How to Write 捎 (shāo) — Meaning “to bring or pass on”

Imagine your hand (扌) is carrying a small note (肖 resembles a tiny message) to give to someone. The sound "shāo" is like "show" – you show or hand over the message. This helps link the shape to the meaning of passing on something.

Write the hand radical 扌 first with three strokes: horizontal, hook, then vertical. Then write 肖 starting with a small vertical stroke, then a dot, a left-falling stroke, and finally the lower part. A common mistake is making the 肖 too wide – keep it balanced and slightly narrower than the hand radical.

捎 (shāo) means to bring or pass something, while 抨 (pēng) means to attack or criticize. Visually, 捎 has 肖 on the right and 抨 has 平 (level/flat). The hand radical is the same, so focus on the right side to tell them apart.

捎 is common in everyday spoken Chinese, especially when asking someone to bring an item or pass a message as a favor, like in 捎话 (pass on a message). It is less formal and not used in official writing, making it a friendly, practical word for travel or errands.

Common words containing 捎 include: 捎话 (shāo huà) — to pass on a message; 捎带 (shāo dài) — to bring along or in passing; 捎信 (shāo xìn) — to bring a letter.