距 (jù): distance

距 (jù) is a Chinese character meaning “distance.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 足 (semantic) and 巨 (phonetic). It ranks #1197 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 距 foot. Its radical form 足 (foot) appears in many related characters such as 跑 (pǎo, to run), 跟 (gēn, follow, heel), 路 (lù, road).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. distance

Etymology & Origin

距

pictophoneticfoot

Decomposition: ⿰足巨 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11

Practice writing 距 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

HSK Vocabulary with 距

WordPinyinMeaningHSK
距离verb/nounjù lídistance4
差距nounchā jùdisparity5

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
焦距nounjiāo jùfocal length
相距verbxiāng jùdistance apart
短距离nounduǎn jù líshort distance
间距nounjiān jùgap
长距离nouncháng jù lílong-distance
测距verbcè jùto measure distance
轴距zhóu jùwheelbase
等距děng jùequidistant
距离产生美phrasejù lí chǎn shēng měiabsence makes the heart grow fonder
超距作用chāo jù zuò yòngaction at a distance (e.g. gravitational force)
短距起落飞机duǎn jù qǐ luò fēi jīshort takeoff and landing aircraft
两性差距liǎng xìng chā jùdisparity between the sexes
近距离无线通讯jìn jù lí wú xiàn tōng xùn(computing) near-field communication (NFC)
拉近距离lā jìn jù líto bring (people) closer together
垂直和短距起落飞机chuí zhí hé duǎn jù qǐ luò fēi jīvertical or short takeoff and landing aircraft
43
Total compounds
12
As first character
53
As last character
35
As middle character

距 appears in 43 compound words: 12 as the first character, 53 as the last, and 35 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.

Strongest Collocations

Characters that most frequently co-occur with 距 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

离lí
0.67180,156 co-occurrences
差chā
0.54721,799 co-occurrences
焦jiāo
0.4152,216 co-occurrences
短duǎn
0.4116,252 co-occurrences
轴zhóu
0.4101,164 co-occurrences
轨guǐ
0.3892,536 co-occurrences
膛táng
0.381442 co-occurrences
远yuǎn
0.3803,920 co-occurrences
站zhàn
0.37917,532 co-occurrences
近jìn
0.37614,424 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (1)

贫富差距pínfù chājùHSK 6+

gap between the rich and the poor; economic disparity

noun

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

从这里到市中心距离大约十公里。

Cóng zhèlǐ dào shì zhōngxīn jùlí dàyuē shí gōnglǐ.

The distance from here to the city center is about ten kilometers.

LtnFeb 2026

...园拥绿廊步道优质环境 预售与中古屋房价差距拉大已近倍

. . . yuán yōng lǜ láng bù dào yōu zhì huán jìng yù shòu yǔ zhōng gǔ wū fáng jià chā jù lā dà yǐ jìn bèi

... The park has a high-quality environment with green corridors and trails, and the gap between pre-sale and second-hand house prices has nearly doubled

NewtalkFeb 2026

防范台湾有事 美日菲在距我185公里处演习

fáng fàn tái wān yǒu shì měi rì 菲 zài jù wǒ 1 8 5 gōng lǐ chǔ yǎn xí

The United States, Japan and the Philippines exercised 185 kilometers away from me

Am730Feb 2026

... House Showcase 让乐迷近距离接触本地新声乐队

. . . H o u s e S h o w c a s e ràng lè mí jìn jù lí jiē chù běn dì xīn shēng lè duì

... House Showcase brings music fans up close and personal with local new vocal bands

Nownews今日新聞Feb 2026

距離台灣僅110公里!小泉進次郎:2030...

jù 離 tái 灣 僅 gōng lǐ ! xiǎo quán 進 cì láng . . .

[Translation pending - quota exceeded]

Investing 香港Feb 2026

...gend Biotech評級,指出估值差距

. . . 評 級 , zhǐ chū gū zhí chā jù

...Gend Biotech Rating, pointing out valuation gaps

Tatoeba

纽约和伦敦距离多远?

Niǔyuē hé Lúndūn jùlí duō yuǎn?

How far is New York from London?

Tatoeba

博物馆和这里之间距离多远 ?

Bówùguǎn hé zhèlǐ zhījiān jùlí duō yuǎn?

How far is it from here to the museum?

Tatoeba

现在距离圣诞节还有多少天?

Xiànzài jùlí Shèngdànjié háiyǒu duōshao tiān?

How many more days are there until Christmas?

Tatoeba

距离村内的邮政局不到一公里。

Jùlí cūn nèi de yóuzhèngjú bù dào yī gōnglǐ.

It was less than one kilometer to the village post office.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 足 (foot) component

Homophones — Characters pronounced jù

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 距 (jù) mean in Chinese?
距 (jù) primarily means "distance." It is classified as HSK Level 4, making it an upper-intermediate character. It ranks #1197 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 距 and 柜?
距 (jù) and 柜 (guì) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 足 vs 木 (same 巨 component).
How many strokes does 距 have?
距 is written with 11 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.
What is the radical of 距?
The radical associated with 距 is 足 (foot). This radical appears in many characters related to foot.
What are the components of 距?
距 is composed of: 足 (semantic), 巨 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰足巨 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 距?
Common words with 距 include: 距离 (jù lí, "distance"); 差距 (chā jù, "disparity"); 焦距 (jiāo jù, "focal length"); 相距 (xiāng jù, "distance apart"); 短距离 (duǎn jù lí, "short distance"). There are over 43 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 距 (jù)?
Several characters share the pronunciation jù: 拒 (to resist), 炬 (torch), 据 (according to), 具 (tool), and 4 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 距 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 距 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 距 with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

Character data sourced from Unihan (Unicode Consortium), SUBTLEX-CH frequency corpus (Cai & Brysbaert, 2010), and Make Me a Hanzi (stroke data). Collocation strength measured via NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information). Verified by the HanziFeed linguistics team.

HSK classification follows the HSK 3.0 Standard (Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, 2022 revision). Idiom data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Data last verified: March 2026.