指 meaning in English

zhǐ

finger; to point at or to

HSK 3verb9 strokes

Meaning of 指

Definitions from CC-CEDICT.

zhǐ

finger
to point at or to
to indicate or refer to
to depend on
to count on
(of hair) to stand on end

How to use 指

As a verb, 指 means to point at or to refer to, and it appears in many common words like 手指 (shǒuzhǐ, finger) and 指出 (zhǐchū, to point out). It is often used to clarify meaning: 我说的不是你，是指他。(Wǒ shuō de bú shì nǐ, shì zhǐ tā.) I don't mean you, I mean him.

指 has the hand radical 扌 on the left and 旨 (zhǐ) on the right, which gives the sound. Picture a hand 扌 reaching out to point at something, and the right side tells you to say it like zhǐ.

Common mistake: Learners sometimes write the right side as 日 alone or mix 指 up with 脂 (zhī, fat), which has 月 instead of 扌 on the left. Also keep the third tone: zhǐ, not zhī.

指 in example sentences

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

如rú果guǒ我wǒ错cuò了le，请qǐng你nǐ指zhǐ正zhèng。

Correct me if I'm wrong.

我wǒ们men可kě全quán指zhǐ望wàng你nǐ了le。

We depend on you.

请qǐng你nǐ给gěi我wǒ指zhǐ点diǎn一yī下xià。

Can you show me the way please?

他tā在zài指zhǐ定dìng时shí间jiān的de五wǔ分fēn钟zhōng后hòu到dào了le。

He came five minutes behind the appointed time.

她tā指zhǐ派pài他tā做zuò这zhè个ge工gōng作zuò。

She assigned him to the job.

Stroke order for each character

Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.

指 zhǐ · finger · 9 strokes

Related words

Words that share a character with 指.

手指	shǒuzhǐ	finger
指导	zhǐdǎo	to guide; to direct; to instruct; coach; trainer
指出	zhǐchū	to indicate; to point out
指挥	zhǐhuī	to conduct; to command
指示	zhǐshì	to point out; to indicate
指责	zhǐzé	to criticize; to find fault with
指甲	zhǐjia	fingernail
指标	zhǐbiāo	(production) target; quota; index; indicator
指着	zhǐzhe
指定	zhǐdìng	to appoint; to assign
指数	zhǐshù	(numerical, statistical) index; (math.) exponent
指头	zhǐtou	finger; toe

Questions about 指

What does 指 mean?

指 (zhǐ) means "finger; to point at or to" and is used as a verb.

How do you write 指?

指 is made of 1 character: 指 (9 strokes). That is 9 strokes in total.

Is 指 an HSK word?

Yes. 指 is on the HSK 3 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.

How do I say "point at" something with 指?

Use 指着 (zhǐzhe) plus the object, for example 他指着地图 (tā zhǐzhe dìtú), he is pointing at the map. You can also say 用手指 (yòng shǒu zhǐ), to point with your finger.

What does 指 mean in 指望?

In 指望 (zhǐwàng), 指 carries the sense of depending on or counting on. 别指望他 (bié zhǐwàng tā) means don't count on him.