VividHanzi · Dictionary

着 zhe

HSK 2 word · traditional 著

Meanings

• aspect particle indicating action in progress or ongoing state

Characters

• 着 zhe, zháo: aspect particle indicating action in progress or ongoing state

Grammar: Ongoing states with 着

Verb + 着

着 after a verb says that an action, or the state it leaves behind, keeps going: 穿着 is "wearing", 亮着 is "is on". It describes how things are at a moment rather than reporting an event. In words like 着急 and 睡着 the same character is read zháo and is not this particle.

Example sentences

着火了！
Fire!
Tatoeba #1958702 by LanguageExpert (CC BY 2.0 FR)

听着。
Listen.
Tatoeba #5092137 by mirrorvan (CC BY 2.0 FR)

看着我
Look at me.
Tatoeba #12615453 by Enzo (CC BY 2.0 FR)

Meanings and readings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0).