Expressing possession with "zhi"

之 is one of the characters from classical Chinese that has come into common usage. It a formal written way to express possession.

Structure

之 functions similarly to 的 in that it indicates possession. Remember that 之 is used this way formally, and most of the time it is used for titles of works, poems, formal documents etc.

Noun + 之 + Noun

Examples

• 害 人 之 心 不 可 有，防 人 之 心 不 可 无。
• 这些 解决 问题 的 方式 仍然 有 不足 之 处。
• 粗心 之 害 大于 无知。

之 cannot simply take the place of any 的. Pay attention to the kinds of words it can be paired with.

Sources and Further Reading

Books

• 卓越汉语－公司实战篇 (p. 199) →buy

HSK6