概 (gài): (bound form) general, approximate, without exception, categorically, (bound form) bearing, deportment

概 (gài) is a Chinese character meaning “(bound form) general.” Classified as HSK Level 3 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 木 (semantic) and 既 (phonetic). It ranks #791 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 概 tree. Its radical form 木 (tree) appears in many related characters such as 本 (běn, (bound form) root), 机 (jī, machine, opportunity), 条 (tiáo, strip).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. (bound form) general
  2. approximate
  3. without exception
  4. categorically
  5. (bound form) bearing
  6. deportment

Etymology & Origin

概

pictophonetictree

Decomposition: ⿰木既 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13

Practice writing 概 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

HSK Vocabulary with 概

WordPinyinMeaningHSK
大概adjective/adverb/noundà gàiroughly3
概念noungài niànconcept5
概率noungài lǜprobability (math.)6
概括verb/adjectivegài kuòto summarize5

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
气概nounqì gàilofty quality
概要noungài yàooutline
一概adverbyī gàiall
概述verbgài shùoverview
概况noungài kuànggeneral situation
一概而论phraseyī gài ér lùnto lump different matters together (idiom)
以偏概全phraseyǐ piān gài quán(lit.) to take a part for the whole
梗概noungěng gàibroad outline
概念化verbgài niàn huàconceptualization
概论noungài lùnoutline
概率论noungài lǜ lùnprobability (math.)
概览noungài lǎngeneral overview
概而不论gài ér bù lùnfuzzy about the details
概而言之gài ér yán zhīsame as 總而言之|总而言之
人工概念rén gōng gài niànartificial concept
37
Total compounds
59
As first character
16
As last character
24
As middle character

概 appears in 37 compound words: 59 as the first character, 16 as the last, and 24 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 概 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

念niàn
0.750104,690 co-occurrences
述shù
0.54820,632 co-occurrences
况kuàng
0.53110,252 co-occurrences
踪zōng
0.52523 co-occurrences
要yào
0.51345,642 co-occurrences
圈quān
0.50227 co-occurrences
率lǜ
0.44811,782 co-occurrences
愈yù
0.43915 co-occurrences
储chǔ
0.42220 co-occurrences
烈liè
0.41615 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (3)

概而不论gài ér bù lùnHSK 4+

fuzzy about the details

phrase
一概而论yīgài'érlùnHSK 4+

to treat different matters as the same; to lump together; to paint with a broad brush; (psychology) splitting

phrase
以偏概全yǐpiāngàiquánHSK 7+

to take a part for the whole; to generalise

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

爷爷在门前种了一棵概苗,现在已经长得很高了。

yé yé zài mén qián zhǒng le yī kē gài miáo , xiàn zài yǐ jīng cháng dé hěn gāo le .

Grandpa planted a sapling by the door, and now it has grown very tall.

InvestingFeb 2026

港股概念追踪 | 春晚人形机器人爆火出圈!机构...

gǎng gǔ gài niàn zhuī zōng chūn wǎn rén xíng jī qì rén bào huǒ chū juān ! jī gòu . . .

Hong Kong Stock Concept Tracking | The humanoid robot of the Spring Festival Gala exploded out of the circle! Institutions...

InvestingFeb 2026

港股概念追踪 | 存储芯片涨价潮愈演愈烈 行业...

gǎng gǔ gài niàn zhuī zōng cún chǔ xīn piàn zhǎng jià cháo yù yǎn yù liè háng yè . . .

Hong Kong Stock Concept Tracking | The wave of memory chip price increases is intensifying...

LtnFeb 2026

汉神巨蛋稳居高雄百货王 百货商圈概念宅成市场焦点 品牌建商猛购地卡位

hàn shén jù dàn wěn jū gāo xióng bǎi huò wáng bǎi huò shāng juān gài niàn zhái chéng shì chǎng jiāo diǎn pǐn pái jiàn shāng měng gòu dì kǎ wèi

Hanshin Dome is firmly in the king of Kaohsiung Department Stores, and the concept of department store business district has become the focus of the market, and brand builders are buying land card slots

百度新闻Feb 2026

利弗莫尔中概股龙头指数收涨0.94% 网易有道涨近....

lì 弗 mò ěr zhōng gài gǔ lóng tóu zhǐ shǔ shōu zhǎng 0 . 9 4 wǎng yì yǒu dào zhǎng jìn . . . .

Livermore Chinese Concept Stock Leading Index closed up 0.94% NetEase Youdao rose near....

百度新闻Feb 2026

存储概念股普涨 西部数据(WDC.US)涨逾3...

cún chǔ gài niàn gǔ pǔ zhǎng xī bù shǔ jù ( W D C . U S ) zhǎng yú 3 . . .

Storage concept stocks rose across Western Digital (WDC. US) rose more than 3...

Tatoeba

“你付了多少钱?” “大概二十欧元。” “哇!好便宜。”

"Nǐ fù le duōshao qián?" "Dàgài èr shí ōuyuán." "Wā! Hǎo piányi."

"How much did you pay for this?" "About 20 euros." "Wow! That's incredibly cheap."

Tatoeba

耶诞节下雪的概率有多大呢?

Yēdànjié xiàxuě de gàilǜ yǒu duōdà ne?

What are the chances we'll have a white Christmas?

Tatoeba

他们到位了实行新概念的广告策略。

Tāmen dàowèi le shíxíng xīn gàiniàn de guǎnggào cèlüè.

They implemented a communication policy so as to promote their new concept.

Tatoeba

加利福尼亚大概有日本那么大。

Jiālìfúníyà dàgài yǒu Rìběn nàme dà.

California is about as large as Japan.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 木 (tree) component

Homophones — Characters pronounced gài

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 概 (gài) mean in Chinese?
概 (gài) primarily means "(bound form) general." It is classified as HSK Level 3, making it a beginner-level character. It ranks #791 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 概 and 慨?
概 (gài) and 慨 (kǎi) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 木 vs 忄 (same 既 component).
How many strokes does 概 have?
概 is written with 13 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.
What is the radical of 概?
The radical associated with 概 is 木 (tree). This radical appears in many characters related to tree.
What are the components of 概?
概 is composed of: 木 (semantic), 既 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰木既 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 概?
Common words with 概 include: 大概 (dà gài, "roughly"); 概念 (gài niàn, "concept"); 概率 (gài lǜ, "probability (math.)"); 气概 (qì gài, "lofty quality"); 概括 (gài kuò, "to summarize"). There are over 37 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 概 (gài)?
Several characters share the pronunciation gài: 溉 (to irrigate), 该 (should), 改 (to change), 丐 (to beg for alms), and 1 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 概 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 概 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 概 with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

Character data sourced from Unihan (Unicode Consortium), SUBTLEX-CH frequency corpus (Cai & Brysbaert, 2010), and Make Me a Hanzi (stroke data). Collocation strength measured via NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information). Verified by the HanziFeed linguistics team.

HSK classification follows the HSK 3.0 Standard (Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, 2022 revision). Idiom data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Data last verified: March 2026.