识/識 shí, zhì — to know, to recognise; knowledge; (zhì) to record, an inscription

Pinyin

• shí (second tone, rising)most common
• zhì (fourth tone, falling)

to know, to recognise; knowledge; (zhì) to record, an inscription

Character breakdown

• 讠meaning partno entry yetThe speech radical.
• 只sound partno entry yet只 zhī for the sound. The traditional 識 has 戠 zhí here; simplification replaced it with a common character of similar sound.

Mnemonic

Speech 讠 with 只 for the sound. It rarely stands alone: 认识 to be acquainted with, 知识 knowledge, 识字 to be literate — literally to know characters. The second reading zhì belongs to classical texts and to 标识, a marker, where the modern spoken form is usually 标志 instead.

A memory aid written by HSK Guide editors. It is not an etymology and does not describe the historical origin of the character.

Words containing 识

• 认识/認識rènshi (fourth tone, falling)to know, to be acquainted with (a person)

Radical 言 — other characters

• 说/說shuō (first tone, high and level)to speak, to say, to talk; to explain; to tell off (colloquial)
• 认/認rèn (fourth tone, falling)to recognise, to identify; to admit, to acknowledge; to accept as inevitable
• 语/語yǔ (third tone, dipping)language, tongue; speech, words; a saying
• 让/讓ràng (fourth tone, falling)to let, to allow; to make or cause someone to do something; to yield, to give way, to give up a seat
• 记/記jì (fourth tone, falling)to record, to write down; to remember, to bear in mind; a note, an account; a mark
• 话/話huà (fourth tone, falling)speech, words, what is said; a language or dialect; to talk about
• 请/請qǐng (third tone, dipping)please; to ask, to request; to invite; to treat someone (to a meal)
• 读/讀dú (second tone, rising)to read; to read aloud; to study, to attend school
• 谢/謝xiè (fourth tone, falling)to thank; thanks; (of flowers) to wither, to fade; Xie, a common surname