只要

只要 zhǐyào

If only (as long as)

只要 in a sentence HSK 4 zhiyao

What 只要 means

  1. If only (as long as)

These meanings come from the same dictionary that powers the Chinese to Pinyin translator and the Chinese to English translator, so a whole sentence containing 只要 will read it the same way this page does.

Recognise a piece of 只要 but not the character it belongs to? Pick the parts in the component character finder and it will name the character for you — free for every character, with nothing to sign in to.

Character by character

只要 is written with 2 characters. Chinese words are usually easier to remember once you can see what each part contributes.

只
zhī
Only (merely - but - mw for a pair)
要
yāo
Want (need - request - must - demand)

How to write 只要

Stroke order is not decoration — it is what makes handwriting legible and what dictionary lookup by stroke count depends on.

Practise 只要 on printable 田字格 sheets, trace it in the writing practice tool, or watch any other character in the Stroke Order Animator.

只要 in a sentence

只要努力,就一定会成功。
Zhǐyào nǔlì, jiù yídìng huì chénggōng.
As long as you work hard, you are sure to succeed.
只要你愿意,我可以帮你。
Zhǐyào nǐ yuànyì, wǒ kěyǐ bāng nǐ.
If you are willing, I can help you.

Every sentence on this site that uses 只要 is collected on the 只要 sentence page. Want pinyin above a sentence of your own? Paste it into the Pinyin Annotator.

Questions about 只要

What does 只要 mean in English?

只要 is pronounced zhǐyào and means If only (as long as).

How do you pronounce 只要?

只要 is zhǐyào in pinyin — written zhiyao without tone marks. Press the audio button on this page to hear it spoken by a native voice.

What are the characters in 只要?

只要 is written with 2 characters: 只 (zhī) Only (merely - but - mw for a pair), 要 (yāo) Want (need - request - must - demand). Knowing the parts is usually how the whole word becomes memorable.

Is 只要 an HSK word?

Yes — 只要 is on the official HSK 4 vocabulary list. You can study it with the rest of that list on the HSK 4 page.

Studied around the same time

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Translate a whole sentence containing 只要 with the Chinese to Pinyin translator, study it alongside the rest of HSK 4, drill it with HSK flashcards, or save it above and review it on your review deck.

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