Meaning
(literary equivalent of 的); (subor. part.); him; her; it
Chinese: 文言代词或结构助词。
Hear the Four Tones
The same syllable “zhi” becomes a different word in each tone. 之 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
- 之后zhī hòuafter; behind; (at the beginning of a sentence) afterwards; since then
- 之间zhī jiān(after a noun) between; among; amid
- 之前zhī qiánbefore; prior to; ago; previously
- 之一zhī yīone of (sth); one out of a multitude; one (third, quarter, percent etc)
- 之中zhī zhōnginside; among; in the midst of (doing sth); during
Example Sentence
长城是中国的名胜之一。Cháng chéng shì Zhōng guó de míng shèng zhī yī.The Great Wall is one of China's famous sights.
长城Cháng chéngthe Great Wall是shìis中国Zhōng guóChina的deof名胜míng shèngscenic spot之一zhī yīone of (sth)。
Go deeper
Where this character comes from
A foot above a baseline, stepping forward: originally ‘to go’. In classical and formal Chinese it is the structural/possessive particle (赤子之心) and the pronoun ‘it’.
A way to remember it
A formal/classical ‘de’: 中国之大 (the vastness of China).