HSK 4 · Function Words

一切 yíqiè “everything” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 一切 means

  1. everything
  2. every
  3. all

How to say 一切

  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale一yí2nd tone, rising
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale切qiè4th tone, falling

Tone change. 一 is yī on its own. Before a fourth tone it becomes yí, and before the other tones yì. Textbooks write the change in, as here. How tone changes work

一切 in a sentence

  1. 一切都会好起来的。

    Yíqiè dōu huì hǎo qǐlai de.

    Everything will be all right.

    Sentence #7767746 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 那改变了一切。

    Nà gǎibiàn le yíqiè.

    That changed everything.

    Sentence #4972480 from Tatoeba

  3. 你的一切我都知道。

    Nǐ de yíqiè wǒ dōu zhīdao.

    I know everything about you.

    Sentence #3703447 from Tatoeba

How 一切 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 一 (yī) drawn as one shape
一yīoneyí in 一切

一 is a single shape of 1 stroke. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.

Memory aidOne stroke for one, the way people once counted with rods.

The character 切 (qiè) with each of its parts in a different colour
切qièdefinitely; absolutely
  • 七seven · qīSound part
  • 刀knife · dāoMeaning part

刀 hints at the meaning (knife); 七 (qī) hints at the sound. Compare it with qiè.

How to write 一切

一 1 strokes · 切 4 strokes

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

一切 (yíqiè) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 一切 (yíqiè). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 一切

Words with 一

一yī · one一半yībàn · half一些yīxiē · some一点儿yìdiǎnr · a little一起yìqǐ · together第一dìyī · first一下yíxià · (after a verb) briefly一般yìbān · general一定yídìng · surely一共yígòng · altogether

Words with 切

切qiē · to cut密切mìqiè · close迫切pòqiè · urgent亲切qīnqiè · amiable恳切kěnqiè · earnest切实qièshí · practical确切quèqiè · exact急切jíqiè · eager

More words: Particles & Connectors

呀ya · (particle equivalent to 啊 after a vowel要是yàoshi · if也许yěxǔ · perhaps页yè · page以yǐ · with因此yīncǐ · thus尤其yóuqí · especially由yóu · by

FAQs

一切 (yíqiè) means “everything” or “every”. It is an HSK 4 word.
Say it yíqiè: yí with a 2nd tone, then qiè with a 4th tone. 一 is yī on its own. Before a fourth tone it becomes yí, and before the other tones yì. Textbooks write the change in, as here. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 一切 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type yiqie with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 一切 from the suggestions. Typing yiqie into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
一切 is an HSK 4 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.

Book a free 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 from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.