HSK 5 · Education

文字 wénzì “writing” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 文字 means

  1. writing
  2. written language
  3. script
  4. character
  5. writing style
More meanings from CC-CEDICT
  • phraseology

Measure word 个 gè · 一个文字 yí ge wénzì

How to say 文字

  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale文wén2nd tone, rising
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale字zì4th tone, falling

文字 in a sentence

  1. 我没有时间翻译这段文字。

    Wǒ méiyǒu shíjiān fānyì zhè duàn wénzì.

    I don’t have time to translate this passage.

    Sentence #9569029 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 我不是诗人，无法用一行文字描绘它的美丽。

    Wǒ bú shì shīrén, wúfǎ yòng yì háng wénzì miáohuì tā de měilì.

    I’m not a poet; I can’t describe its beauty in a single line.

    Sentence #1582762 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 这是个文字游戏。

    Zhè shì ge wénzì yóuxì.

    It’s a play on words.

    Sentence #334908 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 文字 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 文 (wén) with each of its parts in a different colour
文wénlanguage
  • 亠lid · tóu
  • 乂to govern · yì

Memory aidDrawn from a person with a pattern on the chest. It came to mean writing and culture.

The character 字 (zì) with each of its parts in a different colour
字zìletter
  • 宀roof · mián
  • 子child · zǐ

Memory aidA child 子 under a roof 宀, learning to write: a written character.

How to write 文字

文 4 strokes · 字 6 strokes

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

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

Words related to 文字

Words with 文

中文Zhōngwén · Chinese language文化wénhuà · culture课文kèwén · text (of a lesson)文章wénzhāng · article文明wénmíng · civilised论文lùnwén · paper作文zuòwén · to write an essay文件wénjiàn · document文学wénxué · literature文具wénjù · stationery (pens

Words with 字

字zì · character名字míngzi · name汉字hànzì · Chinese character字典zìdiǎn · dictionary (of characters)数字shùzì · numeral字母zìmǔ · letter (of the alphabet)字幕zìmù · caption赤字chìzì · deficit繁体字fántǐzì · traditional Chinese character简体字jiǎntǐzì · simplified Chinese characters

More words: Education & Learning

声调shēngdiào · tone (of a syllable)试卷shìjuàn · examination paper提纲tígāng · outline题目tímù · subject物理wùlǐ · physics写作xiězuò · writing学历xuélì · educational background学问xuéwèn · learning

FAQs

文字 (wénzì) means “writing” or “written language”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it wénzì: wén with a 2nd 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. 文字 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Use 个 (gè). For example, one writing is 一个文字 (yí ge wénzì).
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type wenzi with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 文字 from the suggestions. Typing wenzi into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
文字 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.