HSK 5 · Time

最初 zuìchū “at first” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 最初 means

  1. at first
  2. initially
  3. original
  4. first
  5. primary
More meanings from CC-CEDICT
  • initial

How to say 最初

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale最zuì4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale初chū1st tone, high and level

最初 in a sentence

  1. 事情比我们最初想象的更严重。

    Shìqing bǐ wǒmen zuìchū xiǎngxiàng de gèng yánzhòng.

    Things are more serious than we first thought.

    Sentence #433011 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 我最初不怎么喜欢他。

    Wǒ zuìchū bù zěnme xǐhuan tā.

    At first I didn’t like him much.

    Sentence #466296 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

  3. 最初的旗袍是宽松的。

    Zuìchū de qípáo shì kuānsōng de.

    The original qipao was loose-fitting.

    Sentence #727992 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 最初 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 最 (zuì) with each of its parts in a different colour
最zuìto the highest degree; most …; -est
  • 日sun · rì
  • 取to take · qǔ
The character 初 (chū) with each of its parts in a different colour
初chūat first; initially
  • 衤clothes form of 衣 · yī
  • 刀knife · dāo

How to write 最初

最 12 strokes · 初 7 strokes

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

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

Words related to 最初

Words with 最

最zuì · most最后zuìhòu · last最近zuìjìn · recently最好zuìhǎo · best最终zuìzhōng · final

Words with 初

初中chūzhōng · junior high school初级chūjí · elementary当初dāngchū · originally起初qǐchū · at first初步chūbù · initial

More words: Time & Sequence

元旦Yuándàn · New Year’s Day至今zhìjīn · so far中旬zhōngxún · middle third of a month逐渐zhújiàn · gradually丙bǐng · third (in a series)不时bùshí · frequently刹那chànà · instant朝代cháodài · dynasty

FAQs

最初 (zuìchū) means “at first” or “initially”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it zuìchū: zuì with a 4th tone, then chū with a 1st tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 最初 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type zuichu with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 最初 from the suggestions. Typing zuichu into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
最初 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.