HSK 3 · Time

最近 zuìjìn “recently” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 最近 means

  1. recently
  2. lately
  3. these days
  4. soon
  5. nearest

How to say 最近

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale最zuì4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale近jìn4th tone, falling

最近 in a sentence

  1. 他最近好像瘦了。

    Tā zuìjìn hǎoxiàng shòu le.

    He seems to have lost weight lately.

    Sentence #3060513 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 我最近没怎么睡觉。

    Wǒ zuìjìn méi zěnme shuìjiào.

    I haven’t slept much lately.

    Sentence #8798300 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 最近 can also mean “nearest”

    最近的火车站在哪里？

    Zuìjìn de huǒchēzhàn zài nǎlǐ?

    Where’s the nearest train station?

    Sentence #481169 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 最近 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 最 (zuì) with each of its parts in a different colour
最zuìto the highest degree; most …; -est
  • 日sun · rì
  • 取to take · qǔ
The character 近 (jìn) with each of its parts in a different colour
近jìnnear
  • 斤axe · jīnSound part
  • 辶walking form of 辵 · chuòMeaning part

辶 hints at the meaning (walking); 斤 (jīn) hints at the sound. Compare it with jìn.

How to write 最近

最 12 strokes · 近 7 strokes

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

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

Words related to 最近

Words with 最

最zuì · most最后zuìhòu · last最好zuìhǎo · best最终zuìzhōng · final最初zuìchū · at first

Words with 近

近jìn · near附近fùjìn · nearby近代jìndài · modern times (roughly 1840 to 1919 in China)接近jiējìn · to approach近来jìnlái · recently就近jiùjìn · nearby将近jiāngjìn · nearly急功近利jígōngjìnlì · eager for quick results and profit

More words: Time

终于zhōngyú · at last周末zhōumò · weekend总是zǒngshì · always最后zuìhòu · last本来běnlái · original当时dāngshí · then寒假hánjià · winter holidays将来jiānglái · in the future

FAQs

最近 (zuìjìn) means “recently” or “lately”. It is an HSK 3 word.
Say it zuìjìn: zuì with a 4th tone, then jìn with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 最近 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type zuijin with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 最近 from the suggestions. Typing zuijin into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
最近 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.