吵

• Pinyin: chǎo
• Hanzi breakdown: 吵 = 口 (mouth) + 少 (few, phonetic component), suggesting noise or vocal disturbance

Meaning

Noisy; loud; to quarrel; to disturb. Describes unpleasant noise or verbal conflict.

Has two main uses: as an adjective meaning noisy or loud (太吵了, too noisy), and as a verb meaning to argue or quarrel (吵起来了, started arguing). Also used in the sense of disturbing someone (别吵我, don't disturb me).

Examples

1. 外面太吵了，我没办法睡觉。 It's too noisy outside — I can't sleep.
2. 请你们不要吵，孩子在睡觉。 Please don't be noisy — the child is sleeping.
3. 邻居家的狗每天晚上都很吵。 The neighbour's dog is very noisy every night.

Usage Guide

Context: everyday, complaints, conflict

Tone: negative

Do Say

• 这里太吵了，我们换个地方吧。(It's too noisy here — let's go somewhere else.)
• 别吵了，安静一下。(Stop being noisy — be quiet for a moment.)

Don't Say

• 音乐会很吵 (Avoid using 吵 for music that is intentionally loud — say 音量太大了; 吵 implies unwanted, unpleasant noise)

Origin & History

Composed of 口 (mouth) and 少 (few/little, here as phonetic), suggesting noise coming from mouths.

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal