着火 zháohuǒ to catch fire
How to remember 着火: 着 ongoing action (verb suffix) + 火 fire (Kangxi radical 86) = to catch fire.
Characters
How it is used
- Verb-object meaning 'to catch fire'; here 着 is read zháo ('to ignite/catch'), not the progressive particle zhe or the zhuó of 穿着 ('wearing').
- 房子着火了 (fángzi zháohuǒle) - The house caught fire.
- This is one of the key places to remember 着's other readings: zhe marks ongoing action (他坐着), zhuó means 'to apply/wear' (着装).
- Common in news and emergency contexts; the noun for the event itself is 火灾 (huǒzāi, a fire disaster).
Example sentences
- 房子着火了。 Fángzi zháohuǒ le.The house was in flames.
- 纸容易着火。 Zhǐ róngyì zháohuǒ.Paper burns easily.
- 木质房屋很容易着火。 Mùzhì fángwū hěn róngyì zháohuǒ.A wooden building can easily catch fire.