之

zhī
HSK 4
#44 most
frequent character
(possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的)
preposition

Character breakdown

Source: Make Me a Hanzi.

之 first showed a foot leaving a place, so it meant 'to go'. The pronoun 'it' and the particle use were both borrowed for sound.

Drawn as: foot walking away; place

之 as a component in other characters

sound1 character
芝

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Grammar Points

HSK 6
Expressing possession with "zhi"
HSK 4
Expressing "one of" with "zhiyi"是…之一
HSK 4
Expressing fractions with "fenzhi"
Expressing "stuff like that" with "zhileide"像…之类的

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Public Lists with 之

Pronouns & Personal References
I, you, he, she, they, self-referential terms, and polite forms of address.
HSK 4
All words for the HSK 4 test