Meaning of 支
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- to support
- to sustain
- to erect
- to raise
- branch
- division
- to draw money
- classifier for rods such as pens and guns, for army divisions and for songs or compositions
- surname Zhi
How to use 支
As a measure word, 支 (zhī) is used for long thin objects like pens and guns, and also for songs, teams and army units. As a verb it appears mostly in compounds such as 支持 (zhīchí, to support) and 支付 (zhīfù, to pay). Example: 我买了一支笔。(Wǒ mǎi le yì zhī bǐ.) I bought a pen.
Picture the top part 十 as a small branch and the bottom part 又 as a hand holding it. A hand holding up a branch gives you the ideas of a branch and of propping something up.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 支 with 枝 (zhī), which adds 木 and is the measure word for flowers on a stem, as in 一枝花. Use 支 for pens and songs, and 枝 for branches and stemmed flowers.
支 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.
支 zhī · to support · 4 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
Related words
Words that share a character with 支.
| 支持 | zhīchí | to be in favor of; to support |
| 支付 | zhīfù | to pay (money) |
| 支配 | zhīpèi | to control; to dominate |
| 支出 | zhīchū | to spend; to pay out; expenses; expenditure |
| 支援 | zhīyuán | to provide assistance; to support |
| 支撑 | zhīchēng | to prop up; to support |
| 支票 | zhīpiào | check (bank); cheque |
| 开支 | kāizhī | expenditures; expenses (CL:筆|笔[bi3],項|项[xiang4]); to spend money |
| 支柱 | zhīzhù | mainstay; pillar |
| 分支 | fēnzhī | branch (of company, river etc); to branch |
| 透支 | tòuzhī | (banking) to overdraw; to take out an overdraft |
| 收支 | shōuzhī | cash flow; financial balance |
Questions about 支
What does 支 mean?
支 (zhī) means "to support; to sustain" and is used as a measure word and verb.
How do you write 支?
支 is made of 1 character: 支 (4 strokes). That is 4 strokes in total.
Is 支 an HSK word?
Yes. 支 is on the HSK 3 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
Should I say 一支笔 or 一个笔?
一支笔 (yì zhī bǐ) is the standard choice, because 支 is the measure word for pens and other rod-shaped things. You may hear 个 in casual speech, but 支 sounds more natural and correct.
Can 支 be used for songs?
Yes. 一支歌 (yì zhī gē) means one song, and you will also see 一支乐曲 for a piece of music. 首 (shǒu) is also very common for songs, as in 一首歌.