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自

zì
pronoun HSK 4 #841

Meanings

  1. 1 self; oneself
  2. 2 from; since
  3. 3 naturally; of course

Characters

自
zì
self; from; naturally
Originally a pictograph of a nose — in Chinese culture, people point to their nose to indicate ‘me’

Examples

要有自信。
Yào yǒu zìxìn.
You should have confidence.
请自我介绍一下。
Qǐng zìwǒ jièshào yíxià.
Please introduce yourself.
自从他走了以后，我很想他。
Zìcóng tā zǒu le yǐhòu, wǒ hěn xiǎng tā.
Since he left, I miss him a lot.

Tips

usage
自 is extremely productive: 自己 (oneself), 自然 (nature/naturally), 自由 (freedom), 自信 (confidence), 自从 (since). The prefix 自- often means 'self-': 自学 (self-study), 自动 (automatic).

Stroke Order

自 zì