既 meaning in English

jì

already; since

HSK 4adverbconjunction9 strokes

Meaning of 既

Definitions from CC-CEDICT.

jì

already
since
both... (and...)

How to use 既

既 (jì) appears most often in fixed pairs. 既然 (jìrán) means "since" and is usually followed by 就 (jiù), and 既...又... or 既...也... means "both... and...." Example: 他既聪明又努力。(Tā jì cōngming yòu nǔlì.) He is both smart and hardworking.

Picture the left side of 既 as a bowl of food and the right side as a person turning away. The meal is already finished, which links to the meaning "already" and "since this is done."

Common mistake: Learners often confuse 既 (jì) with 即 (jí). They look alike and sound close, but 即 means "namely" or "immediately," as in 立即 (lìjí). Another trap is writing 既然 without the follow-up 就 or 那, which can make the sentence feel unfinished.

既 in example sentences

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

她tā既jì学xué越yuè语yǔ又yòu学xué英yīng语yǔ。

She is learning both Vietnamese and English.

既jì然rán你nǐ们men这zhè么me说shuō，那nà让ràng我wǒ再zài想xiǎng想xiǎng。

Since you all say that, I must think again.

他tā既jì不bù喜xǐ欢huān棒bàng球qiú，又yòu不bù喜xǐ欢huān足zú球qiú。

He likes neither baseball nor football.

既jì然rán你nǐ在zài这zhè里lǐ, 那nà我wǒ们men就jiù开kāi始shǐ吧ba。

Since you're here, we might as well begin.

他tā俄é语yǔ既jì会huì说shuō，又yòu会huì写xiě。

He can both speak and write Russian.

Stroke order for each character

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

既 jì · already · 9 strokes

Related words

Words that share a character with 既.

既然	jìrán	since; as; this being the case
一如既往	yīrú-jìwǎng	(idiom) just as in the past; as before; continuing as always
既有	jìyǒu	existing
既定	jìdìng	already fixed; set

Questions about 既

What does 既 mean?

既 (jì) means "already; since" and is used as a adverb and conjunction.

How do you write 既?

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

Is 既 an HSK word?

Yes. 既 is on the HSK 4 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.

What is the difference between 既然 and 因为?

因为 (yīnwèi) gives a new reason the listener may not know. 既然 (jìrán) points to a fact both people already accept and then draws a conclusion, such as 既然你来了，就一起吃吧 (Since you're here, let's eat together).

Can I use 既 alone to mean "already"?

In modern speech, "already" is usually 已经 (yǐjīng). 既 alone with that meaning shows up mainly in formal or set expressions like 既定 (jìdìng, already set) and 既有 (jìyǒu, existing).