The Chinese word 只 is a measure word used to indicate a single object or animal. It is often used in combination with nouns such as 狗 for “dog” or 鸟 for “bird”. For example, 一只狗 means “one dog”. The word 只 can also be used as a pronoun to mean “only” or “just”, as in 只有 for “only have” or 只是 for “just is”.
Translation
zhǐ
Adverb: only, just, merely
zhī
Measure Word: for birds and animals, a pair of things, parts of the body, etc.
Pronunciation
Example Sentences
| Chinese | Pinyin | Engish |
|---|---|---|
| 他只喝水，不喝酒 | tā zhǐ hē shuǐ, bù hē jiǔ | He only drinks water, not alcohol |
| 我只学了一年中文 | wǒ zhǐ xué le yī nián zhōngwén | I only studied Chinese for one year |
| 这只猫很可爱 | zhè zhī māo hěn kě’ài | This cat is very cute |
| 我只有五十元钱 | wǒ zhǐ yǒu wǔshí yuán qián | I only have fifty yuan |
| 他只会说英文和法文 | tā zhǐ huì shuō yīngwén hé fǎwén | He can only speak English and French |
| 这只狗很聪明，会做很多小技巧 | zhè zhī gǒu hěn cōngmíng, huì zuò hěn duō xiǎo jìqiǎo | This dog is very smart and can do many tricks |
| 他只喜欢吃素食 | tā zhǐ xǐhuān chī sùshí | He only likes to eat vegetarian food |
| 我只能说一点儿汉语 | wǒ zhǐ néng shuō yīdiǎn er hànyǔ | I can only speak a little bit of Chinese |
HSK
只 is part of HSK Level 3 and HSK Level 4 in HSK 2.0. In the newer HSK 3.0 it is part of HSK Level 2 and HSK Level 3.
Learning Card
