HSK 4 · Adjectives
正式 zhèngshì “formal” in Chinese
Same in Traditional
What 正式 means
- formal
- official
How to say 正式
正zhèng4th tone, falling
式shì4th tone, falling
正式 in a sentence
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.

正zhèngstraight
- 一one · yī
- 止stop · zhǐ
Memory aidPicture a foot 止 heading straight for a line 一: straight, correct.

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.

Words related to 正式
Words with 正
正在zhèngzài · in the process of正常zhèngcháng · regular正确zhèngquè · correct真正zhēnzhèng · genuine正好zhènghǎo · just (in time)正zhèng · just (in the middle of doing something)改正gǎizhèng · to correct反正fǎnzhèng · anyway正月zhēngyuè · first month of the lunar year更正gēngzhèng · to correct
Words with 式
方式fāngshì · way形式xíngshì · form样式yàngshì · type开幕式kāimùshì · opening ceremony款式kuǎnshì · style仪式yíshì · ceremony公式gōngshì · formula格式géshì · format模式móshì · pattern
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.
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.