How to Write 趱 (zǎn) — Meaning “to hasten; to urge; to speed up”

Picture a person walking (走) while a cheerleader shouts "Zǎn! Zǎn!" (like 赞, "praise") to urge them to go faster. Another trick is to link 趱 with the English phrase "zoom ahead" — both start with "z" and mean to speed up. This visual of being praised for hurrying will help you recall both the sound and meaning.

Start by writing the left radical 走 (7 strokes) with its long horizontal and sweeping 捺, then add the right component 赞 (16 strokes). The right side has many horizontal strokes in 赞 — keep them parallel and evenly spaced to avoid a messy look. A common mistake is making 走 too narrow; let its 捺 extend smoothly under the lower part of 赞 for balance.

The main difference is the right component: 趱 uses 赞 (zan, meaning praise) while 趯 uses 翟 (zhai, meaning pheasant or a surname). Visually, 赞 has a top part like 先 and a bottom 贝, whereas 翟 has 羽 on top and 隹 below. In meaning, 趱 means "to hurry" but 趯 means "to leap" or "to jump" — entirely different actions.

趱 is a literary character not in the HSK, so it appears mainly in formal or classical contexts, like 趱路 (to hurry on one's way) or 趱工 (to rush a job). You might see it in news headlines about speeding up a project or in historical novels describing travelers pressing forward. It adds a sense of urgency and is rarely used in everyday conversation.

Common words containing 趱 include: 趱路 (zǎn lù) — to hurry on one's way; 趱程 (zǎn chéng) — to hasten on one's journey; 趱工 (zǎn gōng) — to speed up work; to rush a job.