ji (记) — to remember, to record, a mark in Chinese

simplified

traditional

jì

to remember · to record · to write down · a mark, a sign

HSK 1 笔画 5 部首讠 (speech) 声调第四声 (falling) all ji readings →

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字源 zìyuán Etymology & Structure

字源洞见 zìyuán dòngjiàn · Etymological Insight

记 jì = 讠 (yán, speech) + 己 (jǐ, self). The left side is the simplified speech radical, the abbreviated form of 言 yán (words, to speak); the right side is 己 jǐ, a pictograph of a bent cord or thread that means oneself. Here 己 jǐ serves chiefly as the phonetic, supplying the sound that 记 jì still echoes today. The whole is a 形声 xíngshēng compound: speech on the left tells you the field of meaning, 己 on the right tells you roughly how to say it.

The semantic side, speech, points at the core idea: to fasten words so they will not slip away. Whether the words are held in the mind or set down on a page, 记 is the act of fixing what would otherwise be lost. From that one idea three senses fan out:

1. To remember, to bear in mind. Holding something fast in memory: 记得 jìde (to remember), 记住 jìzhù (to remember firmly), 记忆 jìyì (memory).
2. To record, to write down. Fixing it on paper instead of in the head: 记录 jìlù (to record), 日记 rìjì (diary), 笔记 bǐjì (notes).
3. A mark, a sign. The trace left so a thing can be found or known again: 记号 jìhào (a mark), 标记 biāojì (a marker).

The thread running through all three is permanence against forgetting. To remember is to keep words in the mind; to record is to keep them on the page; a mark is the visible token that keeps a thing from being lost. In every case 记 holds something still so it can be returned to.

构词 gòucí Word-Formation Patterns

构词规律 gòucí guīlǜ · One Glyph, Three Jobs 记 as "remember / keep in mind" → 记得 to remember · 记住 to memorize · 记忆 memory · 牢记 to bear firmly in mind
记 as "record / write down" → 记录 to record · 日记 diary · 笔记 notes · 记者 reporter
记 as "mark / sign" → 记号 a mark · 标记 a marker · 印记 an imprint · 胎记 a birthmark

记得 jìde To Remember

记得 jìde to remember; to recall

V 动词 dòngcí

记 jì (to keep in mind) + 得 de (a resultative marker). To have something still held in memory, the everyday word for remembering: 我记得他 "I remember him." Its opposite is 忘记 wàngjì (to forget).

你还记得我吗？

Nǐ hái jìde wǒ ma?

Do you still remember me?

我记得把门锁好了。

Wǒ jìde bǎ mén suǒ hǎo le.

I remember that I locked the door.

记住 jìzhù to remember firmly; to commit to memory

V 动词 dòngcí

记 jì (to keep in mind) + 住 zhù (a resultative meaning "to stay fast"). To make something stick so it will not slip away: 记住这个号码 "memorize this number." The 住 stresses that the memory has caught and held.

请记住我的话。

Qǐng jìzhù wǒ de huà.

Please remember what I said.

辨析 biànxī · 记得 vs. 记住 vs. 想起记得 describes a state: the memory is already there, you have it. 记住 describes an action with a result: you take something in and make it stick, often a deliberate effort ("memorize this"). 想起 xiǎngqǐ is the moment of retrieval, calling something back to mind that had slipped away: 我突然想起来了 "I suddenly remembered." So you 记住 a phone number on purpose, you 记得 it afterward without trying, and you 想起 it when it pops back the next day.

记忆 jìyì memory; to remember (formal)

N / V 名词、动词

记 jì (to remember) + 忆 yì (to recall, recollect). The faculty of memory and its contents, more formal and abstract than 记得: 童年的记忆 "childhood memories," 记忆力 jìyìlì "the power of memory."

这件事我记忆很深。

Zhè jiàn shì wǒ jìyì hěn shēn.

My memory of this matter is very deep.

记录 jìlù To Record & Write Down

语义洞见 yǔyì dòngjiàn · Semantic Insight

When the mind cannot hold everything, 记 moves from the head to the page. To 记录 jìlù is to set events, words, or numbers down in lasting form, and the noun it makes is the record itself: 会议记录 "minutes of a meeting," 打破记录 "to break a record." The same 记 names the kinds of writing built on keeping account: 日记 rìjì, the day-by-day diary; 笔记 bǐjì, the notes a student or reader takes; 传记 zhuànjì, a biography that records a life.

This sense also gives Chinese its word for one who records for a living. A 记者 jìzhě is literally "one who records," the reporter or journalist whose work is to set down what happened so others may know it. From the private diary to the published dispatch, the 记 of recording is the act of fixing the passing moment in words that outlast it.

记录 jìlù to record; a record; minutes

V / N 动词、名词

记 jì (to write down) + 录 lù (to copy, to register). To set something down in writing, and the written result itself. Also the "record" that is broken in sport: 世界记录 "world record."

请把会议内容记录下来。

Qǐng bǎ huìyì nèiróng jìlù xiàlái.

Please write down the content of the meeting.

日记 rìjì diary; journal

N 名词 míngcí

日 rì (day) + 记 jì (record). A day-by-day record of one's own life and thoughts: 写日记 "to keep a diary." The 日 marks the daily rhythm of the writing.

她每天晚上写日记。

Tā měitiān wǎnshang xiě rìjì.

She writes in her diary every evening.

笔记 bǐjì notes (taken while studying or reading)

N 名词 míngcí

笔 bǐ (pen, brush) + 记 jì (to record). The notes one writes down in class or while reading: 做笔记 "to take notes." This 笔记 also names the laptop, 笔记本电脑, literally a "notebook computer."

上课的时候要做笔记。

Shàngkè de shíhou yào zuò bǐjì.

You should take notes during class.

记号 jìhào Records & Marks: the Sign Left Behind

语义洞见 yǔyì dòngjiàn · Semantic Insight

The third sense turns 记 from an act into a thing: the visible trace that lets something be found or known again. A 记号 jìhào is a mark you make on purpose, a tick or a dog-ear that says "look here." A 标记 biāojì is a marker or label, the sign that identifies what a thing is. An 印记 yìnjì is an imprint pressed in, and a 胎记 tāijì is a birthmark, the mark one is born carrying. In each, 记 is no longer the remembering but the token that makes remembering possible: the sign that holds a place in the world the way memory holds a place in the mind.

记号 jìhào a mark; a sign (made to remember by)

N 名词 míngcí

记 jì (to mark) + 号 hào (sign, number). A mark made deliberately so you can find or recall a spot: 做记号 "to make a mark." Often a tick beside a line or a fold in a page.

他在书上做了一个记号。

Tā zài shū shang zuò le yí ge jìhào.

He made a mark in the book.

标记 biāojì a marker; a label; to mark

N / V 名词、动词

标 biāo (to label, to mark out) + 记 jì (a mark). A marker or tag that identifies a thing, and the act of placing it: 在地图上标记位置 "to mark a location on a map."

请在重要的地方做标记。

Qǐng zài zhòngyào de dìfang zuò biāojì.

Please put a marker on the important places.

记者 jìzhě reporter; journalist

N 名词 míngcí

记 jì (to record) + 者 zhě (one who). Literally "one who records," the reporter whose work is to set down and report events: 新闻记者 "a news reporter."

她是一名电视台记者。

Tā shì yì míng diànshìtái jìzhě.

She is a television reporter.

成语 chéngyǔ Idioms & Set Phrases

记忆犹新 jì yì yóu xīn the memory is still fresh: as vivid as if it just happened Lit: memory-still-new. Said of an event or scene one recalls so clearly that time seems not to have dulled it. 至今记忆犹新 "to this day it remains fresh in my mind."

博闻强记 bó wén qiáng jì widely read and retentive: of broad learning and a powerful memory Lit: broad-hearing-strong-memory. Praise for a person who has read and heard much and remembers it all. Also written 博闻强识, with 识 read zhì in the sense of "to retain."

念念不忘 niàn niàn bù wàng to keep in mind without ever forgetting: to dwell on constantly Lit: think-think-not-forget. Said of something held so close in memory that it is never let go, whether a kindness owed, a goal pursued, or a person missed. The mirror image of 记 holding fast against forgetting.

记忆法 jìyìfǎ · Master Retention Image

Picture 记 as speech, 讠, standing beside the self, 己: words tied to a person so they will not drift off and be lost. That knot between words and self is the whole character. Everything 记 means is some way of holding words still.

Hold them in the head and you have remembering (记得, 记住). Hold them on the page and you have recording (日记, 笔记, 记录). Leave one behind as a visible token and you have a mark (记号, 标记). The opposite is always 忘 wàng, to forget: where 记 ties the knot, 忘 lets it slip. Whenever you meet 记, look for the words being fastened down, and ask whether they are held in the mind, on the page, or in a sign left for later.