Kilo Lingo

(zuò ài) - to make love, to have sex in Mandarin

zuòài

Traditional: 做愛

Line drawing of 做爱
Coloured illustration of 做爱
#1585 of 5,000 Core 5000

Translation

to make love, to have sex

Word origin

A compound of 做 (zuò, to do, to make) and 爱 (ài, love), a modern euphemism modelled on the English phrase to make love.

Origin
compound
Root
做 (zuò, to do) + 爱 (ài, love)

Stroke order

Stroke order for 做

Stroke order for 爱

Examples

jǐng

There are love-making scenes in this film.

This is a topic about love and intimacy.

The book writes about the intimacy between husband and wife.

They love each other very much.

Such a topic is rarely discussed in class.

做爱 (zuò ài) is the common everyday term for having sex, formed as a euphemism parallel to the English to make love. It belongs to informal and adult registers.

Where this fits

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Mandarin · Free printables

做爱: worksheet, infographic and listicle

Free printable study downloads for the Mandarin word "做爱" (to make love, to have sex): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.

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This word is part of lesson 32.