He took his little sister’s snacks without asking.
Sentence by WillyChina
How 私自 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.
私sīpersonal; private
禾grain · hé
厶private · sī
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 私自
私 7 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 私自 (sīzì). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.
私自 (sīzì) means “privately” or “without permission”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it sīzì: sī 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.
Yes. 私自 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type sizi with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 私自 from the suggestions. Typing sizi into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
私自 is an HSK 6 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.
Turn words into conversations
A dictionary gives you the words. A native teacher shows you how to use them. Start with a free 30-minute intro call.
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.
私sī1st tone, high and level
自zì4th tone, falling
