之 (zhī): (possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的), him, her
之 (zhī) is a Chinese character meaning “(possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的).” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 丶 (structural). It ranks #44 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 之 a foot meaning "to follow"; cursive version of 止. Its radical form 丿 (slash) appears in many related characters such as 么 (me, suffix used in 什么 (what), 这么 (so), 怎么 (how) etc), 久 (jiǔ, (of a period of time) long), 乐 (lè, happy).
Definitions
- (possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的)
- him
- her
Etymology & Origin
ideographicA foot meaning "to follow"; cursive version of 止
Stroke Order
Practice writing 之 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 之
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 之前noun | zhī qián | before | 4 |
| 之后noun | zhī hòu | after | 4 |
| 之间noun | zhī jiān | (after a noun) between | 4 |
| 之中noun | zhī zhōng | inside | 4 |
| 总之conjunction | zǒng zhī | in a word | 5 |
| 之所以conjunction | zhī suǒ yǐ | (after a noun N and before a predicate P) the reason why N P | 6 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 之一postp | zhī yī | one of (sth) |
| 之类noun | zhī lèi | and so on |
| 之外postp | zhī wài | outside |
| 之内postp | zhī nèi | inside |
| 之下postp | zhī xià | under |
| 称之为 | chēng zhī wéi | to call it... |
| 除此之外conjunction | chú cǐ zhī wài | apart from this |
| 之上postp | zhī shàng | above |
| 百分之百phrase | bǎi fēn zhī bǎi | a hundred percent |
| 四分之一 | sì fēn zhī yī | one-quarter |
| 三分之一 | sān fēn zhī yī | one third |
| 之际noun | zhī jì | during |
| 一席之地phrase | yī xí zhī dì | (acknowledged) place |
| 绳之以法phrase | shéng zhī yǐ fǎ | to punish according to the law |
| 置之不理phrase | zhì zhī bù lǐ | to pay no heed to (idiom) |
之 appears in 103 compound words: 15 as the first character, 26 as the last, and 59 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 之 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (226)
the An Lushan Rebellion (devastating rebellion against the Tang dynasty of China)
the An Lushan Rebellion (devastating rebellion against the Tang dynasty of China)
Showing 12 of 226 idioms containing 之.
Example Sentences
写好之字需要掌握正确的笔画顺序。
xiě hǎo zhī zì xū yāo zhǎng wò zhēng què de bǐ huà shùn xù .
To write the character "之" correctly, one must master the proper stroke order.
“十五五”开局之年,广东何以锚定“两业协同”?
shí wǔ wǔ kāi jú zhī nián , guǎng dōng hé yǐ 锚 dìng liǎng yè xié tóng ?
In the first year of the "15th Five-Year Plan", how does Guangdong anchor the "synergy between the two industries"?
彰化竹塘慈航宫总斗首之争 第三轮PK分胜负 桃园人拿下了
zhāng huà zhú táng cí háng gōng zǒng dǒu shǒu zhī zhēng dì sān lún P K fēn shèng fù táo yuán rén ná xià le
Changhua Zhutang Cihang Palace overall battle third round PK point winner Taoyuan people won
星星之火足以燎原!永康营业场所角落起火 乱丢菸...
xīng xīng zhī huǒ zú yǐ 燎 yuán ! yǒng kāng yíng yè chǎng suǒ jiǎo luò qǐ huǒ luàn diū 菸 . . .
A spark is enough to set fire to the plains! A fire broke out in the corner of Yongkang's business premises and smoke was thrown indiscriminately...
把年味种在“商城之心”,在商博遇见另一种团圆
bǎ nián wèi zhǒng zài shāng chéng zhī xīn , zài shāng bó yù jiàn lìng yī zhǒng tuán yuán
Plant the flavor of the New Year in the "heart of the mall" and meet another reunion at the Business Expo
溜冰是我的嗜好之一。
Liūbīng shì wǒ de shìhào zhīyī.
Skating is one of my hobbies.
你不应该屈服在诱惑之下。
Nǐ bù yīnggāi qūfú zài yòuhuò zhīxià.
You must not yield to temptation.
他沉醉于喜悦之中。
Tā chénzuì yú xǐyuè zhīzhōng.
He was drunk with joy.
授之以鱼，不如授之以渔。
Shòu zhī yǐ yú, bù rú shòu zhī yǐ yú.
It's better to teach someone how to fish than to give someone a fish.
罗马是欧洲最古典的城市之一。
Luómǎ shì ōuzhōu zuì gǔdiǎn de chéngshì zhīyī.
Rome is one of the most ancient cities in Europe.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 之 (zhī) mean in Chinese?
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What is the radical of 之?
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What characters sound the same as 之 (zhī)?
Is 之 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 之 with real-time feedback
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