Chinese word

汉字

Pronunciation

Pinyinhàn zì

Meaning

  • nounChinese character

Example

这个汉字我不认识。zhè ge hàn zì wǒ bú rèn shí

I don't recognize this Chinese character.

Illustration for 汉字 (Chinese character)

More examples

我在学汉字。wǒ zài xué hàn zì

I am studying Chinese characters.

Core concept

A compact written unit that carries a piece of Chinese sound and meaning, alone or joined with other units.

Common phrases

  • 认识汉字rèn shí hàn zì

    recognize Chinese characters

  • 写汉字xiě hàn zì

    write Chinese characters

  • 学汉字xué hàn zì

    study Chinese characters

Similar words

字zì: One written unit that represents meaning in Chinese.
拼音pīn yīn: A system that uses the alphabet to show Chinese sounds and help learners pronounce them.
单词dān cí: A meaningful word unit used in spoken or written sentences.

Definition in Chinese

汉字是用单个汉字记录汉语音义的文字体系，每个字既能作独立词也能作为词素出现在复合词中。hàn zì shì yòng dān gè hàn zì jì lù hàn yǔ yīn yì de wén zì tǐ xì měi gè zì jì néng zuò dú lì cí yě néng zuò wéi cí sù chū xiàn zài fù hé cí zhōng

Word origin

汉 (hàn, "Han") + 字 (zì, "written character") names the characters used to write the Han Chinese language.

Usage tips

  • The English word character can mean a person in a story, but in Chinese-learning materials it often means one written unit, so context determines the meaning.

Word lists with this word