仅 (jǐn) · only, merely, barely

Meanings

1 only
2 merely
3 barely

Characters

仅

jǐn

only; merely; barely

Contains 亻 (person) - emphasizes limitation, as if only one person.

Examples

HSK 1

这件事仅他一个人知道。

Zhè jiàn shì jǐn tā yī gè rén zhīdào.

Only he alone knows about this matter.

HSK 4

距离考试仅剩三天。

Jùlí kǎoshì jǐn shèng sān tiān.

There are merely three days left until the exam.

HSK 7-9

仅这一次，下不为例。

Jǐn zhè yī cì, xiàbùwéilì.

Only this once; don't let it happen again.

Tips

usage

仅 is more formal and literary than 只. In everyday speech, 只 is more common. 仅 appears more often in writing and formal contexts.

Components

radical

亻 rén

person (radical)

Left radical 亻 is the side-form of 人 (person), a slanted stroke and a leg. Indexing radical for 仅. Anchors a vast family of human-related characters: 你 (you), 他 (he), 们 (plural), 住 (live), 做 (do), 但 (but).

phonetic

又 yòu

right hand (phonetic)

Right component 又 (a right hand) - the simplified version's chosen sound marker. The traditional form 僅 had the much more elaborate 堇 here; the 1956 reform replaced it with 又 to cut the stroke count drastically. The phonetic match is loose (yòu → jǐn is heavy drift); 又 was chosen for brevity rather than sound.