争(zhēng)

HSK 36 strokesTrad. 爭

to strive for

Print a 争 worksheet PDFPractice writing 争

Stroke order animation

Character information

Pinyin
zhēng
Meaning
to strive for; to vie for; to argue or debate; deficient or lacking (dialect); how or what (literary)
Strokes
6
HSK level
HSK 3
Traditional
爭

Origin & structure

Where 争 comes from and how its parts fit together.

Ideograph⿱⺈⿻彐亅

Simplified form of 爭, two hands 爪 and 彐 fighting over 亅

A combination of parts whose meanings add up to the whole.

Made of

⺈彐jì亅jué

Parts are arranged top to bottom.

Traditional form 爭: Two hands 爪 and 彐 fighting over 亅

How to write 争 step by step

6 strokes — each frame adds one stroke, shown in dark ink over the lighter ones.

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6

Words with 争

Common words using 争 — tap any character to open its stroke-order page.

zhēng争qǔ取
HSK 3

to fight for

Open 争取 page →
zhàn战zhēng争
HSK 4

war; conflict

Open 战争 page →
zhēng争duó夺
HSK 6

to fight over

Open 争夺 page →
lì力zhēng争
HSK 7-9

to work hard for; to do all one can; to contend strongly

Open 力争 page →
kàng抗zhēng争
HSK 7-9

to resist

Open 抗争 page →
zhēng争xiān先kǒng恐hòu后
HSK 7-9

(idiom) to compete to be first; to scramble to get ahead; to rush forward for fear of f…

Open 争先恐后 page →
zhēng争guāng光
HSK 7-9

to win an honor

Open 争光 page →
zhēng争fēn分duó夺miǎo秒
HSK 7-9

lit. fight minutes, snatch seconds (idiom); a race against time

Open 争分夺秒 page →

Related characters

More HSK 3 characters

专世丰丽义乡乱互

From 争’s common words

取战夺力抗先恐后

Ready to master 争?

Trace 争 stroke by stroke in the online practice tool, or turn it into a printable worksheet PDF with Tianzige practice grids, pinyin, and stroke-order breakdowns.

Practice 争 onlineGenerate worksheet PDFBrowse all of HSK 3 →