ZHIZHI 知止 · LEARN CHINESE DAILY
性
nature; character; -ness
xìng
8 strokes · 忄 (heart) + 生 (birth) — the heart you were born with · HSK 3
Where 性 comes from
Heart 忄 plus birth 生: the disposition present from birth. Your innate nature — and by extension the inherent quality of anything.
性 in Chinese culture
性格 personality, 女性/男性 female/male, 重要性 importance. 性 is the '-ness' machine of modern Chinese: bolt it onto a word and you get an abstract noun — 可能性 possibility, 安全性 safety.
Example
性格 xìnggé — personality
她的性格很好。
Tā de xìnggé hěn hǎo.
She has a great personality.
How to remember it
The HEART you're BORN with — your NATURE.
Modern Chinese builds abstractions with 性 exactly like English '-ness/-ity': 重要性 importance, 创造性 creativity.
Same sound, different tones
Words unlocked by 性
性格 xìnggé
personality
可能性 kěnéngxìng
possibility
Related characters
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One character a morning · 431-character HSK library · iOS