此

cǐ
pronoun HSK 4 #442

Meanings

  1. 1 this; here
  2. 2 thus; such

Characters

Combines 止 (stop) with 匕 - indicating "stopping here" at this point.

Examples

HSK 3
Cóngcǐ yǐhòu, tā biàn le.
From then on, he changed.
HSK 4
Yīncǐ tā méiyǒu lái.
Therefore he didn't come.
HSK 5
Cǐwài, wǒmen hái xūyào kǎolǜ chéngběn wèntí.
Besides, we also need to consider the cost issue.

Tips

usage
此 is more formal/written than 这. Common compounds: 因此 (therefore), 从此 (from now on), 此外 (besides), 如此 (so/such), 彼此 (each other).

Components

radical
止 zhǐ
to stop; foot
Left-side foot radical - the indexing radical. 止 originally pictured a foot planted on the ground (the toes splayed and a heel at the back). In 此 it depicts a person's foot stopped at a specific spot - 'right HERE, this place where I stand'. Same family of 止-based chars: 步 (walk), 武 (martial), 歧 (forked path), 正 (straight).
semantic
匕 bǐ
person; spoon (variant)
Right-side 匕 - originally a stylized side-view of a person, here showing the figure standing at the foot's location. The compound ideograph reads 'foot stopped + person standing here = this place, this one'. Some analyses read 匕 as a phonetic; modern 此 (cǐ) and 匕 (bǐ) preserve the same syllable shape with rime drift.

Stroke Order

此 cǐ