察

Tap the pinyin to hear it

to examine; to inquire; to observe; to inspect; to look into; obvious; clearly evident

Make a writing worksheet

HSK 3.0: Level 3
Old HSK: Level 4
Strokes: 14
Radical: 宀 +11
Structure: Top–bottom 上下
Traditional: 察
Common rank: #757
Unicode: U+5BDF

Sound it out + =

Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

How 察 is formed

Phono-semantic compound (形声字)

宀 meaning “roof” + 祭 sound ( jì )

Components 宀祭

How to remember it

scrutinize · Heisig RSH #911

house + 祭 offer sacrifice

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

Words with 察

The most common words first — learning a character in context makes it stick.

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
高尔察克	Gāo ěr chá kè	Aleksandr Kolchak (1874-1920), Russian naval commander, head of anti-Bolshevik White force…
察布查尔县	Chá bù chá ěr Xiàn	see 察布查爾錫伯自治縣\|察布查尔锡伯自治县[Cha2 bu4 cha2 er3 Xi1 bo2 Zi4 zhi4 xian4]
乌兰察布市	Wū lán chá bù Shì	Ulanqab, prefecture-level city in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region 內蒙古自治區\|内蒙古自治区[Nei4 meng…
中国人民武装警察部队	Zhōng guó Rén mín Wǔ zhuāng Jǐng chá Bù duì	Chinese People's Armed Police Force (PAP, aka CAPF)
察合台	Chá gě tái	Chagatai (died 1241), a son of Genghis Khan
察布查尔	Chá bù chá ěr	see 察布查爾錫伯自治縣\|察布查尔锡伯自治县[Cha2 bu4 cha2 er3 Xi1 bo2 Zi4 zhi4 xian4]
察哈尔	Chá hā ěr	Chahar Province (former province in North China existing from 1912-1936)
乌兰察布	Wū lán chá bù	see 烏蘭察布市\|乌兰察布市[Wu1 lan2 cha2 bu4 Shi4]
观察人士	guān chá rén shì	observer
国家监察委员会	Guó jiā Jiān chá Wěi yuán huì	National Supervision Commission of the PRC, anti-corruption agency established in 2018
电子警察	diàn zǐ jǐng chá	traffic camera; speed camera; closed-circuit TV police surveillance
察布查尔锡伯自治县	Chá bù chá ěr Xī bó Zì zhì xiàn	Qapqal Xibe Autonomous County, in Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture 伊犁哈薩克自治州\|伊犁哈萨克自治州[Yi1 l…
察言观色	chá yán guān sè	to weigh up sb's words and observe their facial expression (idiom); to discern what sb thi…
人权观察	Rén quán Guān chá	Human Rights Watch (HRW), New York-based non-governmental organization
人民警察	rén mín jǐng chá	civil police; PRC police
信用观察	xìn yòng guān chá	credit watch
体察	tǐ chá	to experience; to observe
察雅县	Chá yǎ Xiàn	Zhag'yab, a county in Chamdo City 昌都市[Chang1 du1 Shi4], Tibet
肉眼观察	ròu yǎn guān chá	observation by naked eye
交通警察	jiāo tōng jǐng chá	traffic police

Sound family

Characters sharing the sound component 祭 — compare how they read.

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
祭 sound part	jì	to sacrifice to, to worship
瘵	zhài	a wasting disease
縩	cài	the sound of fabric rustling
傺	chì	to hinder; to detain