其 qí this or that
his; her; their; that
How it came to be
A basket for tossing grain in the wind, with its two handles, standing on a base. Borrowed for the pronoun and never handed back; the basket later got bamboo and a character of its own.
How it is used
- A literary pronoun "his/her/its/their; that", now mostly locked into compounds rather than standing alone.
- Key words: 其他 (qítā) other, 其中 (qízhōng) among them, 其实 (qíshí) actually, 尤其 (yóuqí) especially, 其次 (qícì) secondly.
- Note 其实 (qíshí) signals "in fact, contrary to what you'd think" - 其实我不饿 (qíshí wǒ bú è) actually I'm not hungry.
Characters built with 其
Words with 其
- 其他qítāotherHSK 3
- 其实qíshías a matter of factHSK 3
- 其中qízhōngamongHSK 4
- 尤其yóuqíespeciallyHSK 4
- 其次qícìnextHSK 4
- 其余qíyúthe restHSK 5
- 极其jíqíextremelyHSK 5
- 与其yǔqírather than...HSK 6
- 其间qíjiānin betweenHSK 6
- 突如其来tūrú-qíláito arise abruptlyHSK 7
- 顺其自然shùnqízìránto let nature take its course (idiom)HSK 7
- 不厌其烦búyàn-qífánnot to mind taking all the trouble (idiom)HSK 8
- 名副其实míngfùqíshínot just in name only, but also in realityHSK 8
- 夸夸其谈kuākuā-qítánto talk bigHSK 8
- 恰如其分qiàrú-qífènappropriateHSK 8
- 莫名其妙mòmíngqímiàobafflingHSK 9
Example sentences
- 工资很低，其它条件还行。 Gōngzī hěn dī, qítā tiáojiàn hái xíng.The wages are low but the other conditions of employment are acceptable.
- 还有其他事情吗？ Háiyǒu qítā shìqing ma?Is there anything else?
- 事实其实不是这样的。 Shìshí qíshí bú shì zhèyàng de.Actually, those aren't the facts.
- 其中的高个子就是我哥哥。 Qízhōng de gāogèzi jiù shì wǒ gēge.The tall one of the group is my older brother.