How to say “come from” in Chinese

来自

láizì

come from

verb · HSK 3 · topic “Leisure, sports, culture”

“Come from” in Chinese is 来自, lái zì: the meaning, a recording of how it sounds, the characters stroke by stroke and examples.

How to pronounce it

来自 is read lái zì: 2 syllables. The tone is part of the word: with another melody you get another word, or just a jumble of sounds.

lái — 2nd tonerising, like a surprised “huh?”

zì — 4th tonesharply falling, like “Stop!”

How to write it

来

lái — come

自

zì — self

A picture of a nose: when Chinese people say “me”, they point at their nose.

Strokes go in order: top to bottom and left to right, horizontal before vertical. Tap a character to open its page, with the strokes shown large and the words it appears in. To train your hand, print a handwriting sheet for “来自”.

Examples

Sentences from the course lessons with 来自. Tap the sound icon to listen.

你来自哪个国家nǐláizìnǎgeguójiāWhat country are you from?
我们班有来自世界各国的留学生。wǒmenbānyǒuláizìshìjiègèguódeliúxuéshēngOur class has international students from all over the world.
人得到的信息大部分来自视觉。réndédàodexìnxīdàbùfenláizìshìjuéPeople get most of their information through sight.
这家超市的农产品都来自本地zhèjiāchāoshìdenóngchǎnpǐndōuláizìběndìAll the farm produce in this supermarket is local.
他来自一个遥远的地方tāláizìyígeyáoyuǎndedìfangHe comes from a faraway place.
北美洲有很多来自亚洲的移民BěiměizhōuyǒuhěnduōláizìYàzhōudeyímínThere are many immigrants from Asia in North America.

More words from the lesson “Meeting and chatting”

Look up another word in the Chinese–English dictionary: in English, in pinyin or in characters.

Frequently asked questions

How do you say “come from” in Chinese?

“Come from” in Chinese is 来自, pinyin láizì.

What does 来自 mean?

来自 (láizì) means “come from”.

How do you write 来自?

来自 is 2 characters: 来 (lái) — come; 自 (zì) — self. The stroke order of each one is shown step by step on this page.

How do you pronounce 来自?

来自 is read láizì. Tones: lái — second tone, zì — fourth tone. The page has a native speaker recording.

“come from” in the lesson “Meeting and chatting”

This word is from the topic “Leisure, sports, culture” of HSK 3. In the lesson you hear it in a dialogue, build a sentence with it and say it out loud. Start for free, no sign-up needed.

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