Character breakdown
Study each Hanzi separately, then return to the complete word so pronunciation, meaning, and movement stay connected.
How to learn 紫杉
Listen once without reading, repeat the pinyin with its tones, then write every character in sequence. Finally, recall the complete meaning instead of memorizing each character as an isolated translation.
When the word appears in a sentence, check whether its part of speech and meaning match the definition shown here. Chinese words can change nuance with context.
Words with the same characters
Compare how a familiar Hanzi changes meaning inside another word.
ultraviolet (ray)
紫米zǐ mǐblack rice; purple rice
紫气zǐ qìpurple cloud (auspicious portent in astrology)
紫菜zǐ càiedible seaweed of genus Porphyra or genus Pyropia, esp. one used to make dried sheets of nori
紫色zǐ sèpurple; violet (color)
紫草zǐ cǎored root gromwell (Lithospermum erythrorhizon); flowering plant whose roots provide purple dye; arnebia (plant genus in family Boraginaceae)