How to write 快 (kuài, “rapid”)

快 (kuài), an HSK 2 character, means “rapid”, “quick” and “speed”. It is HSK 2 in the 2025 syllabus, up from level 1 in the 2021 standard. It is a character whose parts combine into its meaning. On its own it is an HSK 2 word; it also forms 快要 (“nearly at the point of”), 快乐 (“happy”) and 凉快 (“pleasantly cool”). Japanese reads it kai, “cheerful”, as a JLPT N2 kanji.

Pinyin: kuài
Strokes: 7
HSK: 2
Radical: 忄 (“heart”)

Stroke by stroke

As a left-right character it splits into 忄 (“heart”, the radical), strokes 1–3; 夬 (“decisive”), strokes 4–7, written the left part first.

Dot ㇔leftdownwards
Dot ㇔top leftdown and right
Vertical ㇑top leftdownwards
Horizontal-turn ㇕toprightwards → downwards
Horizontal ㇐leftrightwards
Left-falling stroke ㇒topdownwards
Right-falling stroke ㇏centerdown and right → rightwards

Names of the strokes

Japanese and Chinese

Japanese and Chinese draw all 7 strokes in the same order and direction, by our stroke-by-stroke comparison.

Japanese · KanjiVG · 7 strokes

Chinese · Make Me a Hanzi · 7 strokes

Where 快 comes from

A decisive 夬 will 忄; 夬 also provides the pronunciation

Trace it

Follow the numbers. Tracing help

Pinyin and meaning

Pinyin	Meanings	Traditional	In words
kuài fourth tone	rapid; quick; speed; rate; soon	—	快要快乐加快快递

HSK 2025 syllabus: level 2
2021 standard: level 1
HSK 2.0: in a level 2 word
Words with it: 114 in CC-CEDICT

Words with 快

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
快	kuài	rapid; quick HSK 2
快要	kuàiyào	nearly at the point of (doing sth); about to (do sth) HSK 2
快乐快樂	kuàilè	happy; joyful HSK 2
凉快涼快	liángkuai	pleasantly cool (weather etc); to cool oneself HSK 3
加快	jiākuài	to accelerate; to speed up HSK 4
快递快遞	kuàidì	express delivery HSK 4
快速	kuàisù	fast; high-speed HSK 4
快餐	kuàicān	fast food; snack HSK 4
愉快	yúkuài	cheerful; happy HSK 4
赶快趕快	gǎnkuài	quickly; at once HSK 4

HSK words first (CC-CEDICT).

Practice sheet

Print at 100%. Several characters: worksheet maker.

Keep going

HSK 2, in list order: