照

Tap the pinyin to hear it

according to; in accordance with; to shine; to illuminate; to reflect; to look at (one's reflection); to take (a photo); photo; as requested; as before

Make a writing worksheet

HSK 3.0: Level 2
Old HSK: Level 3
Strokes: 13
Radical: 火 +9
Structure: Top–bottom 上下
Traditional: 照
Common rank: #598
Unicode: U+7167

Sound it out + =

Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

How 照 is formed

Phono-semantic compound (形声字)

灬 meaning “fire” + 昭 sound ( zhāo )

Components 昭灬

How to remember it

illuminate · Heisig RSH #178

昭 evident + cooking fire

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

Words with 照

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

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
大头照	dà tóu zhào	head-and-shoulders photo (esp. a formal one used in a passport, ID card etc)
日照市	Rì zhào Shì	Rizhao, prefecture-level city in Shandong Province 山東省\|山东省[Shan1 dong1 Sheng3]
照相机	zhào xiàng jī	camera; CL:台[tai2],部[bu4],架[jia4]
正电子发射断层照相术	zhèng diàn zǐ fā shè duàn céng zhào xiāng shù	positron emission tomography (PET)
电照明	diàn zhào míng	electric lighting
回光反照	huí guāng fǎn zhào	variant of 回光返照[hui2 guang1 fan3 zhao4]
阳光普照	yáng guāng pǔ zhào	(idiom) sunlight shines over all things; drenched in sunlight
数码照相机	shù mǎ zhào xiàng jī	digital camera
福星高照	fú xīng gāo zhào	lucky star in the ascendant (idiom); a lucky sign
光照度	guāng zhào dù	illuminance (physics)
单色照片	dān sè zhào piàn	monochrome photo; black and white picture
照片子	zhào piàn zi	to take an X-ray
心照	xīn zhào	to have a tacit understanding
立体照片	lì tǐ zhào piàn	three-dimensional photo
无照	wú zhào	without a license; without a permit
照会	zhào huì	a diplomatic note; letter of understanding or concern exchanged between governments
照单全收	zhào dān quán shōu	to accept without question; to take sth at face value
照发	zhào fā	approved for distribution; to provide (wages etc) as usual (e.g. while an employee is on m…
照面	zhào miàn	to meet face-to-face
长照	cháng zhào	(Tw) (social welfare) long-term care (abbr. for 長期照顧\|长期照顾[chang2 qi1 zhao4 gu5])

Examples & usage

Real sentences with 照 — read them aloud, then paste your own into the converter.

他给我拍了一张照片。

Tā gěi wǒ pāi le yí zhāng zhàopiàn.

He took a photo of me.
请帮我照顾一下我的猫。

Qǐng bāng wǒ zhàogù yíxià wǒ de māo.

Please look after my cat for a bit.

Usage tip: 照最常见的两个词是照片 (photo) 和照顾 (to look after) — 一个是名词用法，一个是动词用法。