Pinyin Syllable

Chinese characters pronounced zhai

Learn common Chinese characters pronounced zhai, including 择 zé / zhái, 侧 cè / zhāi, 债 zhài, 祭 jì / zhài, 宅 zhái. Compare tones, meanings, traditional forms…

How to Pronounce This Syllable

For zhai, curl the tongue back on zh and join it smoothly to ai; keep it as a single syllable and hold the tone steady.

Initial zh

Put the tongue slightly curled back. Do not pronounce it like English “j”.

Final ai

Settle the final ai into a steady mouth shape first, then lay the tone on top.

Study Tip

Start with the most common characters (择 zé / zhái, 侧 cè / zhāi, 债 zhài, 祭 jì / zhài, 宅 zhái) and lock in their tones. 9 common characters share the sound zhai, so lean on words to tell the rest apart.

Learn by Tone

zhai turns up here with 4 different tones; a change of tone usually means a different character, so the groups below are split by tone.

1st tone

Taking the 1st tone here: 摘, 斋 (2 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.

摘zhāito borrow; to pick (flowers; fruit); to pluck; to take; to select 斋zhāia fast; studio

2nd tone

Taking the 2nd tone here: 择, 宅 (2 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.

择zé / zháito select; to choose; to pick; pick over 宅zháiresidence

3rd tone

Taking the 3rd tone here: 窄 (1 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.

窄zhǎinarrow

4th tone

Taking the 4th tone here: 侧, 债, 祭… (4 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.

侧cè / zhāithe side; to incline towards; to lean; inclined; lateral; side 债zhàidebt 祭jì / zhàioffer sacrifice; (surname)寨zhàistronghold; stockade

Common Words With This Sound

Seeing zhai inside whole words makes it clear which character is meant — here are common ones.

选择xuǎn zéto select; to pick; choice; option 不择手段bù zé shǒu duànby fair means or foul; by hook or by crook; unscrupulously 择定zé dìngto select 侧面cè miànlateral side; side; aspect; profile 两侧liǎng cètwo sides; both sides 侧重cè zhòngto place particular emphasis on 债券zhài quànbond; debenture 债务zhài wùdebt; liability; amount due; indebtedness 了债liǎo zhàito repay one's debt 祭祀jì sìto offer sacrifices to the gods or ancestors

Characters

9 common characters in this group.

Character#1 择 zé / zháito select; to choose; to pick; pick overTraditional: 擇 Character#2 侧 cè / zhāithe side; to incline towards; to lean; inclined; lateral; sideTraditional: 側 Character#3 债 zhàidebtTraditional: 債 Character#4 祭 jì / zhàioffer sacrifice; (surname)Traditional: 祭 Character#5 宅 zháiresidenceTraditional: 宅 Character#6 摘 zhāito borrow; to pick (flowers; fruit); to pluck; to take; to selectTraditional: 摘 Character#7 窄 zhǎinarrowTraditional: 窄 Character#8 寨 zhàistronghold; stockadeTraditional: 寨 Character#9 斋 zhāia fast; studioTraditional: 亝