咋 (zǎ) is a Chinese character meaning “how”. It is written from 口 (mouth) and 乍 (suddenly; abruptly (also the sound part in 作, 昨, 炸)), side by side, and takes 8 strokes.
Build the character for “how”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
口 + 乍
Left–right structure
Structure from: 说文解字: 咋，齧也。从口乍聲；并以 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验（口 3 画 + 乍 5 画 = 8 画）
Memory aid
A mouth (口) that blurts something out all of a sudden (乍) — that is the sound of someone asking "how come?"
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
8 strokes
In real words
- 咋样zǎ yànghow about it; how is it咋 = zǎ
- 咋办zǎ bànwhat should we do咋 = zǎ
Go deeper
All readings
how
how; why; what (colloquial, common in northern speech)
怎么；如何。口语用字，多见于北方话。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 咋样zǎ yànghow about it; how is it咋 = zǎ
- 咋办zǎ bànwhat should we do咋 = zǎ
Rare readings, not taught: zhā, zé
Sound component
乍 family onset shift
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 咋 mean?
咋 (zǎ) means how; why; what (colloquial, common in northern speech).
How do you pronounce 咋?
It is pronounced zǎ.
What parts is 咋 made of?
口 (mouth) and 乍 (suddenly; abruptly (also the sound part in 作, 昨, 炸)), side by side. The recorded source is: 说文解字: 咋，齧也。从口乍聲；并以 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验（口 3 画 + 乍 5 画 = 8 画）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 咋 have?
8. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 咋?
口. 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 咋?
Common ones are 咋样 and 咋办. The reading of 咋 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.