早

Tap the pinyin to hear it

early; morning; Good morning!; long ago; prematurely

Sound it out + =

Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

Ideographic compound (会意字)

The first rays 十 of the sun 日

Components 日十

early · Heisig RSH #26

sun + needle — as a component also called: sunflower

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

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

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
早上	zǎo shang	early morning; CL:個\|个[ge4]
早饭	zǎo fàn	breakfast; CL:份[fen4],頓\|顿[dun4],次[ci4],餐[can1]
一大早儿	yī dà zǎo r	erhua variant of 一大早[yi1 da4 zao3]
无利不起早	wú lì bù qǐ zǎo	(saying) people don't get up early unless there is some benefit in doing so; won't lift a …
一大早	yī dà zǎo	at dawn; at first light; first thing in the morning
早点儿	zǎo diǎn r	a bit earlier
时间不早了	shí jiān bù zǎo le	it's getting late; time's getting on
一黑早	yī hēi zǎo	at daybreak
为时过早	wéi shí guò zǎo	premature; too soon
南华早报	Nán huá Zǎo bào	South China Morning Post (newspaper in Hong Kong)
大清早	dà qīng zǎo	early in the morning
一清早	yī qīng zǎo	early in the morning
早上好	zǎo shang hǎo	Good morning!
来得早不如来得巧	lái de zǎo bù rú lái de qiǎo	arriving early can't beat coming at the right time; perfect timing
早产儿	zǎo chǎn ér	premature baby; preemie
早老素	zǎo lǎo sù	presenilins
一早	yī zǎo	early in the morning; at dawn
早市	zǎo shì	morning market
早生贵子	zǎo shēng guì zǐ	give birth to a son soon (propitiatory compliment to newlyweds)
早安	zǎo ān	Good morning!

These characters use 早 as their sound component — compare how they read.

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
早 sound part	zǎo	early; soon; morning
草	cǎo	grass, herbs; straw, thatch