差

chà
HSK 3
#731 most
frequent character
differ from, short of, to lack
verb
adjective

Character breakdown

Source: Make Me a Hanzi.

差 chā first showed a left hand 左 picking a tree, meaning 'to choose'. 左 also gives the sound, though the match is loose, and the tree shape has since worn away. From 'to choose' came 'difference, lack', 'bad', 'to send someone', and 'to vary'.

Drawn as: a left hand; a tree

差 as a component in other characters

sound7 characters
搓磋嗟槎鹾嵯瘥
picture1 character
蹉

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Example Sentences

他的中文水平差。
tāde zhōngwén shuǐpíng chà 。
His Chinese level is poor.
这个地方和我想的不一样，差多了。
zhègè dìfāng hé wǒxiǎng de bù yīyàng ， chà duō le 。
This place is very different from what I imagined, much worse.
我们今天的成绩差，我需要努力。
wǒmen jīntiān de chéngjì chà ， wǒ xūyào nǔlì 。
Our scores today are poor, I need to work hard.

Grammar Points

HSK 5
The opposite of "chabuduo" is "cha hen duo"
HSK 4
Approximations with "chabuduo"跟…差不多和…差不多

Same Characters, Different Readings

差chā
difference, discrepancy
差chāi
to send (on an errand)
差cī
used in 參差|参差[cen1ci1]

Words with similar meanings

差劲chàjìn
poor
More casual, often used in everyday conversation.
糟糕zāogāo
terrible
Conveys a stronger negative meaning than '差'.

Homophones

HSK 6
岔chà
fork in road, bifurcation

Words Starting With 差

差不多chà bu duō
almost; nearly; more or less

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Public Lists with 差

Feelings & Emotions
Vocabulary for happiness, sadness, anger, fear, love, excitement, etc.
HSK 3
All words for the HSK 3 test
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