ZHIZHI 知止 · LEARN CHINESE DAILY

its; that; (其他) other

8 strokes · 其 — a pictograph of a winnowing basket on a stand · HSK 3

Where 其 comes from

其 drew a winnowing basket — the woven tray for tossing grain into the wind. Grammar borrowed it as the pronoun 'its/that', so the basket meaning grew bamboo on top and became 箕. The loanword kept the throne.

其 in Chinese culture

其他 'other', 其实 'actually', 尤其 'especially'. Classical Chinese leaned on 其 the way English leans on 'its'. In idioms it's everywhere: 名副其实 'the name matches its reality'.

Example

其他 qítā — other

其他人呢?
Qítā rén ne?
What about the others?

How to remember it

A winnowing basket borrowed by grammar — ITS, THAT, the OTHER.

其实 'actually' is the gentle Chinese pivot before disagreeing — 其实我觉得... 'actually, I think...' softens a thousand daily debates.

Same sound, different tones

1st qī
seven
2nd qí
its; that
3rd qǐ
to rise
4th qì
steam

Words unlocked by 其

其他 qítā
other
其实 qíshí
actually
其他人 qítā rén
the other people

Related characters

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