叫
to be called; to call out; to tell (someone to)
HSK level
- Pinyin
- jiào
- Part of speech
- verb
- Level
- HSK 1
- Strokes
- 5
- Register
- neutral
- In episodes
- 1
Stroke order for 叫
叫 is written with 5 strokes. The animation replays automatically.
What does 叫 mean?
叫 (jiào) covers three everyday meanings English splits across separate verbs.
First and most common at HSK 1: 'to be called / named' — 我叫李明 ('I'm called Li Ming'). This is how you introduce yourself; the subject is the person and 叫 takes a name directly, no 'is' verb needed. Second: 'to call out, shout, make a noise' — 小狗在叫 ('the puppy is barking').
Third: 'to tell / ask someone to do something,' acting like the English causative 'make/have/get' — 妈妈叫我吃饭 ('Mom told me to come eat'). Context disambiguates: a name after 叫 means 'be called'; a verb after 叫 someone means 'have them do it.' Note that 叫 for naming is informal — for full-name introductions in formal contexts, 我的名字是 or 我姓 is more polished.
Memory hook: 口 (mouth) on the left — what comes out of the mouth: a name, a shout, an order.
Hear 叫 in real episodes
叫 appears in 1 Fluentide podcast episode at natural native speed. Each sentence plays at the easiest difficulty it exists in — switch it to hear the same moment at your level, with full pinyin and English throughout.
在美国，有一个饭店，叫塔可钟。
In the United States, there is a restaurant called Taco Bell.
Top Chefs Cook Fine Food and Reach for Taco Bell After Work
Example sentences
你叫什么名字？
Nǐ jiào shénme míngzi?
What's your name?
spoken
我叫李明。
Wǒ jiào Lǐ Míng.
I'm called Li Ming.
neutral
妈妈叫我吃饭。
Māma jiào wǒ chī fàn.
Mom told me to come eat.
spoken
外面有人在叫你。
Wàimiàn yǒu rén zài jiào nǐ.
Someone outside is calling you.
spoken
Common phrases with 叫
Synonyms
喊 specifically means 'to shout / yell loudly' — only the 'call out' sense of 叫, never 'be named.' 喊我一声 = 'give me a shout'; you can't say 我喊李明.
Don't confuse 叫 with
Frequently asked questions
Related words from the same episodes
Acquire it by listening
Meet 叫 again — in real Chinese, at your level.
You just saw 叫 in 1 episode. Fluentide keeps feeding you news episodes at your level, so this word — and thousands like it — resurface in real sentences until they stick. Full pinyin and translation every time. Free to start.