Chinese word dictionary

挣扎

zhēngzhá · to struggle

Practice word

Word information

Simplified挣扎

Traditional掙扎

Pinyinzhēngzhá

Part of speech动

HSK 3.07-9

HSK 2.06

Character breakdown

Study each Hanzi separately, then return to the complete word so pronunciation, meaning, and movement stay connected.

挣zhēng

to struggle, to strive, to endeavor

扎zhā

to bind, to wrap; to pierce; to stop

How to learn 挣扎

Listen once without reading, repeat the pinyin with its tones, then write every character in sequence. Finally, recall the complete meaning instead of memorizing each character as an isolated translation.

When the word appears in a sentence, check whether its part of speech and meaning match the definition shown here. Chinese words can change nuance with context.

Related vocabulary

Words with the same characters

Compare how a familiar Hanzi changes meaning inside another word.

挣zhèng

to struggle to get free; to strive to acquire; to make (money)

扎zhā

(of troops) to be stationed (at); Taiwan pr. [zha2]; to prick; to run or stick (a needle etc) into; mug or jug used for serving beer (loanword from "jar"); variant of 紮|扎[zha1]

包扎bāozā

to wrap up; to pack; to bind up (a wound); variant of 包紮|包扎[bao1 za1]

挣钱zhèng qián

to make money

扎根zhāgēn

to take root

扎实zhāshi

strong; solid; sturdy; firm; practical; variant of 扎實|扎实[zha1 shi5]