Meaning
hostage; substance; nature; quality
Chinese: 本质、质量或质问。
Hear the Four Tones
The same syllable “zhi” becomes a different word in each tone. 质 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
- 质量zhì liàng(physics) mass; quality (i.e. degree of excellence); quality and quantity
- 品质pǐn zhìcharacter; intrinsic quality (of a person); quality (of a product or service, or as in "quality of life", "air quality" etc)
- 性质xìng zhìnature; characteristic
- 物质wù zhìmatter; substance; material; materialistic
- 本质běn zhìessence; nature; innate character; intrinsic quality
Example Sentence
我对他的答案表示质疑。Wǒ duì tā de dá àn biǎo shì zhì yí.I have doubts about his answer.
我WǒI对duìtoward他tāhe的deof答案dá ànanswer表示biǎo shì(of sb) to express质zhìcharacter疑yí(bound form) to doubt。
Go deeper
Where this character comes from
Simplified from 質. It means ‘substance, matter; quality, nature; plain, simple, unadorned; to question, ask (质问); a pledge, hostage (人质)’ (质量, 性质, 物质).
A way to remember it
‘Substance / quality / nature’: 质量 (quality), 物质 (matter).