HSK 4 · Adjectives

正式 zhèngshì “formal” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 正式 means

  1. formal
  2. official

How to say 正式

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale正zhèng4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale式shì4th tone, falling

正式 in a sentence

  1. 你没必要那么正式。

    Nǐ méi bìyào nàme zhèngshì.

    You don’t have to be so formal.

    Sentence #343952 from Tatoeba

  2. 您没必要准备一个正式的演讲。

    Nín méi bìyào zhǔnbèi yí ge zhèngshì de yǎnjiǎng.

    You don’t need to prepare a formal speech.

    Sentence #472843 from Tatoeba

  3. 她不是这间公司正式的职员。

    Tā bú shì zhè jiān gōngsī zhèngshì de zhíyuán.

    She’s not a permanent employee of this company.

    Sentence #742942 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

How 正式 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.

The character 式 (shì) with each of its parts in a different colour
式shìtype
  • 弋shoot · yì
  • 工work · gōng

How to write 正式

正 5 strokes · 式 6 strokes

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

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

Words related to 正式

Words with 正

Words with 式

More words: Adjectives

FAQs

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