Writing
错 (cuò) — how to say "mistake" in Chinese
错
Mistake, to be wrong
adjective
Radicals / Keys
金
Gold
#167 · jīn · 8 strokes
Synonyms
Collocations
说错
shuō cuò
say wrongly
错字
cuò zì
wrong character
写错
xiě cuò
write incorrectly
Examples
这个答案不对，是错的。
This answer is not correct, it's wrong.
你错了
You're wrong.
Mnemonic
[cuò-] Captain Cork 🚢 is navigating the seas when he spots a mysterious 错 "mistake" sign on his map. Thinking it's a path to treasure, he steers the ship in that direction, only to hit an iceberg! As the crew scrambles, Captain Cork laughs, realizing 错 was indeed a mistake, and vows to never trust such signs again.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say "mistake" in Chinese?
"mistake" in Chinese is 错 (cuò).
错 meaning in English
错 (cuò) means "Mistake, to be wrong".
How is 错 pronounced?
It is pronounced cuò (written as cuo). You can listen to the pronunciation on this page.
Chinese character for 'mistake'
It is written 错 and has 13 strokes. The Writing section above animates the stroke order and lets you trace it.
What HSK level is 错?
错 belongs to the HSK 2 vocabulary list.
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Grammar with 错
好 / 完 / 错 — result complements
Verb + 好 (hǎo) / 完 (wán) / 错 (cuò)
还 — pretty, fairly
还 (hái) + Adj.
不过 — softer “but”
⋯⋯，不过 (búguò) ⋯⋯
但是 — but, however
但是 (dànshì) / 可是 (kěshì) / 不过 (bùguò) / 然而 (rán'ér)
难免 — hard to avoid
难免 (nánmiǎn) + (会 (huì)) + Negative Outcome
想来想去 — after repeated attempts
X来 (lái) X去 (qù)，都是 (dōu shì)…… / X来 (lái) X去 (qù)，就是 (jiù shì)……