Please don’t change other people’s things without asking.
Sentence by WillyChina
How 擅自 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.
擅shànwithout authority
扌hand form of 手 · shǒuMeaning part
亶real · dǎnSound part
扌 hints at the meaning (hand); 亶 (dǎn) hints at the sound. Compare it with shàn.
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 擅自
擅 16 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 擅自 (shànzì). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.
擅自 (shànzì) means “without permission” or “unauthorised”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it shànzì: shàn with a 4th 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.
Yes. 擅自 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type shanzi with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 擅自 from the suggestions. Typing shanzi into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
擅自 is an HSK 6 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.
Turn words into conversations
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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.
擅shàn4th tone, falling
