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HSK 1

做

to do; to make

verbneutral3 episodes
做
zuò4th tone

HSK level

1
2
3
4
5
6
Pinyin
zuò
Part of speech
verb
Level
HSK 1
Strokes
11
Register
neutral
In episodes
3

Stroke order for 做

做 is written with 11 strokes. The animation replays automatically.

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').

Hear 做 in real episodes

做 appears in 3 Fluentide podcast episodes at natural native speed — each with the full Chinese script, pinyin, and line-by-line English translation.

Doctors Said He Would Not Reach 13. The Belgian Creator With Progeria Lived to 28.做 spoken at natural speedbeginnerSpending More and More on AI: Microsoft and Meta's New Bill做 spoken at natural speedeasyFor AI, Microsoft and Meta Are Spending Like Crazy to Buy Computers做 spoken at natural speedbeginner
Browse the full episode library

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

做什么zuò shénmedo what? / what are you doing?
做饭zuò fàncook (a meal)
做作业zuò zuòyèdo homework
做朋友zuò péngyoube friends
做生意zuò shēngyìdo business

Synonyms

作zuò

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gàn

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nòng

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

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.

作zuò

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).

FAQ

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