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

gǎn to pursue, to overtake; to hurry; to expel 10 strokes · Radical 走 (to walk) · HSK 4 recognition character (认读字)

👁 Recognition only: the official HSK 4 syllabus asks you to recognize 赶 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 gǎn.

to pursue
to overtake
to hurry
to expel

Stroke Order & Practice

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

赶 — 10 strokes, numbered in writing order. 笔顺图（数字为下笔顺序）。

Decomposition

赶 breaks down into 2 components arranged as Lower-left envelops Inner. Recognizing the components makes the character easier to remember and write.

赶 =

走 outer to walk

干 inner arid

Radical

The radical of 赶 is 走 — meaning to walk. 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: 趟.

How the character is built

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

HSK 4 Words Containing 赶

赶 gǎn to rush; to chase; to catch up

他赶着去上班。

Tā gǎn zhe qù shàngbān.

He is rushing to work.

赶紧 gǎnjǐn hurriedly; quickly

快下雨了，赶紧回家吧。

Kuài xià yǔ le, gǎnjǐn huí jiā ba.

It's about to rain, hurry home.

赶快 gǎnkuài quickly; at once; hurry

赶快出发，不然要迟到了！

Gǎnkuài chūfā, bùrán yào chídào le!

Set off quickly, or we'll be late!

赶上 gǎnshàng to catch up; to keep up with

他跑得快，终于赶上了公交车。

Tā pǎo de kuài, zhōngyú gǎnshàng le gōngjiāochē.

He ran fast and finally caught the bus.

Seen in the Real Exams / 真题例句

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

交警赶到现场后，对老李进行了严厉的批评，并且开了罚单。

From Mock Exam 07 →

FAQ

What does 赶 mean in Chinese?

赶 (gǎn) means to pursue, to overtake; to hurry; to expel. It is one of the 441 characters HSK 4 requires you to recognize when reading (认读字).

How many strokes does 赶 have?

赶 is written in 10 strokes. Use the practice tool above to see the correct stroke order and trace it yourself.

What is the radical of 赶?

The radical of 赶 is 走 (to walk). Other HSK 4 characters with the same radical include 趟.

What is the pinyin for 赶?

赶 is pronounced gǎn.

What HSK 4 words use 赶?

In our HSK 4 vocabulary, 赶 appears in 4 words, including 赶 (gǎn), 赶紧 (gǎnjǐn), 赶快 (gǎnkuài), 赶上 (gǎnshàng). See the full list above.