ENESFRDE中文

Characters, words, pinyin or English

私 sī personal

personal; private; secret; selfish

How to remember 私: 禾 grain + 厶 cocoon = personal. Under the sacks of grain in the barn, the boy keeps a silk cocoon in a matchbox, and he says it is personal.

  • HSK 5
  • 7 strokes
  • Radical 禾

Component breakdown

私 = 禾 grain + 厶 cocoon

  • 禾 grain
  • 厶 cocoon
The Gushi story

Under the sacks of grain in the barn, the boy keeps a silk cocoon in a matchbox, and he says it is personal.

How it is used

  • Bound morpheme for "private, personal, selfish", forming a large compound family about privacy and self-interest.
  • 私人 (sīrén) "private, personal" (私人物品 "personal belongings") is neutral, while 无私 (wúsī) "selfless" and plain 私心 (sīxīn) "selfish motives" carry a moral judgment.
  • 隐私 (yǐnsī) is the standard word for "privacy" in the data/rights sense - 保护隐私 "protect one's privacy".
  • 私下 (sīxià) "privately, off the record" is a common adverbial: 私下谈谈 "talk about it privately"; 私立 (sīlì) means "privately-run" (school/hospital), contrasted with 公立 (gōnglì) "public".

Words with 私