做 (zuò) is a Chinese character meaning “to do”. It is written from 亻 (person (the form 人 takes on the left)) and 故 (reason; cause; old; former), side by side, and takes 11 strokes.
Build the character for “to do; to make”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
亻 + 故
Left–right structure
Structure from: Kangxi radical assignment 人部 (U+505A) plus hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 eleven-stroke modern glyph inspection: strokes 1-2 match 亻, strokes 3-11 form 故 (3-7 古, 8-11 攵)
Memory aid
A person (亻) stands next to 故 — the old thing (古) being worked on by a hand with a stick (攵). Someone is busy doing and making: 做.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
11 strokes
In real words
- 做饭zuò fànto cook; to prepare a meal做 = zuò
- 做梦zuò mèngto dream; to have a dream做 = zuò
Go deeper
All readings
to do; to make
to do; to make; to produce; to cook; to act as; to be
干、从事某种活动；制作、制造；担任、充当。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 做饭zuò fànto cook; to prepare a meal做 = zuò
- 做梦zuò mèngto dream; to have a dream做 = zuò
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 做 mean?
做 (zuò) means to do; to make; to produce; to cook; to act as; to be.
How do you pronounce 做?
It is pronounced zuò.
What parts is 做 made of?
亻 (person (the form 人 takes on the left)) and 故 (reason; cause; old; former), side by side. The recorded source is: Kangxi radical assignment 人部 (U+505A) plus hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 eleven-stroke modern glyph inspection: strokes 1-2 match 亻, strokes 3-11 form 故 (3-7 古, 8-11 攵). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 做 have?
11. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 做?
人. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.
What words use 做?
Common ones are 做饭 and 做梦. The reading of 做 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.