Mnemonic comic for

Translation

zuò = zu + o4: to sit / to take a seat / to take (a bus, airplane etc) / to bear fruit / variant of 座[zuo4]

Mnemonic

A mnemonic is a short, deliberately ridiculous scene, built to be hard to forget. Who appears in it and where it takes place are how the pronunciation is stored; the objects in it stand for the parts the character is written with. That is the Marilyn Method, and the comic below is the same scene, drawn.

Zapatista Zebra (zu) sits (坐) next to a rubber chicken (从) on a clay (土) bench (mnemonic symbol for 坐) in the observatory’s bathroom (o4).

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How to pronounce 坐

MandarinBanana teaches pronunciation with the Marilyn Method: every Pinyin syllable is one initial plus one final, the initial becomes a person, an animal or a deity, and the final becomes a place in your memory palace — with the tone deciding which part of that place the scene happens in. Remember the little story below for each half and the whole syllable comes back with them.

= zu initial

Zu is for Zapatista Zebra.

By Matthias • updated 3 months ago
+ o4 final

In the observatory’s bathroom.

By Matthias • updated 3 months ago

坐 character breakdown

Chinese characters are built out of smaller characters. Each component carries a mnemonic symbol - one concrete object that stands in for it - and a mnemonic story hands those objects to the person and the place that stand for the pronunciation. Learn a component once and every character that reuses it gets easier.

Component Translations
from / through / via / to follow / to obey / to engage in (an activity) / never (in negative sentence) / (Taiwan pr. [zong4]) retainer / assistant / auxiliary / subordinate / related by common paternal grandfather or earlier ancestor
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= tu + Ø3
Tu (ethnic group) / surname Tu
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= tu + Ø3
earth / dust / clay / local / indigenous / crude opium / unsophisticated / one of the eight categories of ancient musical instruments 八音[ba1 yin1]
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rén = r + (e)n2
person; people / CL:個|个[ge4],位[wei4]
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Characters with 坐 as component

zuò = zu + o4
seat / base / stand / (archaic) suffix used in a respectful form of address, e.g. 师座|师座[shi1 zuo4] / CL:個|个[ge4] / classifier for buildings, mountains and similar immovable objects
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cuò = cu + o4
obstructed / to fail / to oppress / to repress / to lower the tone / to bend back / to dampen
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zuò = zu + o4
azole (chemistry)
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Words with 坐

show 122 more
to sit down
to be imprisoned
to ride (in a vehicle)
Sentences with 坐

Want to remember 坐 for good?

Make it your learning target and MandarinBanana works out the shortest route to it: the two sounds its syllable is built from, then the components of the character itself, one short step at a time. No account needed to start.

zuò

to sit / to take a seat / to take (a bus, airplane etc) / to bear fruit / variant of 座[zuo4]

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