整 meaning and stroke order
(bound form) whole; complete; entire; (before a measure word) whole; (before or after number + measure word) exactly; (bound form) in good order; tidy; neat; (bound form) to put in order; to straighten
How to write 整, stroke by stroke
16 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
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Meaning of 整
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- (bound form) whole; complete; entire; (before a measure word) whole; (before or after number + measure word) exactly
- (bound form) in good order; tidy; neat
- (bound form) to put in order; to straighten
- (bound form) to repair; to mend; to renovate
- (coll.) to fix sb; to give sb a hard time; to mess with sb
- (dialect) to tinker with; to do sth to
How 整 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Order.
敕 gives the meaning and 正 hints at the sound.
Radical: 攵 (to rap), shared by 36 characters on this site.
How to remember 整
整 (zhěng) has 敕 (an order or command) on top of 正 (zhèng, straight, correct), which also gives the sound. Picture someone giving an order to make everything straight, and you get neat, orderly, and whole.
整 often means whole or exact, as in 整天 (zhěngtiān, all day) or 三点整 (sān diǎn zhěng, three o'clock sharp). It also appears in verbs about putting things in order, like 整理 (zhěnglǐ) and 调整 (tiáozhěng). Example: 我整天都在家。(Wǒ zhěngtiān dōu zài jiā.) I was home all day.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up the sound with its phonetic part 正 (zhèng, fourth tone), but 整 is third tone, zhěng. In writing, people sometimes drop the 攵 on the right side of the top part, which leaves an incomplete 敕.
Common words with 整
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 整个 | zhěnggè | whole; entire | HSK 3 |
| 整天 | zhěngtiān | all day long; whole day | HSK 3 |
| 整理 | zhěnglǐ | to arrange; to tidy up | HSK 3 |
| 完整 | wánzhěng | complete; intact | HSK 3 |
| 调整 | tiáozhěng | to adjust; to revise; to reorganize | HSK 3 |
| 整整 | zhěngzhěng | whole; full | HSK 3 |
| 整体 | zhěngtǐ | whole; entirety; overall; whole; general | HSK 3 |
| 整齐 | zhěngqí | orderly; neat | HSK 3 |
| 整顿 | zhěngdùn | to tidy up; to reorganize | HSK 6 |
| 整治 | zhěngzhì | to bring under control; to regulate | HSK 6 |
| 整洁 | zhěngjié | neatly; tidy | HSK 7-9 |
| 整合 | zhěnghé | to conform; to integrate | HSK 7-9 |
| 工整 | gōngzhěng | fine work; carefully and neatly done | HSK 7-9 |
| 整数 | zhěngshù | whole number; integer (math.) | HSK 7-9 |
整 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 整
How many strokes are in 整?
整 is written with 16 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 整 mean?
整 (zhěng) means (bound form) whole; complete; entire; (before a measure word) whole; (before or after number + measure word) exactly; (bound form) in good order; tidy; neat; (bound form) to put in order; to straighten. A common word with it is 整个 (zhěnggè), meaning "whole; entire".
How do you pronounce 整?
整 is pronounced zhěng, in the third tone (dipping).
What is the radical of 整?
The radical of 整 is 攵, which carries the idea of "to rap". Dictionaries list 整 under this radical.
Is 整 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 整 is part of the HSK 3 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard, and you are expected to write it by hand from HSK 3.
Where does 整 go when saying an exact time or amount?
Put 整 after the number and measure word to mean exactly, as in 十块整 (shí kuài zhěng, exactly ten yuan). Put it before the measure word to mean whole, as in 整个晚上 (zhěng gè wǎnshang, the whole evening).
What does 整 mean when someone says 他整我?
In casual speech 整 can mean to give someone a hard time or mess with them, so 他整我 means he is picking on me or playing tricks on me. In some dialects it is also a general verb like to do or to fix, as in 整点吃的 (zhěng diǎn chī de, make something to eat).