自

Tap the pinyin to hear it

(bound form) self; oneself; from; since; naturally; as a matter of course

Sound it out + =

Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

Pictograph (象形字)

A nose; in China, people refer to themselves by pointing to their noses

Components 目 ? unknown part

oneself · Heisig RSH #33

a drop of + 目 eye — as a component also called: oneself, nose, nostrils

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

The most common words first — learning a character in context makes it stick.

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
自大	zì dà	arrogant
自家人	zì jiā rén	sb with whom one is on familiar terms; sb from the same place (same house, same town etc);…
自学	zì xué	self-study; to study on one's own
自小	zì xiǎo	since childhood; from a young age
自高自大	zì gāo zì dà	to think of oneself as terrific (idiom); arrogant
自家	zì jiā	oneself; one's own family
自白	zì bái	confession; to make clear one's position or intentions; to brag
自动	zì dòng	automatic; voluntarily
自有	zì yǒu	(I, they etc) of course have (a plan, a way etc); one's own (apartment, brand etc)
手自一体	shǒu zì yī tǐ	manumatic
自行	zì xíng	voluntary; autonomous; by oneself; self-
自动化	zì dòng huà	to automate
山地自行车	shān dì zì xíng chē	mountain bike
自动自发	zì dòng zì fā	(to act) on one's own initiative
自高	zì gāo	to be proud of oneself
自成一家	zì chéng yī jiā	to have a style of one's own
发自	fā zì	to evolve from
自发	zì fā	spontaneous
三自	Sān zì	abbr. for 三自愛國教會\|三自爱国教会[San1 zi4 Ai4 guo2 Jiao4 hui4], Three-Self Patriotic Movement
出自	chū zì	to come from

These characters use 自 as their sound component — compare how they read.