Kilo Lingo

(qí shí) - actually, in fact, as a matter of fact in Mandarin

shí

Traditional: 其實

Line drawing of 其实
Coloured illustration of 其实
HSK 4
#395 of 5,000 Core 1000

Translation

actually, in fact, as a matter of fact

Word origin

其实 (qí shí) literally reads 'its reality'. 其 (qí) is a possessive or demonstrative particle, originally a pictograph of a winnowing basket later borrowed for the grammatical sense, and 实 (shí) means 'real' or 'solid'. The phrase means 'actually' or 'in fact'.

Origin
compound
Root
其 (qí, its/that) + 实 (shí, real)

Stroke order

Stroke order for 其

Stroke order for 实

Examples

Actually, I don't want to go.

shànliáng

In fact he is very kind.

The matter is actually not so simple.

Actually I don't really like coffee.

Actually she knew long ago.

其实 (qí shí) - actually, in fact, as a matter of fact.

Used in

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This word is part of lesson 8.