仔 (zǐ) is a Chinese character meaning “careful”. It is written from 亻 (person (the form 人 takes on the left)) and 子 (child; son), side by side, and takes 5 strokes. It has a second reading, zǎi, which turns up in 牛仔 — here the two readings are two separate things to learn, not one card with two answers.
Build the character for “careful, detailed”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
亻 + 子
Left–right structure
Structure from: 说文解字（仔，克也。从人子聲）
Memory aid
A person (亻) watching over a child (子) — you keep an eye on every little detail. 仔 means careful and fine-grained.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
5 strokes
In real words
- 仔细zǐ xìcareful; attentive; meticulous仔 = zǐ
Go deeper
All readings
careful; fine and detailed
careful; meticulous; fine and detailed — used above all in 仔细 (zǐxì).
细致、周密，主要用在「仔细」里。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 仔细zǐ xìcareful; attentive; meticulous仔 = zǐ
young animal; boy (in 牛仔 "cowboy")
a young animal; a young lad — met in the word 牛仔 (niúzǎi), "cowboy".
幼小的牲畜；小伙子。见于「牛仔」。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 牛仔niú zǎicowboy仔 = zǎi
Sound component
子 family exact
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 仔 mean?
仔 (zǐ) means careful; meticulous; fine and detailed — used above all in 仔细 (zǐxì)..
How do you pronounce 仔?
Its main reading is zǐ. It also has a second reading, zǎi, which only shows up in certain words such as 牛仔 — so the word tells you the reading, not the character on its own.
Why is 仔 sometimes pronounced zǎi?
Because it is a multi-reading character: each reading carries a different sense, and the word decides which one applies. In 牛仔 it is read zǎi.
What parts is 仔 made of?
亻 (person (the form 人 takes on the left)) and 子 (child; son), side by side. The recorded source is: 说文解字（仔，克也。从人子聲）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 仔 have?
5. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 仔?
人. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.
What words use 仔?
Common ones are 仔细. The reading of 仔 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.