挣 (zhèng) is a Chinese character meaning “to earn (money) by working”. It is written from 扌 (hand (radical form)) and 争 (to contend; to fight for), side by side, and takes 9 strokes. It has a second reading, zhēng, which turns up in 挣扎 — here the two readings are two separate things to learn, not one card with two answers.
Build the character for “to earn”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
扌 + 争
Left–right structure
Structure from: 现代字形构形分析（笔画数据核验：⿰扌争，3+6=9 画）；只描述今形，不追溯古字来源
Memory aid
A hand (扌) in the middle of a fight (争): you pull with everything you have — to break free, and to earn what you get.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
9 strokes
In real words
- 挣钱zhèng qiánto earn money; to make money挣 = zhèng
Go deeper
All readings
to earn
to earn (money) by working; to struggle free of something
用劳动换取（钱）；也指用力摆脱束缚。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 挣钱zhèng qiánto earn money; to make money挣 = zhèng
to struggle
to struggle; used in 挣扎 (to strive to free oneself)
用力支撑、挣扎，只用在「挣扎」等少数词里。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 挣扎zhēng zháto struggle; to strive to free oneself挣 = zhēng
Sound component
争 family tone diff
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 挣 mean?
挣 (zhèng) means to earn (money) by working; to struggle free of something.
How do you pronounce 挣?
Its main reading is zhèng. It also has a second reading, zhēng, which only shows up in certain words such as 挣扎 — so the word tells you the reading, not the character on its own.
Why is 挣 sometimes pronounced zhēng?
Because it is a multi-reading character: each reading carries a different sense, and the word decides which one applies. In 挣扎 it is read zhēng.
What parts is 挣 made of?
扌 (hand (radical form)) and 争 (to contend; to fight for), side by side. The recorded source is: 现代字形构形分析（笔画数据核验：⿰扌争，3+6=9 画）；只描述今形，不追溯古字来源. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 挣 have?
9. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 挣?
扌. 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 挣?
Common ones are 挣钱. The reading of 挣 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.