私 (sī): personal, private, selfish
私 (sī) is a Chinese character meaning “personal.” Classified as HSK Level 5 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 禾 (structural) and 厶 (structural). It ranks #1022 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 私 厶 provides the meaning and pronunciation. Its radical form 禾 (grain) appears in many related characters such as 秋 (qiū, autumn), 科 (kē, branch of study), 租 (zū, to hire).
Definitions
- personal
- private
- selfish
Etymology & Origin
ideographic厶 provides the meaning and pronunciation
Decomposition: ⿰禾厶 (layout: left-right)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 私 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 私
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 自私adjective | zì sī | selfish |
| 私下adverb | sī xià | in private |
| 私家adjective | sī jiā | private |
| 走私verb | zǒu sī | to smuggle |
| 私事noun | sī shì | personal matters |
| 私生活noun | sī shēng huó | private life |
| 私奔verb | sī bēn | to elope |
| 无私adjective | wú sī | selfless |
| 私立verb | sī lì | privately-run |
| 私生子noun | sī shēng zǐ | illegitimate son |
| 私自adverb | sī zì | private |
| 私藏verb | sī cáng | to keep hidden |
| 私情noun | sī qíng | personal considerations |
| 私语verb | sī yǔ | to discuss in whispered tones |
| 私有verb | sī yǒu | private |
私 appears in 100 compound words: 63 as the first character, 22 as the last, and 15 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 私 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (20)
for the common good and forgetting personal interests (idiom); to behave altruistically; selfless
for the common good and forgetting personal interests (idiom); to behave altruistically; selfless
Showing 12 of 20 idioms containing 私.
Example Sentences
我在字典里查到了私字的详细解释。
wǒ zài zì diǎn lǐ chá dào le sī zì de xiáng xì xiè shì .
I looked up the detailed explanation of the character "私" in the dictionary.
中国资产大缩水 全球十大私募巨头难套现
zhōng guó zī chǎn dà suō shuǐ quán qiú shí dà sī mù jù tóu nán tào xiàn
China's assets have shrunk sharply, and it is difficult for the world's top ten private equity giants to cash out
离婚黄子佼半年!孟耿如近况曝光 周丹薇泄私下互动
lí hūn huáng zǐ 佼 bàn nián ! mèng gěng rú jìn kuàng pù guāng zhōu dān 薇 xiè sī xià hù dòng
Divorced Huang Zijiao for half a year! Meng Gengru's recent situation was exposed, and Zhou Danwei leaked private interactions
...泪崩30秒!黄金世代队友齐聚 揭“野兽”私下真面目
. . . lèi bēng 3 0 miǎo ! huáng jīn shì dài duì yǒu qí jù jiē yě shòu sī xià zhēn miàn mù
... Tears broke for 30 seconds! Golden Generation teammates gathered to reveal the true face of the "Beast" in private
...产折价40-50%也无法套现?全球10大私募巨头遭遇“退出寒冬”-FX168
. . . chǎn zhé jià 4 0 5 0 yě wú fǎ tào xiàn ? quán qiú 1 0 dà sī mù jù tóu zāo yù tuì chū hán dōng F X 1 6 8
... 40-50% discount cannot be cashed out? The world's top 10 private equity giants suffered an "exit winter" - FX168
...出轨小三24次!性爱行事历曝光 人妻试图私了遭拒怒告索偿
. . . chū guǐ xiǎo sān 2 4 cì ! xìng ài háng shì lì pù guāng rén qī shì tú sī le zāo jù nù gào suǒ cháng
... Cheating mistress 24 times! The sex calendar was exposed, and the wife tried to be private but was rejected and angrily sued for compensation
注意不要侵犯她的隐私。
Zhùyì bù yào qīnfàn tā de yǐnsī.
Take care not to intrude upon her privacy.
警察以走私为由逮捕了他。
Jǐngchá yǐ zǒusī wèi yóu dàibǔ le tā.
The police arrested him for smuggling.
我们能私下谈谈吗？
Wǒmen néng sīxià tántán ma?
Can we talk in private?
你在私立学校读书吗？
Nǐ zài sīlìxuéxiào dúshū ma?
Do you go to a private school?
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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What are common words containing 私?
What characters sound the same as 私 (sī)?
Is 私 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 私 with real-time feedback
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