之 zhī — (literary equivalent of 的); (subor. part.); him; her; it
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.
Common words: 之后 (zhī hòu)、之间 (zhī jiān)、之前 (zhī qián)
Meaning Index
Chinese characters meaning "subor. part."
Learn Chinese characters with the meaning "subor. part.", including 之 (zhī), 底 (de / dǐ). Study pinyin, English meanings, traditional forms, common words…
How to Study This Meaning Group
The English word "subor. part." covers 2 different Chinese characters — 之 (zhī), 底 (de / dǐ) — and each is its own word with its own feel. These 2 characters do not share a sound — their readings span zhī, de, dǐ — so confirm the pinyin and tone for each one separately. The example sentences further down show how 之 and the others are actually used, so you learn them in context rather than as a single translation.
- 之 zhī(literary equivalent of 的); (subor. part.); him; her; itUseful words: 之后, 之间
- 底 de / dǐ(possessive part.); (subor. part.); background; bottom; baseUseful words: 到底, 底下
Common words for these 2 "subor. part." characters
Anchor each of these 2 characters in a word you can picture — start with 之 (zhī) — so "subor. part." turns into concrete usage instead of a one-to-one translation.
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到底dào dǐfinally; in the end; when all is said and done; after all底下dǐ xiathe location below sth; afterwards年底nián dǐthe end of the year; year-end
See each character in a sentence
Each character below is shown in a short example sentence with pinyin and an English translation — the quickest way to feel the difference between the 2 ways to say "subor. part.".
底 de / dǐ — (possessive part.); (subor. part.); background; bottom; base
杯子底下有一些茶叶。Bēi zi dǐ xià yǒu yì xiē chá yè.There are some tea leaves at the bottom of the cup.
Common words: 到底 (dào dǐ)、底下 (dǐ xia)、年底 (nián dǐ)
All 2 characters
Open 之、底 or any character below to hear it read aloud and see it used in an example sentence.