HSK 1 · Common Verbs

认识 rènshi “to know (someone)” in Chinese

Traditional 認識

What 认识 means

  1. to know (someone)
  2. to know
  3. to recognise
  4. to be familiar with
  5. to get acquainted with sb
More meanings from CC-CEDICT
  • knowledge
  • understanding

How to say 认识

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale认rèn4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the neutral tone: short and light, with no contour of its own识shineutral tone, light and short

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

认识 in a sentence

  1. 你认识高先生吗？

    Nǐ rènshi Gāo xiānsheng ma?

    Do you know Mr Gao?

    Sentence #10966853 from Tatoeba

  2. 我可以介绍你认识我的朋友。

    Wǒ kěyǐ jièshào nǐ rènshi wǒ de péngyou.

    I can introduce you to my friends.

    Sentence #11837316 from Tatoeba

  3. 大家都认识他的名字。

    Dàjiā dōu rènshi tā de míngzi.

    Everybody knows his name.

    Sentence #381932 from Tatoeba

How 认识 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 认 (rèn) with each of its parts in a different colour
认rènto recognise
  • 讠speech form of 言 · yánMeaning part
  • 人person · rénSound part

讠 hints at the meaning (speech); 人 (rén) hints at the sound. Compare it with rèn.

Memory aidSpeech 讠 and a person 人: to recognise someone, to know them.

The character 识 (shí) with each of its parts in a different colour
识shíto knowlight in 认识
  • 讠speech form of 言 · yánMeaning part
  • 只only · zhǐSound part

讠 hints at the meaning (speech); 只 (zhǐ) hints at the sound. Compare it with shi.

How to write 认识

认 4 strokes · 识 7 strokes

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

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

Words related to 认识

Words with 认

认为rènwéi · believe认真rènzhēn · serious认得rènde · to recognise承认chéngrèn · to admit否认fǒurèn · to declare to be untrue确认quèrèn · to confirm辨认biànrèn · to identify公认gōngrèn · generally recognised认定rèndìng · to be convinced认可rènkě · to approve

Words with 识

知识zhīshi · knowledge常识chángshí · common sense识别shíbié · to identify意识yìshi · consciousness见多识广jiànduōshíguǎng · well-informed and experienced

More words: Common Verbs

听tīng · to listen说shuō · to speak读dú · to read写xiě · to write喜欢xǐhuan · to like想xiǎng · to want做zuò · to do工作gōngzuò · to work

FAQs

认识 (rènshi) means “to know (someone)” or “to know”. It is an HSK 1 word, so it is one of the words learners meet early.
Say it rènshi: rèn with a 4th tone, then shi 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, 认识 is written 認識. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type renshi with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 认识 from the suggestions. Typing renshi into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
认识 is an HSK 1 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.