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私自 (sī zì) — without permission; secretly; privately (doing something unauthorized)

Definition

私自 marks doing something without the required permission, often from an authority — a negative evaluation. Compare 擅自 (also 'without authorization,' but more formal and official); 偷偷 just hides the action but does not imply rule-breaking.

adverb
without permissionsecretlyprivately (doing something unauthorized)

Examples

  • 私自。
    Nǐ bù néng sī zì ná zǒu gōng sī de wù pǐn.
    You cannot take company property without permission.
  • 私自。
    Tā sī zì yòng dān wèi de chē qù lǚ yóu.
    He used the company's car for a trip without authorization.
  • ，私自。
    Qǐng bào gào, bú yào sī zì chǔ lǐ zhè jiàn shì.
    Please report it; don't handle this matter privately without approval.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

私sīsecretly
自zìoneself

私 means secretly or privately, and 自 means by oneself, so 私自 means acting on one's own without permission.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
禾禾hé
Sound part声符shēngfú
厶
厶sī私sī
Same sound today

私 combines 禾 and 厶; 厶 originally represented the word, and 禾 was added later.

Open 私 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

假借jiǎjièLater borrowed for its sound alone — the picture has nothing to do with today’s meaning.

自 originally drew a nose. It was borrowed purely for its sound to write 自, so the picture and the meaning are unrelated.

Open 自 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6

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