朝 cháo to face

源How it came to be

The sun coming up among grass, with the moon still in the sky beside it. Both lights at once is dawn. To face somebody comes from the court meetings held at dawn.

用How it is used

• Polyphone: cháo means "to face/toward" or "dynasty", while zhāo means "morning" and only survives in a handful of set idioms.
• As a coverb, cháo means "toward": 朝前走 cháo qián zǒu, "walk forward/toward the front" - similar to 向 xiàng but more colloquial.
• 朝代 cháodài and 王朝 wángcháo both mean "dynasty", used for Chinese historical periods.
• The zhāo reading only appears in fixed four-character idioms like 朝气蓬勃 zhāoqì péngbó ("full of youthful energy") and 有朝一日 yǒuzhāo yírì ("someday") - it isn't a productive reading you use freely.

字Characters built with 朝

• 嘲 to deride
• 潮 tide

词Words with 朝

• 朝代cháodàidynastyHSK 6
• 有朝一日yǒuzhāo-yírìone dayHSK 9
• 朝三暮四zhāosān-mùsìliterally say three in the morning but four in the eveningHSK 9
• 朝夕相处zhāoxī-xiāngchǔto spend all one's time together (idiom)HSK 9
• 朝气蓬勃zhāoqì-péngbófull of youthful energy (idiom)HSK 9
• 王朝wángcháodynastyHSK 9

句Example sentences

• 这间屋子朝西。 Zhè jiān wūzi cháo xī.This room faces west.