

to walk, to go, to leave

HSK 1

Guru Deep Dive

English · to walk, to go, to leave

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Topology:Top-bottom

Strokes:7

Writing Balance Rule: The top component (土 or similar ancient shape) sits lightly and balanced on top of the sweeping bottom component (夭 or stretching legs), ensuring the vertical hook at the bottom right anchors the entire character.

1. Meaning

to walk or to go

to runto move of a vehicleto visitto leave or go awayto die (euphemism)from or throughaway in compound verbsto change shape, form, or meaning

VerbNeutral#motion#travel#actions#life events

Sample Usage

我们走吧。
wǒ men zǒu ba.
Let's go.
他走路去学校。
tā zǒu lù qù xué xiào.
He walks to school.

2. Sound

/[t͡soʊ̯²¹⁴]/Tone: 214

走

zǒuzou3

ˇ(214)

=zǒu

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 placed against the back of the lower front teeth, releasing air with zero puff.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -o vowel group

Sounds like: ou rhymes with 'oh' or 'soul'

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

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

Tone

T3 (214)

2 → 1 → 4 (214)

3rd Tone (Low-Dipping)

Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 3 dips low and rises, similar to saying 'What?' in English when asking for repetition in surprise.

Sandhi: When followed by another Tone 3 syllable, zǒu changes to a Tone 2 (35) sound, e.g., zǒu lù becomes zóu lù.

👂

Listening trap: Do not confuse the affricate initial 'z-' (ts) with the retroflex initial 'zh-' (j/dr sound).

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: Trace a checkmark in the air: dip down from your chest to your stomach, then sweep up to your chin.

3. Writing

Topology: Top-bottom · Strokes: 7 strokes

4. Components

Radical 走 · Walking Radical (motion, walking, running)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 走 (Entire character acts as its own radical and primary semantic indicator of movement.)

Originally depicted a person (大) actively swinging their arms and running or marching with big strides (stop at the bottom).

土 Top portion representing the upper body or banner of a runner
夭 Bottom portion depicting twisting legs in motion

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

2· Phonetic Root: 走 (zǒu)

5. History

Liushu category: Pictogram (象形)

Origin: In Oracle Bone script, 走 was drawn as a person with outstretched arms running energetically, combining an upper body shape with running legs.

Semantic Evolution: From the original physical action of running and walking, it extended to mean leaving, traveling, running a mechanism, and eventually acting as a directional complement meaning 'away'.

In classical Chinese, 走 primarily meant 'to run', whereas modern Mandarin uses it mostly for 'to walk' or 'to go'.

6. Sinosphere

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

Imagine a person running so fast on their toes (zǒu) that their shoes leave a smoky trail. They are off to 'walk' and 'go' away!

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

赳

jiūmartial, valiantUses 走 as a component combined with 几.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

足(zú)

足 means foot (noun), whereas 走 means to walk or go (verb).

左(zuǒ)

左 has a 工 component inside and means 'left', whereas 走 has a flowing bottom leg stroke for walking.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

我们现在要___了，再见！

Clue: zǒu

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the meaning of 走 (to walk/go) with English 'run', forgetting that in modern Mandarin it primarily means walking or leaving rather than sprinting.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: When you see the character 走, what is its primary meaning and Pinyin?

Production: How do you write the character for 'to walk / to go' (zǒu)?

走zǒuto walk, to go, to leave

Speed:

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