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.
亲qīnparent
立stand · lì
一one · yī
小small · xiǎo
自zìself; oneself
自 is a single shape of 6 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.
Memory aidDrawn from a nose. The usual explanation is that people point to their nose to mean “me”, so it came to mean “self”.
How to write 亲自
亲 9 strokes · 自 6 strokes
Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.
Stroke order chart for 亲自 (qīnzì). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.
亲自 (qīnzì) means “personally” or “in person”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it qīnzì: qīn with a 1st tone, then zì with a 4th 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, 亲自 is written 親自. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type qinzi with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 亲自 from the suggestions. Typing qinzi into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
亲自 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.
亲qīn1st tone, high and level
自zì4th tone, falling
