ZHIZHI 知止 · LEARN CHINESE DAILY
之
(classical) of; it
zhī
3 strokes · 丿 — a footprint stepping off a baseline — going somewhere · HSK 3
Where 之 comes from
A foot stepping forward from a line: to go. Classical Chinese borrowed it as the all-purpose connector 'of' and pronoun 'it', and it never left — modern idioms are full of it.
之 in Chinese culture
百分之十 = 10 percent ('ten of a hundred'), 三分之一 = one third. Elegant writing loves it: 之前 before, 之后 after, 之间 between. It is the classical 的 — same job, older suit.
Example
之前 zhīqián — before
吃饭之前要洗手。
Chīfàn zhīqián yào xǐshǒu.
Wash your hands before eating.
How to remember it
A FOOTPRINT linking two places — the classical OF.
Every Chinese percentage contains 之: 百分之五十 'fifty of one hundred'. You cannot say 50% without this 3-stroke fossil.
Same sound, different tones
Words unlocked by 之
之前 zhīqián
before
百分之 bǎifēnzhī
percent
Related characters
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