矣

yǐ

particle HSK 7-9 #18,738

Meanings

1 (classical) particle indicating completion
2 (literary) equivalent of 了
3 (archaic) exclamatory particle

Characters

矣

yǐ

classical particle indicating completion or exclamation

Examples

逝者如斯夫，不舍昼夜矣。

Shìzhěrúsīfū, bù shě zhòuyè yǐ.

Time flows on like this, never ceasing day or night.

足矣。

Zú yǐ.

That is enough.

Tips

矣 is a classical Chinese (文言文) particle. In modern Chinese it appears mostly in set phrases like 足矣 (that's enough) or literary quotations.

grammar

矣 functions like 了 in classical Chinese, marking completed actions or changed states. It can also express exclamation.

Components

radical

矢 shǐ

arrow

Bottom indexing arrow radical (Kangxi #111) — a pictograph of a feathered arrow with shaft and barb. The arrow flying away gives the perfect image for the particle's job: 矣 marks the completion of an action, the arrow already released. Same radical family: 知 (to know — words like arrows from the mouth), 短 (short, an arrow's length), 矩 (carpenter's square).

semantic

厶 sī

private; cocoon-shape

Top 厶 — a small curling shape, originally pictographic of a silkworm cocoon or a person's private enclosure. Here it sits atop the arrow as a frozen graphic element from the classical character's history; its specific function in 矣 was lost long before the modern script. Pedagogically: the cap marks the arrow as finished, sent.

Stroke Order

矣 yǐ

矣