找 zhǎo — to look for, to seek; to call on somebody; to give change

Pinyin

• zhǎo (third tone, dipping)

to look for, to seek; to call on somebody; to give change

Character breakdown

• 扌meaning partno entry yetThe hand radical: looking for something is done with the hands as much as the eyes.
• 戈shape partno entry yetThe halberd, the same weapon that stands on the right of 我. The character is a late one and 戈 is not a dependable phonetic here.

Mnemonic

A hand 扌 beside the halberd 戈 — the same right-hand element as in 我, which is the easiest way to hold the shape. Three uses, all common: 找工作 to look for a job, 有人找你 someone is asking for you, and 找钱 to give change, with 找你五块 "five yuan back to you".

A memory aid written by HSK Guide editors. It is not an etymology and does not describe the historical origin of the character.

Words containing 找

• 找zhǎo (third tone, dipping)to look for, to seek

Radical 手 — other characters

• 手shǒu (third tone, dipping)hand; a person good at something (歌手 a singer, 选手 a contestant)
• 换/換huàn (fourth tone, falling)to exchange, to swap, to trade; to change, to replace; to change (money, clothes, trains)
• 拿ná (second tone, rising)to take, to hold, to pick up; to seize, to capture; with, using (as a preposition)