HSK 3.0 Level 3 · School
初中 chūzhōng “junior high school” in Chinese
Same in Traditional
What 初中 means
- junior high school
- lower secondary school
- junior high school (abbr. for 初级中学)
How to say 初中
初chū1st tone, high and level
中zhōng1st tone, high and level
初中 in a sentence
How 初中 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.

初chūat first; initially
- 衤clothes form of 衣 · yī
- 刀knife · dāo

中zhōngwithin; among; in
- 口mouth · kǒu
- 丨line · gǔn
Memory aidA line 丨 through the centre of a box 口: the middle.
How to write 初中
初 7 strokes · 中 4 strokes
Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

Words related to 初中
Words with 初
Words with 中
中午zhōngwǔ · noon中国Zhōngguó · China中学zhōngxué · middle school中学生zhōngxuéshēng · middle-school student高中gāozhōng · senior high school中zhōng · middle中间zhōngjiān · middle中文Zhōngwén · Chinese language其中qízhōng · among中旬zhōngxún · middle third of a month
More words: School & Work
FAQs
初中 (chūzhōng) means “junior high school” or “lower secondary school”. It is an HSK 3.0 Level 3 word.
Say it chūzhōng: chū with a 1st tone, then zhōng with a 1st tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 初中 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type chuzhong with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 初中 from the suggestions. Typing chuzhong into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
初中 is an HSK 3.0 Level 3 word in the official 2021 syllabus, and it is on our HSK 3.0 Band 5 word list. It is not on the older HSK 2.0 word lists.
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.