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在
zài
1. (located) at
2. (to be) in
3. to exist
4. in the middle of doing sth
5. (indicating an action in progress)
HSK 1 Very Common • Top 0% ✏️ 6 strokes

Character Breakdown (Single character)

在
zài
at, in, on; to exist; used to indicate the present progressive tense
HSK 1 6 丶

Compound Words (20)

不在
bùzài
not to be present
何在
hézài
where?
内在
nèizài
intrinsic
HSK 6
同在
tóngzài
to be with
在下
zàixià
under
在世
zàishì
to be alive
在乎
zàihu
to care about
HSK 5
在位
zàiwèi
on the throne
在先
zàixiān
to come first
在内
zàinèi
including
在前
zàiqián
ahead
在即
zàijí
near at hand
在地
zàidì
local
在场
zàichǎng
to be present
在外
zàiwài
outer
在座
zàizuò
to be present
在后
zàihòu
behind
在意
zàiyì
to care about
HSK 6
在握
zàiwò
(fig.) to hold in one's hands
在教
zàijiào
to be a believer (in a religion, esp. Islam)

Example Sentences (10)

喂，你好，请问周明在吗？
Wéi, nǐ hǎo, qǐngwèn Zhōu Míng zài ma?
Hello, may I ask if Zhou Ming is there?
Text 2
喂，你在做什么呢？
Wéi, nǐ zài zuò shénme ne?
Hello, what are you doing?
Text 1
小猫在哪儿？
Xiǎo māo zài nǎr?
Where is the kitten?
Text 1
你好！请问张欢在吗？
Nǐ hǎo! Qǐngwèn Zhāng Huān zài ma?
Hello! May I ask if Zhang Huan is there?
Text 1
昨天上午你在做什么呢？
Zuótiān shàngwǔ nǐ zài zuò shénme ne?
What were you doing yesterday morning?
Text 2
你在忙什么呢？刚才打你的手机你也不接。
Nǐ zài máng shénme ne? Gāngcái dǎ nǐ de shǒujī nǐ yě bù jiē.
What are you doing? I just called your cell phone and you didn't answer.
Text 2
你在这个商店买过东西没有？
Nǐ zài zhège shāngdiàn mǎi guo dōngxi méiyǒu?
Have you ever bought anything at this store?
Text 4
你在哪儿工作？
Nǐ zài nǎr gōngzuò?
Where do you work?
Text 2
你在忙什么呢？
Nǐ zài máng shénme ne?
What are you busy with?
Text 4
我不喜欢一直住在一个城市，想去其他城市看一看。
Wǒ bù xǐhuan yìzhí zhù zài yí gè chéngshì, xiǎng qù qítā chéngshì kàn yí kàn.
I don't like living in one city all the time; I want to go see other cities.
Text 1

Metadata

Category
Chinese
HSK Character Level
1
Character Frequency Rank
5
Word Frequency Rank
8 of 84,292