(zǐ) - child, son, seed, small thing (also a common noun suffix) in Mandarin
zǐTraditional: 子
Translation
child, son, seed, small thing (also a common noun suffix)
Word origin
A pictograph showing a baby with a large head and outstretched arms, originally meaning a child or offspring; it later broadened to mean seed and became a frequent noun suffix.
- Origin
- pictograph
- Root
- 子 (pictograph of a swaddled infant)
Stroke order
子
Examples
。
He has a son and a daughter.
芽。
These seeds sprouted very quickly.
古敬孔。
In ancient times people greatly respected Confucius.
盘。
There is a plate on the table.
。
Parents always worry about their children.
子 (zǐ) originally means a child or son and by extension a seed or small object. In modern Chinese it is most often heard as a light noun suffix, as in 桌子 (table) and 椅子 (chair).
Where this fits
Appears in 23 words
Multi-character compounds in the corpus that contain 子.
Used in
Grammar articles
(26)Mandarin Adjectives as Stative Verbs: Why 'I Am Cold' Is 我冷, Not 我是冷
The Mandarin 把 (bǎ) Construction: Fronting the Object to Say What You Did To It
The Mandarin 被 (bèi) Passive: Saying Something Was Done To the Subject
Mandarin Grammar Cheatsheet: The Essentials, One Page
Chinese Measure Words (Mandarin Classifiers): The Core Dozen, Which One Your Noun Takes, and the Safe Default
Mandarin Co-verbs: 从, 到, 在, 用, 坐, 给 - the Prepositions That Look Like Verbs
Asking How + Adjective in Mandarin with 多: 多高, 多远, 多长, 多大
Figurative Directional Complements in Mandarin: 起来, 下去 and 出来 Beyond Up, Down and Out
The Mandarin Durative 着 (zhe): Marking a State That Continues (门开着, 拿着书, 笑着说)
Mandarin Existential and Presentative Sentences: 有, 出现, 发生 and Why New Things Go After the Verb
Mandarin Intermediate Grammar (B1-B2 / HSK 4-5): Complements, Conjunctions and the Full 了 System
Mandarin Question Words: 什么 (shénme), 谁 (shéi), 哪 (nǎ) and Friends Stay Where the Answer Goes
Mandarin Location and Existence: 在 for Where, 有 for There Is, and the 上/下/里/外 Position Words
The Spoken Passives 让 (ràng), 叫 (jiào) and 给 (gěi): What People Say Instead of 被
Mandarin Possession with 的 (de): My, Your, His, and When Mandarin Drops the Particle
Mandarin Possession with 有 (yǒu): To Have
Mandarin Potential Complements: Can You Reach the Result? (吃得完, 听不懂, 买不起)
Mandarin Question Formation: 吗, V-Not-V, 还是, and the In-Situ Wh-Word System
Mandarin Relative Clauses with 的 (de): How the Modifier Goes Before the Noun
Mandarin Sentence-Final Particles: 吧, 呢, 啊, 嘛, 吗 and the Final 了
Serial Verb Constructions in Mandarin: 我去商店买东西 and Stacking Verbs in Sequence
The Mandarin 所 (suǒ) Family: 所有, 所谓, 所 + Verb, and the 为...所 Passive
Topic-Comment Structure in Mandarin: Fronting 这本书我看过 and Why Word Order Bends
Mandarin Sentence Structure: Word Order, Topic-Comment and the 把 Construction
Mandarin 性 (xìng) and 化 (huà): Building Abstract Nouns and '-ise' Verbs
Mandarin 之 (zhī): 之一, 之间, 之后, 之中, 总之 and the Written Ancestor of 的
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子: worksheet, infographic and listicle
Free printable study downloads for the Mandarin word "子" (child, son, seed, small thing (also a common noun suffix)): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.
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Start your free weekThis word is part of lesson 39.