支 (zhī): to support, to sustain, to erect

支 (zhī) is a Chinese character meaning “to support.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 十 (structural) and 又 (structural). It ranks #437 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 支 a hand 又 holding a branch 十 for support. Its radical form 支 (branch) appears in many related characters.

Spoken pronunciation

HSK 4 Radical: 支 branch4 strokesFrequency #437十 structural 又 structural

Definitions

to support
to sustain
to erect

Etymology & Origin

支

ideographicA hand 又 holding a branch 十 for support

Decomposition: ⿱十又 (layout: top-bottom)

Components:十structural 又structural

Stroke Order

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

Words & Compounds

HSK Vocabulary with 支

Word	Pinyin	Meaning	HSK
支持verb	zhī chí	to be in favor of	4
支付verb	zhī fù	to pay (money)	4
支撑verb	zhī chēng	to prop up	6
支出verb/noun	zhī chū	to spend	6

Common Compounds

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
支票noun	zhī piào	check (bank)
支援verb	zhī yuán	to provide assistance
枪支noun	qiāng zhī	a gun
支点noun	zhī diǎn	fulcrum (for a lever)
支配verb	zhī pèi	to control
支持者noun	zhī chí zhě	supporter
开支verb	kāi zhī	expenditures
支柱noun	zhī zhù	mainstay
支架noun	zhī jià	trestle
分支noun	fēn zhī	branch (of company, river etc)
支离破碎phrase	zhī lí pò suì	scattered and smashed (idiom)
透支verb	tòu zhī	(banking) to overdraw
支持率	zhī chí lǜ	support level
预支verb	yù zhī	to pay in advance
收支noun	shōu zhī	cash flow

100

Total compounds

As first character

As last character

As middle character

支 appears in 100 compound words: 56 as the first character, 32 as the last, and 12 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 支 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

持chí

0.708383,897 co-occurrences

援yuán

0.621111,980 co-occurrences

付fù

0.58348,692 co-occurrences

撑chēng

0.5669,176 co-occurrences

队duì

0.48651,442 co-occurrences

流liú

0.43136,552 co-occurrences

枪qiāng

0.4186,052 co-occurrences

柱zhù

0.41410,389 co-occurrences

者zhě

0.38342,194 co-occurrences

财cái

0.3815,310 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (15)

巴伦支海BālúnzhīhǎiHSK 7+

Barents Sea (a sea)

国际收支guó jì shōu zhīHSK 4+

balance of payments

phrase

空头支票kōngtóu zhīpiàoHSK 4+

bounced cheque; promise that cannot be achieved

noun

乐不可支lèbùkězhīHSK 4+

overjoyed; on cloud nine

phrase

旅行支票lǚxíng zhīpiàoHSK 4+

traveller's cheque

noun

小支气管xiǎozhīqìguǎnHSK 4+

bronchiole

noun

一木难支yīmùnánzhīHSK 5+

"one post cannot hold a falling structure"; just one person cannot save something doomed to fail

phrase

支离破碎zhīlípòsuìHSK 5+

all broken up; shattered; fragmented

phrase

支气管炎zhīqìguǎnyánHSK 6+

bronchitis

noun

支吾其词zhī wú qí cí

(idiom) to talk in a roundabout way to cover up the truth; evasive

phrase

支支吾吾zhī zhī wú wú

to hem and haw; to stall; to stammer

phrase

寅支卯粮yín zhī mǎo liáng

see 寅吃卯糧|寅吃卯粮

phrase

Showing 12 of 15 idioms containing 支.

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

支字的写法很特别，让我印象深刻。

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

The way the character "支" is written is quite unique and has left a deep impression on me.

東方日報Feb 2026

龙七公:“万亿大市”挑大梁支撑基本面

lóng qī gōng : wàn yì dà shì tiāo dà liáng zhī chēng jī běn miàn

Long Qigong: "Trillion big city" takes the lead to support fundamentals

WorldjournalFeb 2026

日媒民调:选民投票最重视候选人“是否支持高市”

rì méi mín diào : xuǎn mín tóu piào zuì chóng shì hòu xuǎn rén shì fǒu zhī chí gāo shì

Japanese media poll: Voters vote the most important thing about candidates "whether to support Gao City"

東方日報Feb 2026

江若琳支持老公追梦相隔20年再出歌

jiāng ruò 琳 zhī chí lǎo gōng zhuī mèng xiāng gé 2 0 nián zài chū gē

Jiang Ruolin supports her husband to pursue her dreams and sing again after 20 years

百度新闻Feb 2026

美国向联合国支付1.6亿美元部分欠款,仅为其约20..

měi guó xiàng lián gě guó zhī fù 1 . 6 yì měi yuán bù fēn qiàn kuǎn , jǐn wéi qí yuē 2 0 . .

The United States pays part of its $160 million arrears to the United Nations, only about 20 percent.

百度新闻Feb 2026

美国12月实际个人消费支出月率 0.1%,预期0...

měi guó 1 2 yuè shí jì gè rén xiāo fèi zhī chū yuè lǜ 0 . 1 , yù qī 0 . . .

The monthly rate of real personal consumption expenditures in the United States was 0.1%, and the expected 0...

Tatoeba

你支持还是反对堕胎？

Nǐ zhīchí háishi fǎnduì duòtāi?

Are you for or against abortion?

Tatoeba

用100美元可以支持多久？

Yòng 100 Měiyuán kěyǐ zhīchí duōjiǔ?

How long can it be kept going with 100 dollars?

Tatoeba

我需要一支铅笔。我可以借你一支吗？

Wǒ xūyào yī zhī qiānbǐ. wǒ kěyǐ jiè nǐ yī zhī ma?

I need a pencil. Can I take yours?

Tatoeba

城市由一支大军守卫。

Chéngshì yóu yī zhī dàjūn shǒuwèi.

The town was defended by a large army.

Character Family

Homophones — Characters pronounced zhī

只zhī 知zhī 直zhí 指zhǐ 至zhì 止zhǐ 值zhí 职zhí 纸zhǐ 汁zhī

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 支 (zhī) mean in Chinese?

支 (zhī) primarily means "to support." It is classified as HSK Level 4, making it an upper-intermediate character. It ranks #437 in character frequency.

How many strokes does 支 have?

支 is written with 4 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 支?

The radical associated with 支 is 支 (branch). This radical appears in many characters related to branch.

What are the components of 支?

支 is composed of: 十 (structural), 又 (structural). Its IDS decomposition is ⿱十又 with a top-bottom layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.

What are common words containing 支?

Common words with 支 include: 支持 (zhī chí, "to be in favor of"); 支票 (zhī piào, "check (bank)"); 支援 (zhī yuán, "to provide assistance"); 支付 (zhī fù, "to pay (money)"); 枪支 (qiāng zhī, "a gun"). There are over 100 compound words containing this character.

What characters sound the same as 支 (zhī)?

Several characters share the pronunciation zhī: 只 (classifier for birds and certain animals, one of a pair, some utensils, vessels etc), 知 (to know), 直 (Zhi (c. 2000 BC), fifth of the legendary Flame Emperors 炎帝 descended from Shennong 神農|神农 Farmer God), 指 (finger, point), and 6 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.

Is 支 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?

Yes, 支 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

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