Where 字 comes from
A child 子 in a house 宀; 子 also provides the pronunciation
How to write 字 (zì, “letter”)
字 (zì), an HSK 1 character, means “letter”, “symbol” and “character”. It is a character whose parts combine into its meaning. On its own it is an HSK 1 word; it also forms 名字 (“name”), 汉字 (“Chinese character(s)”) and 字典 (“Chinese character dictionary”). Japanese reads it ji, “character”, as a JLPT N4 kanji.
- Pinyin
- zì
- Strokes
- 6
- HSK
- 1
- Radical
- 子 (“son”)
Stroke by stroke
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
As a top-bottom character it splits into 宀 (“roof”), strokes 1–3; 子 (“son”, the radical), strokes 4–6, written the top first.
- topdown and right
- top leftdownwards
- top leftrightwards → down and left
- leftrightwards → down and left
- centerdownwards → up and left
- leftrightwards
Japanese and Chinese
The two models differ in shape, so our comparison does not claim an order; compare the numbered frames yourself (6 strokes in Japanese, 6 strokes in Chinese).
Trace it
Follow the numbers. Tracing help
Pinyin and meaning
| Pinyin | Meanings | Traditional | In words |
|---|---|---|---|
| zì fourth tone | letter; symbol; character; word; courtesy or style name traditionally given to males aged 20 in dynastic China | — | 汉字 字典 文字 十字路口 |
- HSK 2025 syllabus
- level 1
- 2021 standard
- level 1
- HSK 2.0
- in a level 1 word
- Words with it
- 308 in CC-CEDICT
Words with 字
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 字 | zì | letter; symbol HSK 1 |
| 名字 | míngzi | name HSK 1 |
| 汉字 漢字 | Hànzì | Chinese character(s) HSK 1 |
| 字典 | zìdiǎn | Chinese character dictionary… HSK 3 |
| 文字 | wénzì | character; script HSK 4 |
| 十字路口 | shízìlùkǒu | crossroads; intersection HSK 4 |
| 数字 數字 | shùzì | numeral; digit HSK 4 |
| 字母 | zìmǔ | letter HSK 5 |
| 签字 簽字 | qiānzì | to sign (one's name); signature HSK 5 |
| 数字化 數字化 | shùzìhuà | to digitize HSK 6 |
HSK words first (CC-CEDICT).
Practice sheet
Print at 100%. Several characters: worksheet maker.
Keep going
HSK 1, in list order: