How is 子 pronounced?

子 is pronounced “zǐ” in pinyin.

What HSK level is 子?

子 belongs to HSK 1 in the HSK 3.0 vocabulary.

How do you write 子?

Follow the stroke-order animation above; 子 is written using standard stroke order. Practice it in the writing trainer.

HSK 1measure word

子

zǐ

子 (zǐ) means “son; child; seed; egg; small thing; 1st earthly branch: 11 p.m.-1 a.m., midnight, 11th solar month (7th December to 5th January), year of the Rat; Viscount, fourth of five orders of nobility 位; ancient Chinese compass point: 0° (north); subsidiary; subordinate; sub-”. It is an HSK 1 Chinese character in the HSK 3.0 vocabulary.

Stroke order

Practice writing

Example

孩子很小。

Háizi hěn xiǎo.

The child is very young.

Words containing 子

杯子bēi zicup; glass 包子bāo zibao (steamed stuffed bun)鼻子bí zinose 儿子ér zison 被子bèi ziquilt 孩子hái zichild 电子邮件diàn zǐ yóu jiànemail 脖子bó zineck; CL:個|个[ge4]个子gè ziheight; stature; build; size 妻子qī zǐwife and children 叉子chā zifork 肚子dù zibelly; abdomen; stomach

More HSK 1 vocabulary

HSK 1 →

爱àito love; to be fond of; to like; affection; to be inclined (to do sth); to tend to (happen)的deof; ~'s (possessive particle); (used after an attribute); (used to form a nominal expression); (used at the end of a declarative sentence for emphasis); also pr. [dì] or [di] in poetry and songs 八bāeight; 8 爸爸bà ba(coll.) father; dad 了le(completed action marker); (modal particle indicating change of state, situation now); (modal particle intensifying preceding clause)我wǒI; me; my 杯子bēi zicup; glass 是shìto be (followed by substantives only); correct; right; true; (respectful acknowledgement of a command) very well; (adverb for emphatic assertion)你好nǐ hǎohello 北京běi jīngBeijing, capital of the People's Republic of China 你nǐyou (informal, as opposed to courteous 您)在zàito exist; to be alive; (of sb or sth) to be (located) at; (used before a verb to indicate an action in progress)

Frequently asked questions

What does 子 mean?: 子 (zǐ) means “son; child; seed; egg; small thing; 1st earthly branch: 11 p.m.-1 a.m., midnight, 11th solar month (7th December to 5th January), year of the Rat; Viscount, fourth of five orders of nobility 位; ancient Chinese compass point: 0° (north); subsidiary; subordinate; sub-”. It is an HSK 1 word.
How is 子 pronounced?: 子 is pronounced “zǐ” in pinyin.
What HSK level is 子?: 子 belongs to HSK 1 in the HSK 3.0 vocabulary.
How do you write 子?: Follow the stroke-order animation above; 子 is written using standard stroke order. Practice it in the writing trainer.

Updated: 2026-07-18