HSK 7–9 grammar · particle
之
之 — classical 的
Pattern
+ +
+ +
( ) can be left out · other words may come before, between and after
How it works
之 is the literary equivalent of 的, linking a modifier to the noun it describes. It survives in set phrases and formal writing (人生之路, 意料之中). Use it only in fixed expressions and written style — it cannot replace 的 freely.
Examples
这是意料之中的事。
Zhè shì yìliào zhī zhōng de shì.
This was entirely to be expected.
失败乃成功之母。
Shībài nǎi chénggōng zhī mǔ.
Failure is the mother of success.
Related
See it in a story
In the app, 之 is underlined wherever it appears in the stories you read, and practised with sentences from them. Free.