Meaning of 再
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- again; once more; re-
- further; beyond this point of time
- (before an adjective) more
- then (after sth, and not until then)
- no matter how ... (followed by an adjective or verb, and then (usually) 也[ye3] or 都[dou1] for emphasis)
- (used to introduce additional information, as in 再則|再则[zai4 ze2], 再就是[zai4 jiu4 shi4] etc)
- (literary) to reappear; to reoccur
How to use 再
再 goes before a verb to show an action will happen again or later, often in the future. It also means "then" when one thing must happen first, and "more" before an adjective. Example: 我们明天再说吧。(Wǒmen míngtiān zài shuō ba.) Let's talk about it again tomorrow.
Picture 再 (zài) as a stack of layers with an extra line laid on top, as if you are doing the same thing one more time. Each new horizontal stroke is another round, so it means "again."
Common mistake: Learners often use 再 for something that already happened again. For past repetition Chinese uses 又 (yòu), so say 他昨天又来了 (he came again yesterday), not 他昨天再来了. Also do not confuse 再 with the similar-sounding 在 (zài), which means "at" or "in the middle of doing."
再 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
再 zài · again · 6 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
Related words
Words that share a character with 再.
| 再见 | zàijiàn | goodbye; see you again later |
| 一再 | yīzài | repeatedly |
| 再三 | zàisān | over and over again; again and again |
| 再次 | zàicì | once more; once again |
| 再也 | zài yě | (not) ever again; (not) any longer |
| 不再 | bùzài | no more; no longer |
| 再说 | zàishuō | to say again; to put off a discussion until later |
| 再生 | zàishēng | to be reborn; to regenerate |
| 再度 | zàidù | once more; once again; one more time |
| 再现 | zàixiàn | to recreate; to reconstruct (a historical relic) |
| 再会 | zàihuì | to meet again; until we meet again |
| 再犯 | zàifàn | to re-offend; repeat offender; recidivist |
Questions about 再
What does 再 mean?
再 (zài) means "again; once more; re-; further; beyond this point of time" and is used as a adverb.
How do you write 再?
再 is made of 1 character: 再 (6 strokes). That is 6 strokes in total.
Is 再 an HSK word?
Yes. 再 is on the HSK 1 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What does 再 mean in a sentence like 吃了饭再走?
Here 再 means "then, and not until then." 吃了饭再走 (chī le fàn zài zǒu) means "eat first, then leave." The first action has to finish before the second one starts.
How do I use 再 to say "no matter how"?
Put 再 before an adjective or verb, then follow with 也 (yě) or 都 (dōu). For example, 再忙也要吃饭 (zài máng yě yào chī fàn) means "no matter how busy you are, you still need to eat."