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

to congratulate; to send a present 9 strokes · Radical (sea shell) · HSK 4 recognition character (认读字)
👁 Recognition only: the official HSK 4 syllabus asks you to recognize 贺 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 .

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
贺 — 9 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 to add to
bottom sea shell

Radical

The radical of is — meaning sea shell. 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 an ideographic compound — its meaning is suggested by the combination of its parts rather than by sound. To add 加 to someone else's fortune 贝.

HSK 4 Words Containing 贺

zhùhè to congratulate; congratulations
祝贺你考上了大学!
Zhùhè nǐ kǎo shàng le dàxué!
Congratulations on getting into university!

Seen in the Real Exams / 真题例句

appears in 8 questions across the 19 mock & official HSK 4 exams on this site. Real exam sentences using it:

李先生是来表示祝的。
From Mock Exam 10 →
男的祝女的什么?
From Mock Exam 06 →

Tasks Featuring 贺 / 相关任务

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

📚 谈论某个人物
Describe a Person · 祝贺

FAQ

What does 贺 mean in Chinese?

贺 (hè) means to congratulate; to send a present. It is one of the 441 characters HSK 4 requires you to recognize when reading (认读字).

How many strokes does 贺 have?

贺 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 贺?

The radical of 贺 is 贝 (sea shell). Other HSK 4 characters with the same radical include 资, 败, 费, 负, 购.

What is the pinyin for 贺?

贺 is pronounced hè.

What HSK 4 words use 贺?

In our HSK 4 vocabulary, 贺 appears in 1 word, including 祝贺 (zhùhè). See the full list above.

All Characters hòu →