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钟

Tap the pinyin to hear it

handleless cup; goblet; (bound form) to concentrate (one's affection etc); variant of 鐘|钟[zhong1]

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HSK 3.0
Level 2
Old HSK
Level 1
Strokes
9
Radical
金 +4
Structure
Left–right 左右
Traditional
鍾
Common rank
#939
Unicode
U+949F

Sound it out + =

Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

How 钟 is formed

Phono-semantic compound (形声字)

钅 meaning “metal” + 中 sound ( zhōng )

Components 钅 中

How to remember it

bell · Heisig RSH #280

metal + 中 middle

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

Words with 钟

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

WordPinyinMeaning
台上一分钟,台下十年功 tái shàng yī fēn zhōng , tái xià shí nián gōng ten years of practice for one minute on the stage (idiom)
三分钟热度 sān fēn zhōng rè dù brief period of enthusiasm; flash in the pan
数字时钟 shù zì shí zhōng digital clock
钟山县 Zhōng shān Xiàn Zhongshan, a county in Hezhou City 賀州市|贺州市[He4 zhou1 Shi4], Guangxi
钟山区 Zhōng shān Qū Zhongshan, a district of Liupanshui City 六盤水市|六盘水市[Liu4 pan2 shui3 Shi4], Guizhou
一见钟情 yī jiàn zhōng qíng to fall in love at first sight (idiom)
生物钟 shēng wù zhōng biological clock
分分钟 fēn fēn zhōng any minute now; in next to no time; at every minute; constantly
大本钟 Dà běn Zhōng Big Ben
钟点工 zhōng diǎn gōng hourly worker; hourly job
定时钟 dìng shí zhōng timer; timing clock; alarm clock
数字钟 shù zì zhōng digital clock
原子钟 yuán zǐ zhōng atomic clock
情有独钟 qíng yǒu dú zhōng to have a special fondness (for sth)
钟万学 Zhōng Wàn xué Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (1966-), Indonesian politician, governor of Jakarta (2014-)
老态龙钟 lǎo tài lóng zhōng (idiom) doddering; senile
钟点房 zhōng diǎn fáng hotel room rented at an hourly rate
时钟座 Shí zhōng zuò Horologium (constellation)
钟山 Zhōng shān see 鐘山縣|钟山县[Zhong1 shan1 Xian4]; see 鐘山區|钟山区[Zhong1 shan1 Qu1]
钟头 zhōng tóu (coll.) hour

Sound family

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

CharacterPinyinMeaning
中 sound part zhōng central; center, middle; amidst; to hit (target), to attain; China; Chinese
虫 chóng insect, worm; mollusk
种 zhǒng race, kind, breed; seed; to plant
冲 chōng wash, rinse, flush; dash; soar
忠 zhōng loyalty, devotion, fidelity
肿 zhǒng swelling; swollen; to swell
盅 zhōng small cup or bowl
忡 chōng sad, grieving; distressed, uneasy