ENESFRDE中文

Characters, words, pinyin or English

择 zé to select

How to remember 择: 扌 hand + 𠬤 watch over = to select. With one hand on the cart, the mother has to watch over three kids at the market while she tries to select the ripest melon.

  • 961. most frequent character
  • HSK 3
  • 8 strokes
  • Radical 手

Component breakdown

择 = 扌 hand + 𠬤 watch over

  • 扌 hand
  • 𠬤 watch over
The Gushi story

With one hand on the cart, the mother has to watch over three kids at the market while she tries to select the ripest melon.

How it is used

  • To choose - bookish, almost never used alone in speech; lives in compounds 选择 (xuǎnzé) and 抉择 (juézé, a hard choice).
  • 抉择 is weightier and more formal than 选择: 人生的抉择 (rénshēng de juézé) a crucial life decision.
  • Note the alternate reading zhái in colloquial 择菜 (zhái cài) to sort/trim vegetables.
  • Where you'd casually 'pick,' Chinese uses 选; save 择 for set phrases like 择日 (zérì) to pick an auspicious day.

Words with 择

Example sentences

  • 他选择了否定的答案。 Tā xuǎnzéle fǒudìng de dá'àn.He's chosen the negative response.