审

• Pinyin: shěn
• Hanzi breakdown: 审 = 宀(roof) + 番 (turn, examine)

Meaning

To examine; to review; to scrutinise; to interrogate or try (in a legal sense).

A formal verb used across legal, administrative, and editorial contexts. It implies careful, authoritative examination — reviewing documents, interrogating suspects, or vetting proposals. Commonly appears as the first morpheme in compound verbs such as 审查, 审批, 审判.

Examples

1. 法官仔细审阅了双方提交的所有证据材料。 The judge carefully reviewed all the evidence submitted by both sides.
2. 编辑在审完稿件后，提出了若干需要修改的意见。 After reviewing the manuscript, the editor offered several suggestions for revisions.
3. 检察机关依法对相关人员进行了审讯。 In accordance with the law, the procuratorate interrogated the relevant individuals.

Usage Guide

Context: legal, publishing, administration

Tone: serious

Do Say

• 上级部门已开始审查本次项目的财务报告，结果将于月底公布。(The superior department has begun reviewing the project's financial report; results will be announced at month's end.)
• 法院将于下周正式审理此案，各方律师已准备好相关证据。(The court will formally try the case next week, and lawyers on all sides have prepared the relevant evidence.)

Don't Say

• 审 alone for casual reading or checking — use 看 or 查 for informal contexts; 审 implies formal, authoritative scrutiny

Origin & History

审 = 宀(roof) + 番 (examine) — originally depicts careful inspection under cover

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal