Meaning
at first; (at the) beginning; first; junior; basic
Chinese: 开始、最初。
Hear the Four Tones
The same syllable “chu” becomes a different word in each tone. 初 is the 1st tone. Tap any tone to hear a native voice and see its pitch shape.
Stroke Order
Tap Animate to watch the strokes in order, or Practice to trace it yourself.
Common Words
- 当初dāng chūat that time; originally
- 初步chū bùinitial; preliminary; tentative
- 初中chū zhōngjunior high school
- 初级chū jíjunior; primary
- 年初nián chūbeginning of the year
Example Sentence
春天初到，花儿刚刚开放。Chūn tiān chū dào, huā ér gāng gāng kāi fàng.Early spring has just arrived, and the flowers have just bloomed.
春天Chūn tiānspring (season)初chū(bound form) at first到dàoto reach，花儿huā érerhua variant of 花刚刚gāng gāngjust recently开放kāi fàngto bloom。