HSK 4 · Function Words

之 zhī “of (formal equivalent of 的)” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 之 means

  1. of (formal equivalent of 的)
  2. (possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的)
  3. him
  4. her
  5. it

How to say 之

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale之zhī1st tone, high and level

之 in a sentence

  1. 重复是记忆之母。

    Chóngfù shì jìyì zhī mǔ.

    Repetition is the mother of memory.

    Sentence #5670854 from Tatoeba

  2. 狮子是万兽之王。

    Shīzi shì wàn shòu zhī wáng.

    The lion is the king of beasts.

    Sentence #784072 from Tatoeba

  3. 你是我最好的朋友之一。

    Nǐ shì wǒ zuìhǎo de péngyou zhī yī.

    You’re one of my best friends.

    Sentence #1330057 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 之 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 之 (zhī) drawn as one shape
之zhīhim

之 is a single shape of 3 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.

How to write 之

之 3 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

之 (zhī) stroke order chart: each stroke of the character in the order you write it
Stroke order chart for 之 (zhī). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 之

Words with 之

之后zhīhòu · after之前zhīqián · before之间zhījiān · between百分之bǎifēnzhī · per cent总之zǒngzhī · in a word反之fǎnzhī · conversely之际zhījì · at the time of天伦之乐tiānlúnzhīlè · family happiness后顾之忧hòugùzhīyōu · worries back home当务之急dāngwùzhījí · top priority

More words: Particles & Connectors

原来yuánlái · original咱们zánmen · we真正zhēnzhèng · genuine正好zhènghǎo · just (in time)值得zhíde · to be worth只要zhǐyào · if only至少zhìshǎo · at least重新chóngxīn · again

FAQs

之 (zhī) means “of (formal equivalent of 的)” or “(possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的)”. It is an HSK 4 word.
Say it zhī: zhī with a 1st tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 之 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type zhi with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 之 from the suggestions. Typing zhi into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
之 is an HSK 4 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.