HSK 5 · Function Words

在于 zàiyú “to lie in” in Chinese

Traditional 在於

What 在于 means

  1. to lie in
  2. to depend on
  3. to rest with
  4. to be due to (a certain attribute)
  5. (of a matter) to be determined by
More meanings from CC-CEDICT
  • to be up to (sb)

How to say 在于

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale在zài4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale于yú2nd tone, rising

在于 in a sentence

  1. 学中文最困难的部分在于汉字。

    Xué Zhōngwén zuì kùnnan de bùfen zàiyú Hànzì.

    The hardest part of learning Chinese is the characters.

    Sentence #13972145 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

  2. 冬天的好处在于没有蚊子。

    Dōngtiān de hǎochu zàiyú méiyǒu wénzi.

    The good thing about winter is that there are no mosquitoes.

    Sentence #5984780 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

  3. 语言的学习在于日积月累。

    Yǔyán de xuéxí zàiyú rìjīyuèlěi.

    Learning a language is all about steady progress, day after day.

    Sentence #2440793 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 在于 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 在 (zài) with each of its parts in a different colour
在zàito exist; to be alive
  • 才ability · cáiSound part
  • 土earth · tǔMeaning part

土 hints at the meaning (earth); 才 (cái) hints at the sound. Compare it with zài.

The character 于 (yú) with each of its parts in a different colour
于yúto go
  • 二two · èr
  • 亅hook · jué

How to write 在于

在 6 strokes · 于 3 strokes

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

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

Words related to 在于

Words with 在

在zài · to be at现在xiànzài · now正在zhèngzài · in the process of实在shízài · really存在cúnzài · to exist在乎zàihu · to care about内在nèizài · inner在意zàiyì · to care about

Words with 于

终于zhōngyú · at last关于guānyú · about对于duìyú · regarding由于yóuyú · due to于是yúshì · thereupon位于wèiyú · to be located at善于shànyú · to be good at等于děngyú · to equal属于shǔyú · to be classified as至于zhìyú · as for

More words: Function Words & Grammar

因而yīn'ér · therefore一再yízài · again and again与其yǔqí · rather than (与其 A，不如 B: B rather than A)再三zàisān · over and over again则zé · then照常zhàocháng · as usual阵zhèn · measure word for short bursts (of rain整个zhěnggè · whole

FAQs

在于 (zàiyú) means “to lie in” or “to depend on”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it zàiyú: zài with a 4th tone, then yú with a 2nd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 在于 is written 在於. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type zaiyu with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 在于 from the suggestions. Typing zaiyu into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
在于 is an HSK 5 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.