The character 之 — “literary possessive particle”: how to write it and what it means
literary possessive particle
The Chinese character 之 is read zhī and means “literary possessive particle”. Below: the stroke order step by step, what the character is made of and the words it appears in.
Stroke order: how to write 之
之 has 3 strokes. At each step the new stroke is highlighted — write them in the same order: top to bottom and left to right, horizontal before vertical, a frame before what is inside it, and the bottom stroke of the frame last.
To train your hand, print a handwriting sheet for 之, with strokes to trace and empty squares.
What 之 is made of
In literary Chinese it works like 的. It lives in 之前, 之后, 之间.
The parts of a character hint at its meaning or its reading — more in the article “Chinese character radicals”.
Words with 之
- 之前before (lit.)HSK 4
- 之后after (lit.)HSK 4
- 之间betweenHSK 4
- 之中among, inHSK 4
- 总之in shortHSK 5
- 之所以the reason why; that's whyHSK 6
Frequently asked questions
How do you write the character 之?
之 has 3 strokes. They follow the usual rules: top to bottom, left to right, horizontal before vertical, outside before inside. The order of each stroke is shown on this page.
What does 之 mean?
之 means “literary possessive particle”. It appears in 之前 (“before”), 之后 (“after”), 之间 (“between”), 之中 (“among”).
How do you pronounce 之?
之 is read zhī. The tone is part of the reading: with another melody it becomes another syllable.
How many strokes does 之 have?
3 strokes.
More characters on the page “Chinese characters with meanings” and in the list of HSK characters by level; whole words are in the dictionary.
Write 之 yourself
In the lessons you write characters stroke by stroke with a finger or a mouse, and the course checks the order. You can start for free, no sign-up needed.
Start for free