Chinese word

抄

Pronunciation

Pinyinchāo

Meaning

  • verbcopy down

Example

我在抄笔记。wǒ zài chāo bǐ jì

I am copying down notes.

Illustration for 抄 (copy down)

More examples

她用笔把课文抄下来，方便背诵。tā yòng bǐ bǎ kè wén chāo xià lái fāng biàn bèi sòng

She copied down the lesson text with a pen to make it easier to memorize.

Core concept

Words move from an existing source onto a new page, either as useful notes or as someone else's work presented as one's own.

Common phrases

  • 抄课文chāo kè wén

    copy down the lesson text

  • 抄资料chāo zī liào

    copy down the materials

  • 抄笔记chāo bǐ jì

    copy down notes

Similar words

记jì: Write down information or events so they can be remembered later.
复印fù yìn: Copy the contents of a paper using a copier or printer.
抄袭chāo xí: Copy someone else's writing or work without permission and present it as one's own.
抄写chāo xiě: Copy written words by hand.

Definition in Chinese

用手把别处的文字或要点写在自己的纸上，常用于记录、摘录或整理资料yòng shóu bǎ bié chù de wén zì huò yào diǎn xiě zài zì jǐ de zhǐ shàng cháng yòng yú jì lù zhāi lù huò zhéng lǐ zī liào

Word origin

抄 (chāo, "copy or extract") developed from an older practice of selecting passages from a longer text and writing them out, which explains its note-taking and plagiarism senses.

Usage tips

  • The object sets the social meaning: 抄作业 (chāo zuòyè, "copy homework") usually signals dishonest schoolwork, unlike copying useful information for study.

Other meanings

  • plagiarizeverb

Opposites

Related words

Word lists with this word