Kilo Lingo

(zhào gù) - to take care of, to look after in Mandarin

zhào

Traditional: 照顧

Line drawing of 照顾
Coloured illustration of 照顾
HSK 4
#583 of 5,000 Core 1000

Translation

to take care of, to look after

Word origin

照顾 (zhàogù) 'to take care of' joins 照 (zhào, 'to shine on, look after') and 顾 (gù, 'to turn the head, attend to'). 照 has the 灬 (fire) radical beneath 昭 (zhāo, phonetic); 顾 (traditional 顧) pairs 頁 (yè, 'head' radical) with 雇 (gù) phonetic.

Origin
compound
Root
照 (灬 fire + 昭 phonetic) + 顾 (頁 head radical + 雇 phonetic)

Stroke order

Stroke order for 照

Stroke order for 顾

Examples

Please take good care of yourself.

She is looking after her ill father.

Thank you for always taking care of me.

Please take good care of yourself.

Grandma is looking after three children.

照顾 (zhào gù) means to take care of or look after. 照 suggests attending to something and 顾 means to look back at or care for. It describes nurturing, tending, or watching over people who need help (老人, elderly; 孩子, children; 病人, sick people). A fixed parting phrase is 请多照顾 (please take good care), similar to look after yourself. It can also mean to consider or favour someone (照顾面子, to spare someone's feelings/face).

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This word is part of lesson 12.