适 (shì): suitable

适 (shì) is a Chinese character meaning “suitable.” Classified as HSK Level 3 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 辶 (semantic) and 舌 (phonetic). It ranks #663 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 适 walk. Its radical form 辶 (walk) appears in many related characters such as 边 (biān, side), 过 (guò, to pass, past), 还 (hái, still, return).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. suitable

Etymology & Origin

适

pictophoneticwalk

Decomposition: ⿺辶舌 (layout: surround-from-lower-left)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

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

Words & Compounds

HSK Vocabulary with 适

WordPinyinMeaningHSK
适合verbshì héto fit4
合适adjectivehé shìsuitable3
适应verbshì yìngto adapt4
舒适adjectiveshū shìcozy5
适当adjectiveshì dàngsuitable5
适用adjectiveshì yòngto be applicable5
不适adjectivebù shìunwell6
适宜adjectiveshì yísuitable6
适度adjectiveshì dùmoderately6

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
适可而止phraseshì kě ér zhǐ(idiom) to refrain from going too far
适时adjectiveshì shítimely
适者生存phraseshì zhě shēng cúnsurvival of the fittest
无所适从phrasewú suǒ shì cóngnot knowing which course to follow (idiom)
适得其反phraseshì dé qí fǎnto produce the opposite of the desired result
适应性nounshì yìng xìngadaptability
适中adjectiveshì zhōngmoderate
适量nounshì liàngappropriate amount
适配器nounshì pèi qìadapter (device)
闲适adjectivexián shìleisurely and comfortable
适意adjectiveshì yìagreeable
适逢verbshì féngto just happen to coincide with
适龄adjectiveshì língof age
安适adjectiveān shìquiet and comfortable
适销shì xiāomarketable
58
Total compounds
59
As first character
26
As last character
16
As middle character

适 appears in 58 compound words: 59 as the first character, 26 as the last, and 16 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 适 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

应yīng
0.57617,294 co-occurrences
舒shū
0.5403,488 co-occurrences
合hé
0.48923,681 co-occurrences
用yòng
0.48428,758 co-occurrences
宜yí
0.4683,154 co-occurrences
当dāng
0.4619,084 co-occurrences
于yú
0.43417,584 co-occurrences
不bù
0.41618,604 co-occurrences
逢féng
0.4061,002 co-occurrences
龄líng
0.381697 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (7)

适得其反shìdéqífǎnHSK 4+

to run counter to one's desire; to have the exact opposite effect of what one wished; to backfire

phrase
适得其所shìdéqísuǒHSK 3+

to be exactly what one wished to be

phrase
适逢其会shì féng qí huìHSK 7+

(idiom) to happen to be in the right place at the right time

phrase
适可而止shìkě'érzhǐHSK 4+

to stop when appropriate; not to overdo; enough is enough

phrase
适者生存shìzhě shēngcúnHSK 4+

survival of the fittest

phrase
无所适从wúsuǒshìcóngHSK 4+

to not know what course to take; to be at a loss of what to do

phrase
削足适履xuēzúshìlǚHSK 7+

to force an impractical solution to a problem; to blindly apply

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

这个方案很适合我们的情况,可以采纳。

Zhè gè fāng'àn hěn shìhé wǒmen de qíngkuàng, kěyǐ cǎinà.

This plan is very suitable for our situation and can be adopted.

99 健康网Feb 2026

日本m码欧洲m码怎么选合适?这份选码攻略请收好

rì běn mǎ ōu zhōu mǎ zěn má xuǎn gě shì ? zhè fèn xuǎn mǎ gōng lüè qǐng shōu hǎo

How to Choose Between Japanese M Size and European M Size? Keep This Size Guide Handy

99 健康网Feb 2026

...本一码二码三码的穿着建议?选对尺码穿出舒适感

. . . běn yī mǎ èr mǎ sān mǎ de chuān zhe jiàn yì ? xuǎn duì chǐ mǎ chuān chū shū shì gǎn

...What are the sizing recommendations for one-size, two-size, and three-size garments? Choose the right size for a comfortable fit.

99 健康网Feb 2026

...品推荐大全包括什么?每日碳水控制在多少合适

. . . pǐn tuī jiàn dà quán bāo kuò shén má ? měi rì tàn shuǐ kòng zhì zài duō shǎo gě shì

What does the comprehensive product recommendation guide include? What is the appropriate daily carbohydrate intake?

NewsFeb 2026

巴基斯坦空袭阿富汗境内 阿国防部:将作出适当回应

bā jī sī tǎn kōng xí ā fù hàn jìng nèi ā guó fáng bù jiāng zuò chū shì dāng huí yīng

Pakistan Conducts Airstrikes Inside Afghanistan Afghan Defense Ministry: Will Respond Appropriately

马来西亚诗华日报新闻网Feb 2026

初一忌扫地予适度宽容 倪可敏吁燃放烟花后自发清理

chū yī jì sǎo dì yú shì dù kuān róng 倪 kě mǐn xū rán fàng yān huā hòu zì fā qīng lǐ

First-day-of-the-year sweeping taboo calls for reasonable tolerance; Ni Kok Mun urges voluntary cleanup after fireworks display.

Tatoeba

你认为他适合这个职位吗?

Nǐ rènwéi tā shìhé zhège zhíwèi ma?

Do you think he is good for the position?

Tatoeba

你觉得说这种话合适吗?

Nǐ juéde shuō zhèzhǒng huà héshì ma?

Do you think it's appropriate to talk like that?

Tatoeba

如果他年轻一点,他将很适合这个职位。

Rúguǒ tā niánqīng yīdiǎn, tā jiāng hěn shìhé zhège zhíwèi.

If he were a little younger, he would be eligible for the post.

Tatoeba

有些植物无法适应寒冷。

Yǒuxiē zhíwù wúfǎ shìyìng hánlěng.

Some plants cannot adapt themselves to the cold.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 辶 (walk) component

Homophones — Characters pronounced shì

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 适 (shì) mean in Chinese?
适 (shì) primarily means "suitable." It is classified as HSK Level 3, making it a beginner-level character. It ranks #663 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 适 and 活?
适 (shì) and 活 (huó) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 辶 vs 氵 (same 舌 component).
How many strokes does 适 have?
适 is written with 9 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 适?
The radical associated with 适 is 辶 (walk). This radical appears in many characters related to walk.
What are the components of 适?
适 is composed of: 辶 (semantic), 舌 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿺辶舌 with a surround-from-lower-left layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 适?
Common words with 适 include: 适合 (shì hé, "to fit"); 合适 (hé shì, "suitable"); 适应 (shì yìng, "to adapt"); 舒适 (shū shì, "cozy"); 适当 (shì dàng, "suitable"). There are over 58 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 适 (shì)?
Several characters share the pronunciation shì: 是 (is, yes), 时 (time, hour), 事 (matter), 实 (real, practical), and 2 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 适 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 适 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 适 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.