HSK 3 · Function Words

只 zhǐ “only” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 只 means

  1. only
  2. just
  3. merely

Also read zhī: “measure word for animals and one of a pair”

See the page for 只 zhī

How to say 只

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale只zhǐ3rd tone, dipping

只 in a sentence

  1. 我只知道他的名字。

    Wǒ zhǐ zhīdao tā de míngzi.

    I only know his name.

    Sentence #785817 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 我们只有茶水。

    Wǒmen zhǐ yǒu cháshuǐ.

    We only have tea.

    Sentence #419713 from Tatoeba

  3. 我只想睡觉。

    Wǒ zhǐ xiǎng shuìjiào.

    I just want to sleep.

    Sentence #8777516 from Tatoeba

How 只 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 只 (zhī) with each of its parts in a different colour
只zhǐonly; merely; just
  • 口mouth · kǒu
  • 八eight · bā

Memory aidA mouth 口 above two strokes 八. It is the simplified form of both 隻 (one bird) and 衹 (only).

How to write 只

只 5 strokes

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

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

Words related to 只

Words with 只

只有zhǐyǒu · only只能zhǐnéng · can only只是zhǐshì · only只好zhǐhǎo · to have no other option but to …只要zhǐyào · if only

More words: Particles & Connectors

一边yìbiān · one side又yòu · once again只有zhǐyǒu · only才cái · ability地de · particle used after a description按时ànshí · on time按照ànzhào · according to倍bèi · times

FAQs

只 (zhǐ) means “only” or “just”. It is an HSK 3 word.
Say it zhǐ: zhǐ with a 3rd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 只 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type zhi with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 只 from the suggestions. Typing zhi into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
Yes. Read zhī, 只 means “measure word for animals and one of a pair”. That reading has its own page. Read zhǐ, it means “only”.
只 is an HSK 3 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.