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

gāo grease, fat; ointment, paste 14 strokes · Radical (meat) · HSK 4 recognition character (认读字)
👁 Recognition only: the official HSK 4 syllabus asks you to recognize 膏 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 gāo.

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 10 11 12 13 14
膏 — 14 strokes, numbered in writing order. 笔顺图(数字为下笔顺序)。

Decomposition

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

=
top tall
bottom meat

Radical

The radical of is — meaning meat. 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 (flesh) carries the meaning, while the phonetic component originally indicated the sound.

HSK 4 Words Containing 膏

yágāo toothpaste
牙膏用完了,要买新的。
Yágāo yòng wán le, yào mǎi xīn de.
The toothpaste is used up, need to buy more.

Tasks Featuring 膏 / 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 · 牙膏

FAQ

What does 膏 mean in Chinese?

膏 (gāo) means grease, fat; ointment, paste. It is one of the 441 characters HSK 4 requires you to recognize when reading (认读字).

How many strokes does 膏 have?

膏 is written in 14 strokes. Use the practice tool above to see the correct stroke order and trace it yourself.

What is the radical of 膏?

The radical of 膏 is ⺼ (meat). Other HSK 4 characters with the same radical include 背, 膊, 肚, 肤, 胳.

What is the pinyin for 膏?

膏 is pronounced gāo.

What HSK 4 words use 膏?

In our HSK 4 vocabulary, 膏 appears in 1 word, including 牙膏 (yágāo). See the full list above.

gāng All Characters gē →