HSK 6 · Verbs

将就 jiāngjiu “to make do” in Chinese

Traditional 將就

What 将就 means

  1. to make do
  2. to put up with
  3. to accept (a bit reluctantly)

How to say 将就

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale将jiāng1st tone, high and level
  • Pitch chart of the neutral tone: short and light, with no contour of its own就jiuneutral tone, light and short

Grey pinyin is a neutral tone: say it short and light. More on the neutral tone

将就 in a sentence

  1. 没有筷子，用勺子将就一下吧。

    Méiyǒu kuàizi, yòng sháozi jiāngjiu yíxià ba.

    There are no chopsticks, so we’ll make do with spoons.

    Sentence by WillyChina

  2. 这件衣服有点儿大，将就着穿吧。

    Zhè jiàn yīfu yǒudiǎnr dà, jiāngjiu zhe chuān ba.

    This top is a bit big, but I’ll make do with it.

    Sentence by WillyChina

How 将就 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 将 (jiāng) with each of its parts in a different colour
将jiāngwill
  • 丬half of tree trunk · qiáng
  • 夕evening · xī
  • 寸inch · cùn
The character 就 (jiù) with each of its parts in a different colour
就jiùin that case; thenlight in 将就
  • 京capital city · jīngSound part
  • 尤especially · yóuMeaning part

尤 hints at the meaning (especially); 京 (jīng) hints at the sound. Compare it with jiu.

How to write 将就

将 9 strokes · 就 12 strokes

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

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

Words related to 将就

Words with 将

将jiāng · will将来jiānglái · in the future即将jíjiāng · about to将军jiāngjūn · general (military rank)将近jiāngjìn · nearly

Words with 就

就jiù · then就要jiùyào · about to就是jiùshì · exactly成就chéngjiù · accomplishment就近jiùjìn · nearby迁就qiānjiù · to accommodate就业jiùyè · employment就职jiùzhí · to take office

More words: Common Verbs

混合hùnhé · to mix加剧jiājù · to intensify溅jiàn · to splash拣jiǎn · to pick降临jiànglín · to arrive简化jiǎnhuà · to simplify监视jiānshì · to monitor践踏jiàntà · to trample

FAQs

将就 (jiāngjiu) means “to make do” or “to put up with”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it jiāngjiu: jiāng with a 1st tone, then jiu with a neutral 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, 将就 is written 將就. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type jiangjiu with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 将就 from the suggestions. Typing jiangjiu into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
将就 is an HSK 6 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 written by WillyChina. Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.