Meaning
earth-spirit; peace; (a measure word; for birds and some animals; etc.); single
Chinese: 仅仅；也可作量词。
Hear the Four Tones
The same syllable “zhi” becomes a different word in each tone. 只 is the 3rd 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
- 只要zhǐ yàoso long as; provided; if
- 只能zhǐ néngcan only; obliged to do sth; to have no other choice
- 只是zhǐ shìmerely; only; just; nothing but
- 只有zhǐ yǒuonly have ...; there is only ...; it is only if ... (that one can ...); it is only (someone) who ...
- 只好zhǐ hǎoto have no other option but to ...; to have to; to be forced to
Example Sentence
我只想安静地休息一下。Wǒ zhǐ xiǎng ān jìng de xiū xi yí xià.I just want to rest quietly for a while.
我WǒI只zhǐonly想xiǎngto think (about)安静ān jìngquiet地de(adverb marker)休息xiū xirest一下yí xiàall at once。
Go deeper
Where this character comes from
Read zhǐ it means ‘only, just, merely’. Read zhī it is a measure word for animals, ships, or one of a pair (一只猫). Simplified, it also covers 隻.
A way to remember it
zhǐ = only; zhī = measure word (一只鸟).