只

Character

只 zhǐ · zhī

HSK 2Character2 readings

only; merely; just

Radical: 口
Strokes: 5
Structure: Top–bottom
Parts: 口八
Traditional: 只
Frequency: #189 most common character

Practice writing

Readings and meanings

zhǐMain reading zhīReading 2 · HSK 3

zhǐ

zhi3Main readingHSK 2

only; merely; just CC-CEDICT

Words that use “只” as zhǐ

只能zhǐ néngcan onlyWordHSK 2 只要zhǐ yàoifWordHSK 2 只好zhǐ hǎoto have to do something because there is no other choiceWordHSK 3 只是zhǐ shìonlyWordHSK 3 只有zhǐ yǒuonlyWordHSK 3 只见zhǐ jiànonly to seeWordHSK 5 只不过zhǐ bu guòonlyWordHSK 5 只得zhǐ déto have no choice but to do somethingWordHSK 6

zhī

zhi1Reading 2HSK 3

HSK 3 is the level of this reading in the official HSK 3.0 word list; other readings of 只 can sit at a different level.

measure word for animals and one of a pair, like hands, eyes, shoes

Examples

我家有一只小猫。
Wǒ jiā yǒu yì zhī xiǎo māo
There is a little cat in my home.
AI-generated sentence
他买了一只小狗。
Tā mǎi le yì zhī xiǎo gǒu
He bought a little dog.
AI-generated sentence

Words that use “只” as zhī

船只chuán zhīa boat or shipWordHSK 6 只身zhī shēnaloneWord 大只dà zhībigWord 牛只niú zhīcowWord 犬只quǎn zhī(formal) dogWord 猫只māo zhī(formal) catWord 舰只jiàn zhīwarshipWord 三只手sān zhī shǒupickpocketWord

Stroke order

Practice writing 只

Draw “只” here — the faint guide shows its shape.

See all 43 words with 只 →

Same radical 口

All characters with 口 →

和hé 吗ma 嗎ma 可kě 后hòu 名míng 台tái 同tóng 员yuán 員yuán 喜xǐ 噹dāng

只