HSK 6 · Adjectives

自主 zìzhǔ “independent” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 自主 means

  1. independent
  2. autonomous
  3. to decide for oneself
  4. to act independently
  5. to be autonomous
More meanings from CC-CEDICT
  • to be in control of one’s own affairs

How to say 自主

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale自zì4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale主zhǔ3rd tone, dipping

自主 in a sentence

  1. 孩子要学会自主学习。

    Háizi yào xuéhuì zìzhǔ xuéxí.

    Children should learn to study independently.

    Sentence by WillyChina

  2. 这件事你可以自主决定。

    Zhè jiàn shì nǐ kěyǐ zìzhǔ juédìng.

    You can decide this for yourself.

    Sentence by WillyChina

How 自主 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 自 (zì) drawn as one shape
自zìself; oneself

自 is a single shape of 6 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.

Memory aidDrawn from a nose. The usual explanation is that people point to their nose to mean “me”, so it came to mean “self”.

The character 主 (zhǔ) with each of its parts in a different colour
主zhǔowner
  • 丶dot · zhǔ
  • 王king · wáng

Memory aidThe dot 丶 on top was once the flame of a lamp: the main one, the master.

How to write 自主

自 6 strokes · 主 5 strokes

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

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

Words related to 自主

Words with 自

自己zìjǐ · oneself自行车zìxíngchē · bike自zì · from来自láizì · to come from (a place)自信zìxìn · to have confidence in oneself自然zìrán · nature自觉zìjué · conscious自私zìsī · selfish自由zìyóu · freedom自愿zìyuàn · voluntary

Words with 主

主要zhǔyào · main主意zhǔyi · plan主人zhǔrén · master主张zhǔzhāng · to advocate主持zhǔchí · to host (a programme or event)主观zhǔguān · subjective主任zhǔrèn · director公主gōngzhǔ · princess主席zhǔxí · chairperson主题zhǔtí · theme

More words: Adjectives

好hǎo · good大dà · big主导zhǔdǎo · dominant卓越zhuóyuè · outstanding自发zìfā · spontaneous滋润zīrùn · moist纵横zònghéng · in all directions棕色zōngsè · brown

FAQs

自主 (zìzhǔ) means “independent” or “autonomous”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it zìzhǔ: zì with a 4th tone, then zhǔ with a 3rd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 自主 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type zizhu with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 自主 from the suggestions. Typing zizhu into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
自主 is an HSK 6 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 written by WillyChina. Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.