唉 (āi): interjection or grunt of agreement or recognition (e.g. yes, it's me!), to sigh, alas
唉 (āi) is a Chinese character meaning “interjection or grunt of agreement or recognition (e.g. yes, it's me!).” Classified as HSK Level 5 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 口 (semantic) and 矣 (phonetic). It ranks #2055 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 唉 mouth. Its radical form 口 (mouth) appears in many related characters such as 口 (kǒu, mouth), 叫 (jiào, to call, to be called), 右 (yòu, (bound form) right).
Definitions
- interjection or grunt of agreement or recognition (e.g. yes, it's me!)
- to sigh
- alas
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 唉 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 唉声叹气phrase | āi shēng tàn qì | sighing voice, wailing breath (idiom) |
| 唉姐 | āi jiě | granny (dialect) |
| 唉唉 | āi āi | (onom.) sighing voice |
唉 appears in 3 compound words: 100 as the first character, 0 as the last, and 0 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 唉 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (1)
Example Sentences
妈妈唉嘱我要按时吃饭，注意身体健康。
mā mā āi zhǔ wǒ yāo àn shí chī fàn , zhù yì shēn tī jiàn kāng .
Mom kept reminding me to eat on time and take care of my health.
唉，都老夫老妻了，还在乎这些纪念日干啥呢。
āi , dōu lǎo fū lǎo qī le , hái zài hū zhè xiē jì niàn rì gān 啥 ne .
Oh well, we've been married for so long—why bother with these anniversaries anymore?
核电重启有美方压力?经济部长龚明鑫:没有唉
hé diàn chóng qǐ yǒu měi fāng yā lì ? jīng jì bù cháng 龚 míng 鑫 : méi yǒu āi
Is the resumption of nuclear power projects due to pressure from the U.S.? Economy Minister Gong Mingxin: No, not at all.
...0050还0056”内行看傻:心脏很大颗唉
. . . 0 0 5 0 hái 0 0 5 6 nèi háng kàn shǎ : xīn zāng hěn dà kē āi
... 0050 and 0056 "Insiders look stupid: the heart is big, alas
唉！我的电脑又当机了。
āi! wǒ de diànnǎo yòu dàngjī le.
Argh! My computer froze up again.
唉呀！我差点忘记了！
āi ya! wǒ chàdiǎn wàngjì le!
Oh, no! I almost forgot!
「喂！这里跑步很危险的。」「嗯？……啊、啊、啊！！」「唉，我刚才不是和你说了吗？」
「 wèi! zhèlǐ pǎobù hěn wēixiǎn de.」「 ēn?…… ā, ā, ā!!」「 āi, wǒ gāngcái bù shì hé nǐ shuō le ma?」
"Hey! It's dangerous to run here." "Eh? ... A-a-Aaah!!" "Oh dear, what did I tell you?"
「唉，算了吧，」狄马心想：「这实在不是挑三挑四的时候。」
「 āi, suànle ba,」 dí mǎ xīnxiǎng:「 zhè shízài bù shì tiāo sān tiāo sì de shíhou.」
"Oh, well..." thought Dima. "I suppose that I can't be picky at a time like this."
我们的先驱者中许多还活着...但是，唉，其中有许多已经死了。
Wǒmen de xiānqūzhě zhōng xǔduō hái huózhe... dànshì, āi, qízhōng yǒu xǔduō yǐjīng sǐ le.
Many of our pioneers are still alive... but, alas, many of them aren't alive any more.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 唉 (āi) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 唉 have?
What is the radical of 唉?
What are the components of 唉?
What are common words containing 唉?
What characters sound the same as 唉 (āi)?
Is 唉 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 唉 with real-time feedback
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