zhǐ jia
fingernail
Practice writing with stroke order guidance, audio pronunciation, and interactive exercises in our mobile app.
Step-by-step stroke order animations
Native speaker audio pronunciation
Interactive writing recognition
我的指甲很长。
Wǒ de zhǐjiǎ hěn cháng.
My nails are long.
我需要剪指甲了。
Wǒ xūyào jiǎn zhǐjiǎ le.
I need to cut my nails.
你的指甲真漂亮！
Nǐ de zhǐjiǎ zhēn piàoliang!
Your nails are so beautiful!
脚趾甲 (jiǎozhǐjiǎ)
toenail
趾甲 (zhǐjiǎ)
toenail
The Chinese word 指甲 (zhǐjiǎ) for "fingernail" is composed of two characters: 指 (zhǐ), meaning "finger", and 甲 (jiǎ), meaning "armor" or "shell". The character 甲 is also used in the word 铠甲 (kǎijiǎ), meaning "armor", and the word 贝壳 (bèiké), meaning "seashell". The combination of 指 and 甲 suggests that fingernails are like a protective covering for the fingers, similar to the way that armor protects the body or a seashell protects the mollusk inside. This etymology provides a vivid and memorable way to understand the meaning of the word 指甲.
