Example sentences
mén门kāi开zhe着。
The door is open.
tā他tǎng躺zhe着kàn看shū书。
He reads lying down.
The story behind the character
着
着 is a handwriting variant of 著, and 著 came from 箸, the character for chopsticks. 箸 is 竹 (bamboo) plus 者. In Han-era clerical script the bamboo top got swapped for a grass top, and that gave 著. Write it fast enough and the grass flattens, 日 drifts into 目, and you land on 着. Its particle job comes from zhuó, to be attached. 看着 is "attached to looking."