Where 孩 comes from
child
- Meaning part
- 子 (“son”)
- Sound part
- 亥 (“12th earthly branch”)
How to write 孩 (hái, “child”)
孩 (hái), an HSK 1 character, means “child”. It pairs a meaning part, 子 (“son”), with a sound part, 亥 (“12th earthly branch”). It is part of the HSK word 孩子 (“child”), and of 女孩 (“girl”) and 孩儿 (“child”). Japanese reads it gai, “baby”.
- Pinyin
- hái
- Strokes
- 9
- HSK
- 1
- Radical
- 子 (“son”)
Stroke by stroke
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
As a left-right character it splits into 子 (“son”, the radical), strokes 1–3; 亥 (“12th earthly branch”), strokes 4–9, written the left part first.
- top leftrightwards → down and left
- top leftdownwards → leftwards
- leftup and right
- topdown and right
- toprightwards
- topdown and left → rightwards
- rightdown and left
- rightdown and left
- bottom rightdown and right
Japanese and Chinese
The two models differ in shape, so our comparison does not claim an order; compare the numbered frames yourself (9 strokes in Japanese, 9 strokes in Chinese).
Trace it
Follow the numbers. Tracing help
Pinyin and meaning
| Pinyin | Meanings | Traditional | In words |
|---|---|---|---|
| hái second tone | (bound form) child | — | 孩子 女孩 孩儿 小孩 |
- HSK 2025 syllabus
- level 1
- 2021 standard
- level 1
- HSK 2.0
- in a level 2 word
- Words with it
- 23 in CC-CEDICT
Words with 孩
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 孩子 | háizi | child HSK 1 |
| 女孩 | nǚhái | girl; lass |
| 孩儿 孩兒 | háir | child |
| 小孩 | xiǎohái | child |
| 男孩 | nánhái | boy |
| 女孩子 | nǚháizi | girl |
| 孩子们 孩子們 | háizimen | children |
| 孩子气 孩子氣 | háiziqì | boyish; childish |
| 小孩子 | xiǎoháizi | child |
| 生孩子 | shēngháizi | to give birth to a baby |
HSK words first (CC-CEDICT).
Practice sheet
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Keep going
HSK 1, in list order: