(hāi) — HSK 4 Recognition Character: Meaning, Radical & Stroke Order

hāi to cough 9 strokes · Radical (mouth) · HSK 4 recognition character (认读字)
👁 Recognition only: the official HSK 4 syllabus asks you to recognize 咳 when reading — handwriting it is not required (that applies to the 150 writing characters). The stroke animation below is optional but helps memory.

Pronunciation & meaning

Pronounced hāi.

to cough

Stroke Order & Practice

Click Animate to see the correct stroke order, then Practice to trace it yourself.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
咳 — 9 strokes, numbered in writing order. 笔顺图(数字为下笔顺序)。

Decomposition

breaks down into 2 components arranged as Left + Right. Recognizing the components makes the character easier to remember and write.

=
left mouth
right 12th terrestrial branch

Radical

The radical of is — meaning mouth. Radicals are the indexing components used in Chinese dictionaries; they often hint at a character's broad meaning category.

Other HSK 4 characters that share this radical: .

How the character is built

is a phono-semantic compound. The semantic component (mouth) carries the meaning, while the phonetic component originally indicated the sound.

HSK 4 Words Containing 咳

to cough
他感冒了,一直在咳。
Tā gǎnmào le, yìzhí zài ké.
He has a cold and keeps coughing.
késou to cough
他咳嗽了好几天了。
Tā késou le hǎo jǐ tiān le.
He has been coughing for several days.

Tasks Featuring 咳 / 相关任务

Words containing appear in these official HSK 4 task scenarios — study the character in context:

📚 谈论就医情况、健康生活
Health & Medical · 咳、咳嗽

FAQ

What does 咳 mean in Chinese?

咳 (hāi) means to cough. It is one of the 441 characters HSK 4 requires you to recognize when reading (认读字).

How many strokes does 咳 have?

咳 is written in 9 strokes. Use the practice tool above to see the correct stroke order and trace it yourself.

What is the radical of 咳?

The radical of 咳 is 口 (mouth). Other HSK 4 characters with the same radical include 品, 吹, 台, 否, 另.

What is the pinyin for 咳?

咳 is pronounced hāi.

What HSK 4 words use 咳?

In our HSK 4 vocabulary, 咳 appears in 2 words, including 咳 (ké), 咳嗽 (késou). See the full list above.

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