矣 (yǐ): classical final particle, similar to modern 了

矣 (yǐ) is a Chinese character meaning “classical final particle, similar to modern 了.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 厶 (structural) and 矢 (structural). It ranks #2036 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. classical final particle, similar to modern 了

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
往事已矣wǎng shì yǐ yǐthe past is dead (idiom)
命不久矣phrasemìng bù jiǔ yǐat death's door
2
Total compounds
0
As first character
100
As last character
0
As middle character

矣 appears in 2 compound words: 0 as the first character, 100 as the last, and 0 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 矣 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

谓wèi
0.401318 co-occurrences
久jiǔ
0.3841,074 co-occurrences
岂qǐ
0.38258 co-occurrences
遂suì
0.379458 co-occurrences
既jì
0.375372 co-occurrences
乃nǎi
0.375578 co-occurrences
蔑miè
0.36150 co-occurrences
愧kuì
0.35958 co-occurrences
祸huò
0.35874 co-occurrences
朽xiǔ
0.35656 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (1)

命不久矣mìngbùjiǔyǐHSK 7+

to not have long to live

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

矣字的写法很特别,让我印象深刻。

yǐ zì de xiě fǎ hěn tè bié , ràng wǒ yìn xiàng shēn kè .

The character "矣" has a very distinctive writing style that left a deep impression on me.

少数派Sep 2026

在我看来如果不是真的有必要的话,延长 2-3 个月足矣。

zài wǒ kàn lái rú guǒ bù shì zhēn de yǒu bì yāo de huà , yán cháng 2 3 gè yuè zú yǐ .

In my opinion, unless it's absolutely necessary, an extension of 2–3 months should be sufficient.

IT之家Aug 2026

天下苦“通用聊天框”久矣 回想一下,我们现在是如何使用 AI 的?

tiān xià kǔ tōng yòng liáo tiān kuàng jiǔ yǐ huí xiǎng yī xià , wǒ men xiàn zài shì rú hé shǐ yòng A I de ?

The world has long suffered from “generic chatboxes.” Think back—how do we use AI today?

中国新闻网·文化Jul 2026

评李权哲高铁占座事件:内娱苦甩锅式公关久矣

píng lǐ quán zhé gāo tiě zhàn zuò shì jiàn : nèi yú kǔ shuǎi guō shì gōng guān jiǔ yǐ

A Commentary on Li Quanzhe’s High-Speed Train Seat-Reservation Incident: The Chinese Entertainment Industry Has Long Been Plagued by “Pass-the-Blame” PR Tactics

少数派Jul 2026

廉颇老矣,仍能饭焉?

lián pō lǎo yǐ , réng néng fàn 焉 ?

Lian Po is old—can he still eat?

中国新闻网·文化Apr 2026

若不如意,则送彩缎二匹,谓之压惊,则婚事不谐矣。

ruò bù rú yì , zé sòng cǎi 缎 èr pǐ , wèi zhī yā jīng , zé hūn shì bù xié yǐ .

If things do not go as planned, two bolts of colored silk are given as a "calming gift," and the marriage will not proceed.

Tatoeba

巧言令色,鲜矣仁。

Qiǎoyánlìngsè, xiān yǐ rén.

Fine words and an insinuating appearance are seldom associated with true virtue.

Tatoeba

不下雨则矣,一下一定是倾盆大雨。

Bù xiàyǔ zé yǐ, yīxià yīdìng shì qīngpéndàyǔ.

It never rains but it pours.

Character Family

矢 Radical Family — Characters sharing the arrow radical

Homophones — Characters pronounced yǐ

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 矣 (yǐ) mean in Chinese?
矣 (yǐ) primarily means "classical final particle, similar to modern 了." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2036 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 矣 have?
矣 is written with 7 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 矣?
The radical associated with 矣 is 矢 (arrow). This radical appears in many characters related to arrow.
What are the components of 矣?
矣 is composed of: 厶 (structural), 矢 (structural). Its IDS decomposition is ⿱厶矢 with a top-bottom layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 矣?
Common words with 矣 include: 往事已矣 (wǎng shì yǐ yǐ, "the past is dead (idiom)"); 命不久矣 (mìng bù jiǔ yǐ, "at death's door"). There are over 2 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 矣 (yǐ)?
Several characters share the pronunciation yǐ: 一 (one), 以 (to use), 意 (meaning, idea), 已 (already), and 6 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 矣 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 矣 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 矣 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.