Chinese word

叫

Pronunciation

Pinyinjiào

Meaning

  • verbbe called

Example

这个孩子叫小明。zhè ge hái zi jiào xiǎo míng

This child is called Xiaoming.

Illustration for 叫 (be called)

More examples

有人在夜里叫救命。yǒu rén zài yè lǐ jiào jiù mìng

Someone is shouting "Help!" at night.

Core concept

A voice reaches another person, either carrying a name or summoning someone.

Common phrases

  • 大声叫dà shēng jiào

    shout loudly

  • 叫医生jiào yī shēng

    call a doctor

  • 叫我一声jiào wǒ yì shēng

    call out to me once

Similar words

叫做jiào zuò: Be known by a stated name or title.
喊hǎn: Call out loudly so that someone notices.

Definition in Chinese

表示被别人称呼某人的名字，也可以表示发出声音以呼唤或大声喊叫。biǎo shì bèi bié rén chēng hū mǒu rén de míng zì yě ké yǐ biǎo shì fā chū shēng yīn yǐ hū huàn huò dà shēng hǎn jiào

Word origin

叫 (jiào, "be called, call, or shout") combines 口 (kǒu, "mouth"), which points to speech, with 丩 (jiū, "tangle"), which mainly supplies its pronunciation.

Usage tips

  • The same verb works for a person's name and for calling out, so the words around it show whether the sentence identifies someone or summons them.

Other meanings

  • callverb
  • shoutverb

Related words

  • 叫做jiào zuòbe calledverb

Word lists with this word