做
to do; to make
zuò
What does 做 mean?
做 (zuò) is the general Chinese verb for 'to do / make' — used for activities, work, and creating things. It covers a wide semantic range: 做作业 (do homework), 做饭 (cook, literally 'make food'), 做生意 (do business), 做朋友 (be friends, literally 'do friends'). The most common HSK 1 question using 做 is 你在做什么？ ('what are you doing?'). The trickiest thing for beginners is that 做 has a near-homophone 作 (also zuò, same tone), which overlaps heavily in meaning. Modern Chinese has split the work roughly so that 做 handles concrete, physical actions (cook, make a cake, do a task) while 作 handles abstract or compound expressions (作业 homework, 工作 work, 作家 author). When in doubt for everyday speech, 做 is safer. 做 also serves as a copula in some patterns: 当老师 / 做老师 ('be / work as a teacher').
Character breakdown
to do; to make (人 person radical on the left — what people do)
Memory hook: 做 has the 人 (person) radical on the left — 做 is what a person does. Action verb, person doing.
Example sentences
你在做什么？
Nǐ zài zuò shénme?
What are you doing?
spoken
妈妈在做饭。
Māma zài zuò fàn.
Mom is cooking.
spoken
我们做朋友吧。
Wǒmen zuò péngyou ba.
Let's be friends.
spoken
我做完作业了。
Wǒ zuò wán zuòyè le.
I've finished my homework.
neutral
Common phrases with 做
Hear it in real Fluentide episodes
做 appears in 7 podcast episodes at natural native speed, with full Chinese script, pinyin, and line-by-line English translation.
Synonyms
作 is the formal / written twin of 做, same pronunciation and tone. Use 作 in fixed compounds (工作 work, 作业 homework, 作家 author, 作为 as). For physical, everyday actions in speech (做饭, 做事), use 做.
干 ('to do / work') is colloquial and northern-flavored. 你在干什么？ ('what are you doing?') sounds casual or even slightly impatient. 做 is the neutral choice; 干 marks informality.
弄 ('to handle / fiddle with / mess with') is informal and often vague — used when you don't want to specify the action ('I'll just 弄 it'). 做 is specific to making or doing; 弄 is the catch-all 'deal with it' verb.
Don't confuse 做 with
坐 (zuò, same tone, same pronunciation, similar look) means 'to sit.' 我做飞机 is wrong — you want 我坐飞机 ('I take the plane'). The two are the most common HSK 1 sound-alike confusion. Memorize: 坐 has 土 (earth) at the bottom = sitting down on the ground; 做 has 人 (person) on the left = a person doing something.
Same sound, overlapping meaning. 做 handles concrete physical actions; 作 handles abstract compounds. When unsure in speech, 做 is safer; in writing, look up which compound the phrase belongs to (e.g., always 工作, always 做饭).