HSK 6 · Education

记性 jìxing “memory (ability to remember)” in Chinese

Traditional 記性

What 记性 means

  1. memory (ability to remember)
  2. memory (ability to retain information)

How to say 记性

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale记jì4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the neutral tone: short and light, with no contour of its own性xingneutral tone, light and short

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

记性 in a sentence

  1. 你的记性很好。

    Nǐ de jìxing hěn hǎo.

    Your memory is good.

    Sentence #432908 from Tatoeba

  2. 我的记性怎么这么差，总是忘东忘西的！

    Wǒ de jìxing zěnme zhème chà, zǒngshì wàng dōng wàng xī de!

    Why is my memory so bad? I’m always forgetting things!

    Sentence #2301824 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 您记性不太好。

    Nín jìxing bú tài hǎo.

    Your memory isn’t very good.

    Sentence #4265029 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 记性 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 记 (jì) with each of its parts in a different colour
记jìto record
  • 讠speech form of 言 · yán
  • 己self · jǐ

Memory aidSpeech 讠 with 己 (jǐ) for the sound: to note down, to remember.

The character 性 (xìng) with each of its parts in a different colour
性xìngnaturelight in 记性
  • 忄heart form of 心 · xīnMeaning part
  • 生life · shēngSound part

忄 hints at the meaning (heart); 生 (shēng) hints at the sound. Compare it with xing.

How to write 记性

记 5 strokes · 性 8 strokes

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

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

Words related to 记性

Words with 记

记jì · to remember记得jìde · remember忘记wàngjì · forget笔记bǐjì · notes笔记本bǐjìběn · notebook记者jìzhě · reporter日记rìjì · diary记忆jìyì · to remember登记dēngjì · to register (one’s name)记录jìlù · to record

Words with 性

性xìng · (suffix) -ness性别xìngbié · gender性格xìnggé · nature个性gèxìng · individuality性质xìngzhì · nature慢性mànxìng · chronic (illness)性命xìngmìng · life (of a person or animal)任性rènxìng · wilful性感xìnggǎn · sexy弹性tánxìng · elasticity

More words: Education & Learning

繁体字fántǐzì · traditional Chinese character简体字jiǎntǐzì · simplified Chinese characters教养jiàoyǎng · upbringing精通jīngtōng · to be proficient in考古kǎogǔ · archaeology科目kēmù · (school) subject课题kètí · research topic旷课kuàngkè · to skip class

FAQs

记性 (jìxing) means “memory (ability to remember)” or “memory (ability to retain information)”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it jìxing: jì with a 4th tone, then xing 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, 记性 is written 記性. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type jixing with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 记性 from the suggestions. Typing jixing into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
记性 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 from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.