Meaning
to know; to be aware
Chinese: 知道、了解。
Hear the Four Tones
The same syllable “zhi” becomes a different word in each tone. 知 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
- 知道zhī dàoto know; to become aware of
- 知识zhī shiknowledge; intellectual
- 通知tōng zhīto notify; to inform; notice; notification
- 通知书tōng zhī shūwritten notice
- 知名zhī míngwell-known; famous
Example Sentence
我不知道他的名字。Wǒ bù zhī dào tā de míng zi.I do not know his name.
我WǒI不知bù zhīnot to know道dàoroad他tāhe的deof名字míng ziname (of a person or thing。
Go deeper
Where this character comes from
矢 (arrow) plus 口 (mouth): words that fly straight and sure as an arrow. It means ‘to know / knowledge’.
A way to remember it
Speak (口) as straight as an arrow (矢) — to know for sure.
Easy to confuse with
- 短‘Short’: also begins with 矢 (arrow), but paired with 豆.