How to say “only” in Chinese
only
“Only” in Chinese is 只, zhǐ: the meaning, a recording of how it sounds, the characters stroke by stroke and examples.
How to pronounce it
只 is read zhǐ. The tone is part of the word: with another melody you get another word, or just a jumble of sounds.
How to write it
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 “只”.
Examples
Sentences from the course lessons with 只. Tap the sound icon to listen.
- 我有一只猫wǒyǒuyìzhīmāoI have a cat.
- 床上坐着一只猫。chuángshangzuòzheyìzhīmāoA cat is sitting on the bed.
- 这只小猫真可爱zhèzhīxiǎomāozhēnkě’àiWhat a cute kitten!
- 我养了一只猫wǒyǎngleyìzhīmāoI got a cat.
- 我只有一张信用卡。wǒzhǐyǒuyìzhāngxìnyòngkǎI only have one credit card.
- 我只2带了一百块钱wǒzhǐdàileyìbǎikuàiqiánI only brought a hundred yuan with me.
More characters by topic — happiness, luck, strength, nature — on the page “Chinese characters with meanings”.
More words from the lesson “Card OK?”
Look up another word in the Chinese–English dictionary: in English, in pinyin or in characters.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say “only” in Chinese?
“Only” in Chinese is 只, pinyin zhǐ.
What does 只 mean?
只 (zhǐ) means “only”.
How do you write 只?
只 is 1 character. The stroke order of each one is shown step by step on this page.
How do you pronounce 只?
只 is read zhǐ. Tones: zhǐ — third tone. The page has a native speaker recording.
“only” in the lesson “Card OK?”
This word is from the topic “Shopping and things” 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.
Start for free