坐 (zuò) is a Chinese character meaning “to sit”. It is written from 从 (to follow; two people one behind the other) and 土 (earth; soil), one above the other, and takes 7 strokes.
Build the character for “to sit”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
从 + 土
Top–bottom structure
Structure from: Unicode U+5750 modern glyph decomposition, verified against hanzi-writer-data 坐 (7 strokes = 人2 + 人2 + 土3)
Memory aid
Two people (从) have settled down on the ground (土). Both parts are really in this character — picture them sitting there.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
7 strokes
In real words
- 坐下zuò xiàto sit down坐 = zuò
- 坐车zuò chēto ride in a vehicle; to go by bus or car坐 = zuò
- 坐牢zuò láoto be in prison坐 = zuò
- 乘坐chéng zuòto ride in; to travel by坐 = zuò
- 坐垫zuò diànseat cushion坐 = zuò
Go deeper
All readings
to sit
to sit; to sit down; to take a seat; to travel by (a vehicle)
把臀部放在椅子等物体上支撑身体；也表示乘坐交通工具。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 坐下zuò xiàto sit down坐 = zuò
- 坐车zuò chēto ride in a vehicle; to go by bus or car坐 = zuò
- 坐牢zuò láoto be in prison坐 = zuò
- 乘坐chéng zuòto ride in; to travel by坐 = zuò
- 坐垫zuò diànseat cushion坐 = zuò
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 坐 mean?
坐 (zuò) means to sit; to sit down; to take a seat; to travel by (a vehicle).
How do you pronounce 坐?
It is pronounced zuò.
What parts is 坐 made of?
从 (to follow; two people one behind the other) and 土 (earth; soil), one above the other. The recorded source is: Unicode U+5750 modern glyph decomposition, verified against hanzi-writer-data 坐 (7 strokes = 人2 + 人2 + 土3). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 坐 have?
7. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 坐?
土. 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 坐?
Common ones are 坐下 and 坐车. The reading of 坐 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.