Meaning
matter; thing; item; work; affair
Chinese: 事情、事务。
Hear the Four Tones
The same syllable “shi” becomes a different word in each tone. 事 is the 4th 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
- 没事儿méi shì rto have spare time; free from work; it's not important; it's nothing
- 事情shì qingaffair; matter; thing; business
- 故事gù shìold practice
- 同事tóng shìcolleague; co-worker
- 好事hǎo shìgood action, deed, thing or work (also sarcastic, "a fine thing indeed"); charity; happy occasion; Daoist or Buddhist ceremony for the souls of the dead
Example Sentence
我有一件事想问你。Wǒ yǒu yí jiàn shì xiǎng wèn nǐ.I have something to ask you.
我WǒI有yǒuto have一yíone件jiànitem事shìmatter想xiǎngto think (about)问wènto ask你nǐyou。
Go deeper
Where this character comes from
Early forms show a hand holding a banner or recording stick used by an official: a task to handle — ‘matter, affair, thing, to serve’.
A way to remember it
A hand taking up a task — an affair to handle.
Easy to confuse with
- 丰‘Abundant’: a similar stack of strokes, but without the central hook of 事.