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.
Definitions
- to support
- to sustain
- to erect
Etymology & Origin
ideographicA hand 又 holding a branch 十 for support
Decomposition: ⿱十又 (layout: top-bottom)
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 | zhī piào | check (bank) |
| 支援 | zhī yuán | to provide assistance |
| 枪支 | qiāng zhī | a gun |
| 支点 | zhī diǎn | fulcrum (for a lever) |
| 支配 | zhī pèi | to control |
| 支持者 | zhī chí zhě | supporter |
| 开支 | kāi zhī | expenditures |
| 支柱 | zhī zhù | mainstay |
| 支架 | zhī jià | trestle |
| 分支 | fēn zhī | branch (of company, river etc) |
| 透支 | tòu zhī | (banking) to overdraw |
| 支持率 | zhī chí lǜ | support level |
| 预支 | yù zhī | to pay in advance |
| 收支 | shōu zhī | cash flow |
| 支票簿 | zhī piào bù | checkbook (banking) |
支 appears in 100 compound words: 53 as the first character, 32 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 支 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (13)
"one post cannot hold a falling structure"; just one person cannot save something doomed to fail
Showing 11 of 13 idioms containing 支.
Example Sentences
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.
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
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"
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
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.
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...
你支持还是反对堕胎？
Nǐ zhīchí háishi fǎnduì duòtāi?
Are you for or against abortion?
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?
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?
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
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 支 (zhī) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 支 have?
What is the radical of 支?
What are the components of 支?
What are common words containing 支?
What characters sound the same as 支 (zhī)?
Is 支 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 支 with real-time feedback
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