持 — to hold; to grasp; to support
to hold; to grasp; to support; to maintain; to persevere
- Pinyin
- chí
- Strokes
- 9
- HSK level
- HSK 3
- Handwriting
- recognition only
How to write 持: 9 strokes
Each cell adds one stroke to the previous ones, with the new stroke in red. Stroke order is not decoration: it sets the proportions of the character and makes handwriting legible to a reader. The syllabus asks you to recognise this character rather than write it by hand.
Words with 持 in the HSK syllabus: 15
Every word in the official 2026 syllabus that contains this character, with the level it is introduced at. Learning a character pays off through these: each one combines with the characters you already know.
- 坚持jiānchíto persevere with; to persist in; to insist onHSK 3
- 支持zhīchíto be in favor of; to support; to back; supportHSK 4
- 保持bǎochíto keep; to maintain; to hold; to preserveHSK 5
- 持续chíxùto continue; to last; to persistHSK 5
- 维持wéichíto keep; to maintain; to preserveHSK 5
- 主持zhǔchíto take charge of; to manage or directHSK 5
- 持久chíjiǔlasting; enduring; persistent; permanent; protractedHSK 6
- 持有chíyǒuto holdHSK 6
- 秉持bǐngchíto uphold; to hold fast toHSK 7–9
- 持chíto hold; to grasp; to support; to maintainHSK 7–9
- 持平chípíngto stay level; fair; unbiasedHSK 7–9
- 持之以恒chízhī-yǐhéngto pursue unremittingly; to persevereHSK 7–9
- 扶持fúchíto help; to assistHSK 7–9
- 劫持jiéchíto kidnap; to hijack; to abductHSK 7–9
- 挟持xiéchíto seize by the armsHSK 7–9
Glosses come from CC-CEDICT, used under CC BY-SA 4.0, and are the dictionary’s first sense rather than a translation chosen for context.