TongTong
Sign in

自觉 (zì jué) — (adjective) conscious, aware (of one's own state, mistakes, or responsibility); (adjective/ adverb) self-disciplined, on one's own initiative, voluntarily

Definition

自觉 has two main uses: 'conscious/aware' (of one's own state, mistakes, or duty), and 'self-disciplined/on one's own initiative' — emphasizing an internal sense of responsibility, unlike 自行 (merely 'by oneself') or 随意 (free, casual).

adjective
consciousaware (of one's own state, mistakes, or responsibility)
verb
(adjective/ adverb) self-disciplinedon one's own initiativevoluntarily
Easily confused

Examples

  • 自觉。
    Nǐ yīng gāi zì jué rèn shi dào zì jǐ de bù zú.
    You should be aware of your own shortcomings.
  • 自觉。
    Tā zì jué dì bǎ jiào shì dǎ sǎo gān jìng le.
    He voluntarily cleaned the classroom.
  • 自觉。
    Xué shēng xué xí zì jué xìng hěn zhòng yào.
    It's very important for students to have self-discipline in studying.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

自zìself
觉juéawareness

自 points to the person and 觉 is awareness, giving conscious of oneself or voluntary.

Characters in this word

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 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 覺; 觉 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
見見jiànsee
Sound part声符shēngfú
𦥯
𦥯𦥯覺jué
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 覺 pairs 見, a part that means see, with 𦥯, a part that gives the sound; simplified 觉 is a later abbreviation.

Open 觉 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 5HSK 2.0 Level 5Personality & TraitsThinking & Cognition

Browse more HSK 5 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.