zhuā
to grab
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我抓到了一只老鼠。
wǒ zhuā dào le yī zhǐ lǎoshǔ.
I caught a mouse.
他抓住了我的手。
tā zhuā zhù le wǒ de shǒu.
He grabbed my hand.
我们必须抓住这个机会。
wǒ men bì xū zhuā zhù zhè ge jī huì.
We must seize this opportunity.
放 (fàng)
release
丢 (diū)
throw away
放 (fàng)
release
丢 (diū)
throw away
The Chinese character 抓 (zhuā) is composed of two parts: the radical 手 (shǒu), meaning "hand," and the phonetic component 爪 (zhǎo), meaning "claw." The character 抓 can be traced back to the oracle bone script, where it was depicted as a hand with three fingers extended. This suggests that the original meaning of 抓 was "to grasp" or "to seize." Over time, the character's meaning expanded to include "to catch," "to arrest," and "to scratch."The character 抓 is also used in a number of idioms and proverbs. For example, the idiom 一抓一个准 (yī zhuā yī gè zhǔn) means "to catch every single one," while the proverb 螳螂捕蝉，黄雀在后 (tángláng bǔ chán, huángquè zài hòu) means "the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind."The character 抓 is a common character in Chinese, and it is used in a wide variety of contexts. By understanding the etymology of 抓, HSK learners can gain a deeper understanding of the character's meaning and usage.
