Meaning
11 p.m.-1 a.m.; 1st earthly branch; child; midnight; son; child
Chinese: 孩子、种子，也常作名词后缀。
Hear the Four Tones
The same syllable “zi” becomes a different word in each tone. 子 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
- 孩子hái zichild
- 儿子ér zison
- 房子fáng zihouse; building (single- or two-story); apartment; room
- 桌子zhuō zitable; desk
- 椅子yǐ zichair
Example Sentence
院子里有一棵大树。Yuàn zi lǐ yǒu yì kē dà shù.There is a big tree in the yard.
院子Yuàn zicourtyard里lǐinside有yǒuto have一yìone棵kēM for plants大dàbig树shùtree。
Go deeper
Where this character comes from
A pictograph of a baby with a large head and outstretched arms, wrapped so the legs are not shown. It means ‘child’ and, later, ‘son’.
A way to remember it
A big head and two little arms — a swaddled baby.
Easy to confuse with
- 了‘Completed’ particle: like 子 but missing the horizontal arm stroke.