How to Write 赚 (zhuàn) — Meaning “to earn; to make a profit”

Imagine a person (贝 as a shell representing value) holding two bags of coins (the 兼 on the right looks like two connected bags). This image helps you recall that 赚 means earning money or making a profit.

The left part 贝 must be narrow, written with the last stroke as a dot. The right part 兼 has two horizontal strokes through the middle—make sure they are parallel and the vertical stroke goes straight down. Common mistakes include making the left side too wide or forgetting the dot on 贝.

While 赚 (zhuàn) means to earn or profit, 赋 (fù) means to levy taxes or to bestow. Visually, 赚 has 兼 on the right, while 赋 has 武 (military). In usage, 赚 relates to personal gain, while 赋 relates to government duties or literary compositions.

赚 is very common in daily conversations about business and work, like 赚钱 (to make money) and 赚了 (made a profit). A cultural note: Chinese people often wish each other to 赚大钱 (earn big money) during the New Year, reflecting the value placed on financial success.

Common words containing 赚 include: 赚钱 (zhuàn qián) — to make money; 赚了 (zhuàn le) — earned; made a profit; 赚到 (zhuàn dào) — to have earned.