Pinyin "zhai3"

In MandarinBanana's mnemonic system, the Pinyin syllable "zhai3" is split up into two parts: "zh" and "ai3". You can visit the Pinyin index to see how other Pinyin syllables are split up into initials and finals.

Mnemonics for Pinyin initial "zh"

Zh is for James II of England (詹姆斯二世, zhān​mǔ​sī èr​shì).

Mnemonics for Pinyin final "ai3"

In the airplane's living room.

Characters pronounced zhai3

窄
zhǎi = zh + ai3
narrow / narrow-minded / badly off
窄 = 乍 + 穴 : Mnemonic symbol: a narrow slit of some kind. James II of England (zh) is painting cave paintings (穴) on the walls of the airplane's living room (ai3). He is using a special technique: he pushes the hair of his Mohawk haircut (乍) through a narrow slit (窄) so that when he applies the paint to his hair (to use it as a brush) he doesn't accidentally paint his face.