职 meaning and stroke order
Duty, profession; office, post
How to write 职, stroke by stroke
11 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 职
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- office
- duty
How 职 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Ear.
耳 gives the meaning and 只 hints at the sound.
Radical: 耳 (ear), shared by 34 characters on this site.
How to remember 职
职 (zhí) is an ear 耳 next to 只 (zhī), which gives the sound. Picture a new employee with an ear open, listening carefully to instructions, because doing your duty at a post starts with listening.
职 almost always appears inside words about jobs and work roles, such as 职业 (zhíyè, profession), 职位 (zhíwèi, position) and 辞职 (cízhí, to resign). Example: 他上个月辞职了。(Tā shàng ge yuè cízhí le.) He resigned last month.
Common mistake: Learners often read 职 as zhī because of its sound part 只, but 职 is second tone, zhí. Also do not confuse it with 识 (shí, to know), which has the same 只 on the right but the speech radical 讠 on the left.
Common words with 职
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 职业 | zhíyè | occupation; profession; vocation; professional | HSK 3 |
| 职工 | zhígōng | employee; staff member; worker | HSK 3 |
| 辞职 | cízhí | to resign | HSK 5 |
| 职位 | zhíwèi | position; post; job | HSK 5 |
| 职务 | zhíwù | post; position | HSK 5 |
| 职能 | zhínéng | function; role | HSK 5 |
| 职责 | zhízé | duty; responsibility | HSK 6 |
| 求职 | qiúzhí | to seek employment | HSK 6 |
| 职员 | zhíyuán | office worker; staff member | HSK 7-9 |
| 兼职 | jiānzhí | to hold concurrent posts; concurrent job | HSK 7-9 |
| 任职 | rènzhí | to hold a post; to take office | HSK 7-9 |
| 离职 | lízhí | to leave one's job temporarily (e.g. for study); to leave one's job; to resign | HSK 7-9 |
| 就职 | jiùzhí | to take office; to assume a post | HSK 7-9 |
| 在职 | zàizhí | to be employed; to be in post | HSK 7-9 |
职 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 职
How many strokes are in 职?
职 is written with 11 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 职 mean?
职 (zhí) means duty, profession; office, post. A common word with it is 职业 (zhíyè), meaning "occupation; profession; vocation; professional".
How do you pronounce 职?
职 is pronounced zhí, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 职?
The radical of 职 is 耳, which carries the idea of "ear". Dictionaries list 职 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 职?
The traditional form of 职 is 職. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 职 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 职 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 职 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.
What is the difference between 职业 and 工作?
工作 (gōngzuò) is the everyday word for a job or for work in general. 职业 (zhíyè) is more formal and means occupation or profession, like the kind of work you list on a form. It is also used as an adjective meaning professional, as in 职业球员 (zhíyè qiúyuán, professional player).
How do I say I am looking for a job using 职?
You can say 我在求职 (wǒ zài qiúzhí), which sounds a bit formal, like job hunting. In casual speech people more often say 我在找工作 (wǒ zài zhǎo gōngzuò).