Shareables · HSK 1 · 形 · Easy to confuse
形近 · Characters that look like 系
系 next to 条、杀、角 — one stroke apart, nothing else in common.
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系xìto connect/to relate to/to tie up/to bind/to be (literary)/system/department/faculty
形近字 · LOOK ALIKE, READ DIFFERENTLY
Same shape at a glance. Different sound, different meaning.
| Character | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 系 | xì | to connect/to relate to/to tie up/to bind/to be (literary)/system/department/faculty |
| 条 | tiáo | strip/item/article/clause (of law or treaty)/classifier for long thin things (ribbon, river, road, trousers etc) |
| 杀 | shā | to kill/to murder/to attack/to weaken or reduce/to smart (dialect)/(used after a verb) extremely |
| 角 | jiǎo | surname Jue/angle/corner/horn/horn-shaped/unit of money equal to 0.1 yuan, or 10 cents (a dime)/role (theater)/to compete |
| 卷 | juàn | to roll up/roll/classifier for small rolled things (wad of paper money, movie reel etc)/scroll/book/volume/chapter/examination paper |
| 呈 | chéng | to present to a superior/memorial/petition/to present (a certain appearance)/to assume (a shape)/to be (a certain color) |
What this card is
A one-page Chinese lesson from the HSK 1 set, filed under 形 · Easy to confuse. 系 next to 条、杀、角 — one stroke apart, nothing else in common.
How to use it
Open the card studio above, choose a size (9:16 for TikTok and Stories, 4:5 for a feed, 1.91:1 for a link preview), then save the PNG or share it directly. The same content is written out on this page, so you can read or copy it as text.
Where it fits
The source: 系 in the dictionary.
See where this level sits in the HSK levels guide, browse every card, or look any word up in the dictionary.
More from HSK 1
- 成语 · 马马虎虎 — Horse-horse-tiger-tiger: so-so, and the story of how careless gets you killed.
- 您 · Politeness you can see — 您 is 你 with a heart underneath. That is the whole difference.
- 春节 · The words of Chinese New Year — Six words that cover the whole holiday, from the red envelope to the couplets on the door.
- 评 · Comment on your surroundings — Point at something real and say what you notice. This alone is a complete strategy — caveman Chinese is correct Chinese.
- 问 · Ask about their life — Hometown, family, children, grandchildren, work. Memorize a few of these — they get a person to open up about their past.
- 问 · 哪儿 Where — 哪儿 and 哪里 are the same question. It sits where the answer goes, so the word order never moves.
- 问 · 什么 What — 什么 attaches to the noun it asks about: 什么工作, 什么东西, 什么好吃的.
- 问 · 有…吗 Do you have — 有 + noun + 吗 is the whole question. Nothing else changes.
A card is one idea. The course is the map they all sit on. HSK 0 through HSK 6 on a prerequisite-ordered knowledge graph: active recall in small steps, reviews timed to land just before you would forget, and speaking practice built on the comment + question method. From $49 once for lifetime access.
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