HSK 5 · Function Words

正 zhèng “just (in the middle of doing something)” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 正 means

  1. just (in the middle of doing something)
  2. upright
  3. correct
  4. straight
  5. proper
More meanings from CC-CEDICT
  • main
  • principal

How to say 正

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale正zhèng4th tone, falling

正 in a sentence

  1. 我正准备打电话给你。

    Wǒ zhèng zhǔnbèi dǎ diànhuà gěi nǐ.

    I was just about to call you.

    Sentence #6452037 from Tatoeba

  2. 我正在找钥匙，你看见了吗？

    Wǒ zhèngzài zhǎo yàoshi, nǐ kànjiàn le ma?

    I’m looking for my keys. Have you seen them?

    Sentence #2317102 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 顾客永远是正确的吗？

    Gùkè yǒngyuǎn shì zhèngquè de ma?

    Is the customer always right?

    Sentence #7771669 from Tatoeba

How 正 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 正 (zhèng) with each of its parts in a different colour
正zhèngstraight
  • 一one · yī
  • 止stop · zhǐ

Memory aidPicture a foot 止 heading straight for a line 一: straight, correct.

How to write 正

正 5 strokes

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

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

Words related to 正

Words with 正

正在zhèngzài · in the process of正常zhèngcháng · regular正确zhèngquè · correct正式zhèngshì · formal真正zhēnzhèng · genuine正好zhènghǎo · just (in time)改正gǎizhèng · to correct反正fǎnzhèng · anyway正月zhēngyuè · first month of the lunar year更正gēngzhèng · to correct

More words: Function Words & Grammar

则zé · then照常zhàocháng · as usual阵zhèn · measure word for short bursts (of rain整个zhěnggè · whole支zhī · measure word for pens至于zhìyú · as for逐步zhúbù · progressively主动zhǔdòng · to take the initiative

FAQs

正 (zhèng) means “just (in the middle of doing something)” or “upright”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it zhèng: zhèng with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 正 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type zheng with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 正 from the suggestions. Typing zheng into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
正 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.