How to write 歌 (gē, “song”)

歌 (gē), an HSK 1 character, means “song” and “to sing”. It pairs a meaning part, 欠 (“to owe”), with a sound part, 哥 (“elder brother”). On its own it is an HSK 1 word; it also forms 歌手 (“singer”), 歌声 (“singing voice”) and 歌词 (“song lyric”). Japanese reads it ka, “song”, as a JLPT N4 kanji.

Pinyin: gē
Strokes: 14
HSK: 1
Radical: 欠 (“to owe”)

Stroke by stroke

As a left-right character it splits into 哥 (“elder brother”), strokes 1–10; 欠 (“to owe”, the radical), strokes 11–14, written the left part first.

top leftrightwards
top leftdownwards
top leftrightwards → downwards
leftrightwards
topdown and right → downwards
leftrightwards
leftdownwards
leftrightwards → down and right → down and left
bottom leftrightwards
centerdownwards → leftwards
topdown and left
centerrightwards → down and left
centerdown and left
rightdown and right → rightwards

Names of the strokes

Japanese and Chinese

The two models differ in shape, so our comparison does not claim an order; compare the numbered frames yourself (14 strokes in Japanese, 14 strokes in Chinese).

Japanese · KanjiVG · 14 strokes

Chinese · Make Me a Hanzi · 14 strokes

Where 歌 comes from

breath

Meaning part: 欠 (“to owe”)
Sound part: 哥 (“elder brother”)

Trace it

Follow the numbers. Tracing help

Pinyin and meaning

Pinyin	Meanings	Traditional	In words
gē first tone	song; (bound form) to sing	—	歌手歌声歌词歌曲

HSK 2025 syllabus: level 1
2021 standard: level 1
HSK 2.0: in a level 2 word
Words with it: 101 in CC-CEDICT

Words with 歌

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
歌	gē	song; to sing HSK 1
歌手	gēshǒu	singer HSK 4
歌声歌聲	gēshēng	singing voice; fig. original voice of a poet HSK 4
歌词歌詞	gēcí	song lyric; lyrics HSK 5
歌曲	gēqǔ	song HSK 5
国歌國歌	guógē	national anthem HSK 6
歌唱	gēchàng	to sing HSK 6
民歌	míngē	folk song HSK 6
诗歌詩歌	shīgē	poem HSK 6
歌舞	gēwǔ	singing and dancing HSK 7-9

HSK words first (CC-CEDICT).

Practice sheet

Print at 100%. Several characters: worksheet maker.

Keep going

HSK 1, in list order: