己 meaning and stroke order

jǐ

Self, oneself; personal, private; 6th heavenly stem

HSK 2 3 strokes Radical 己

Strokes3

Pinyinjǐ

ToneTone 3

Frequency#144

Printable worksheet Practice all HSK 2 characters

How to write 己, stroke by stroke

3 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.

Meaning of 己

Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.

jǐthird tone (dipping)

self
oneself
sixth of the ten Heavenly Stems 十天干[shi2 tian1 gan1]
sixth in order
letter "F" or Roman "VI" in list "A, B, C", or "I, II, III" etc
hexa

How 己 is built

Pictographic character. A loom woven with thread.

gōusecret

How to remember 己

The etymology hint says 己 pictures a loom woven with thread. Picture one long thread winding back and forth on your own loom, ending in the hook 乚 at the bottom, and think of the thread you weave for yourself.

己 rarely stands alone in modern speech. It mostly appears in words like 自己 (zìjǐ, oneself) and in idioms such as 身不由己 (shēnbùyóujǐ, beyond one's control). Example: 你要相信自己。(Nǐ yào xiāngxìn zìjǐ.) You need to believe in yourself.

Common mistake: Learners often confuse 己 (jǐ) with 已 (yǐ, already) and 巳 (sì, 6th earthly branch). In 己 the top-left stroke stays open with a gap. In 已 it is half closed, and in 巳 it is fully closed.

Common words with 己

Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.

Word	Pinyin	Meaning	Level
自己	zìjǐ	oneself; (attributive) one's own	HSK 2
知己	zhījǐ	to know oneself; to be intimate or close	HSK 7-9
身不由己	shēnbùyóujǐ	(idiom) (of one's circumstances) beyond one's control; unable to do anything about it; (of	HSK 7-9
损人利己	sǔnrén-lìjǐ	harming others for one's personal benefit (idiom); personal gain to the detriment of other	HSK 7-9
一己	yījǐ	oneself

己 in example sentences

Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.

你nǐ不bù必bì什shén么me都dōu非fēi得děi自zì己jǐ来lái。

You shouldn't try to do everything by yourself.

我wǒ没méi想xiǎng到dào你nǐ们men希xī望wàng自zì己jǐ做zuò。

I didn't think that you'd want to do that by yourselves.

她tā告gào诉sù我wǒ她tā不bù能néng自zì己jǐ做zuò。

She told me that she couldn't do that by herself.

到dào了le那nà时shí，我wǒ才cái发fā现xiàn自zì己jǐ错cuò了le。

It was not until then that I realized my mistake.

己jǐ经jīng晚wǎn了le，所suǒ以yǐ我wǒ回huí了le家jiā。

It was already late, so I went back home.

Characters that contain 己

Learning 己 makes these easier to recognize and write.

起qǐto rise 记jìto record 改gǎito change 纪jìdiscipline 配pèito join 記jìmark 忌jìto be jealous of 紀jìdiscipline 岂qǐwhat 妃fēiwife 杞qǐwillow 㠯yǐaccording to

Questions about 己

How many strokes are in 己?

己 is written with 3 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.

What does 己 mean?

己 (jǐ) means self, oneself; personal, private; 6th heavenly stem. A common word with it is 自己 (zìjǐ), meaning "oneself; (attributive) one's own".

How do you pronounce 己?

己 is pronounced jǐ, in the third tone (dipping).

Is 己 on the HSK exam?

Yes. 己 is part of the HSK 2 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard, and you are expected to write it by hand from HSK 2.

Is the 己 in 自己 pronounced with a full third tone?

The dictionary tone is jǐ, but in everyday speech the second syllable of 自己 is often said lightly, close to a neutral tone. Saying zìjǐ with a clear third tone is still correct.

What does 己 mean as a Heavenly Stem?

己 is the sixth of the ten Heavenly Stems, 十天干 (shí tiāngān). Because of this it can also mark the sixth item in a list, like F in A, B, C or VI in Roman numerals.