争 (zhēng) — HSK 4 Recognition Character: Meaning, Radical & Stroke Order
Pronunciation & meaning
Pronounced .
- to dispute
- to fight
- to contend
- to strive
Stroke Order & Practice
Click Animate to see the correct stroke order, then Practice to trace it yourself.
Decomposition
争 breaks down into 3 components arranged as Top + Bottom. Recognizing the components makes the character easier to remember and write.
Radical
The radical of 争 is 亅 — meaning hook. Radicals are the indexing components used in Chinese dictionaries; they often hint at a character's broad meaning category.
How the character is built
争 is an ideographic compound — its meaning is suggested by the combination of its parts rather than by sound. Simplified form of 爭, two hands 爪 and 彐 fighting over 亅.
HSK 4 Words Containing 争
Seen in the Real Exams / 真题例句
争 appears in 16 questions across the 19 mock & official HSK 4 exams on this site. Real exam sentences using it:
Tasks Featuring 争 / 相关任务
Words containing 争 appear in these official HSK 4 task scenarios — study the character in context:
FAQ
What does 争 mean in Chinese?
争 (zhēng) means to dispute, to fight, to contend, to strive. It is one of the 441 characters HSK 4 requires you to recognize when reading (认读字).
How many strokes does 争 have?
争 is written in 6 strokes. Use the practice tool above to see the correct stroke order and trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 争?
The radical of 争 is 亅 (hook).
What is the pinyin for 争?
争 is pronounced zhēng.
What HSK 4 words use 争?
In our HSK 4 vocabulary, 争 appears in 1 word, including 竞争 (jìngzhēng). See the full list above.