Chinese word

作家

Pronunciation

Pinyinzuò jiā

Meaning

  • nounwriter

Example

他是个作家，写小说很有名。tā shì gè zuò jiā xiě xiǎo shuō hěn yǒu míng

He is a writer famous for writing novels.

Illustration for 作家 (writer)

More examples

我喜欢这位作家的书。wǒ xǐ huān zhè wèi zuò jiā de shū

I like this writer's books.

Core concept

A person who builds stories and other written works with words.

Common phrases

  • 作家的书zuò jiā de shū

    a writer's books

  • 读作家的书dú zuò jiā de shū

    read a writer's books

  • 喜欢作家的书xǐ huān zuò jiā de shū

    like a writer's books

Similar words

作者zuò zhě: The person responsible for creating a particular written or artistic work.
小说家xiǎo shuō jiā: A writer whose main work is creating novels.
诗人shī rén: A writer who creates poems.
记者jì zhě: A person who reports news by gathering information and writing articles.

Definition in Chinese

指以写作作为主要活动或职业的人，也可泛指从事著述的人。zhǐ yǐ xiě zuò zuò wéi zhǔ yào huó dòng huò zhí yè de rén yě kě fàn zhǐ cóng shì zhù shù de rén

Word origin

作 (zuò, "make") + 家 (jiā, "specialist") presents writing as a person's professional craft.

Usage tips

  • For English speakers, 作家 (zuòjiā, "writer") is narrower than writer because it usually points to literary writing, not news writing.

Other meanings

  • novelistnoun
  • authornoun

Word lists with this word