钙 (gài): calcium (chemistry)

钙 (gài) is a Chinese character meaning “calcium (chemistry).” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 钅 (semantic) and 丐 (phonetic). It ranks #2720 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 钙 metal. Its radical form 钅 (metal) appears in many related characters such as 钱 (qián, money), 错 (cuò, wrong, mistake), 钟 (zhōng, clock, bell).

Native pronunciation
HSK 7-9Radical: 钅 metal9 strokesFrequency #2720钅 semantic丐 phonetic

Definitions

  1. calcium (chemistry)

Etymology & Origin

钙

pictophoneticmetal

Decomposition: ⿰钅丐 (layout: left-right)

Components:钅semantic丐phonetic

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
碳酸钙tàn suān gàicalcium carbonate
钙化gài huàto calcify
磷酸钙lín suān gàicalcium phosphate (Ca3(PO4)2), inorganic salt used in fertilizers and food additives
降血钙素jiàng xuè gài sùcalcitonin
氧化钙yǎng huà gàicalcium oxide, CaO
磷化钙lín huà gàicalcium phosphide (Ca3P2)
钙质gài zhìcalcium
钙华gài huá(geology) tufa
氯化钙lǜ huà gàicalcium chloride
氰氨化钙qíng ān huà gàicalcium cyanamide
氢氧化钙qīng yǎng huà gàicalcium hydroxide Ca(OH)2
重碳酸钙chóng tàn suān gàicalcium bicarbonate Ca(HCO3)2
碳化钙tàn huà gàicalcium carbide CaC2
硬脂酸钙yìng zhī suān gàicalcium stearate
硝酸钙xiāo suān gàicalcium nitrate
16
Total compounds
19
As first character
75
As last character
6
As middle character

钙 appears in 16 compound words: 19 as the first character, 75 as the last, and 6 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 钙 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

酸suān
0.5553,744 co-occurrences
碳tàn
0.5141,254 co-occurrences
蛋dàn
0.4861,488 co-occurrences
铝lǚ
0.483288 co-occurrences
氧yǎng
0.460972 co-occurrences
黏nián
0.444270 co-occurrences
离lí
0.4441,872 co-occurrences
矿kuàng
0.444678 co-occurrences
浓nóng
0.439300 co-occurrences
醇chún
0.414246 co-occurrences

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

钙属材料在现代工业中应用广泛。

gài shǔ cái liào zài xiàn dài gōng yè zhōng yīng yòng guǎng fàn .

Calcium-based materials are widely used in modern industry.

CriApr 2026

关节“咔咔”响是因为缺钙......是真是假?| 谣言终结站-国...

guān jié 咔 咔 xiǎng shì yīn wéi quē gài . . . . . . shì zhēn shì jiǎ ? yáo yán zhōng jié zhàn guó . . .

SmzdmMar 2026

春日限定榆钱鲜,零草酸高钙钾,错过就要等一整年

chūn rì xiàn dìng 榆 qián xiān , líng cǎo suān gāo gài 钾 , cuò guò jiù yāo děng yī zhěng nián

UdnnewsindexFeb 2026

七旬妇心脏动脉阻塞又斑块严重钙化 新式血管内震波碎石术救命

qī xún fù xīn zāng dòng mài zǔ sāi yòu bān kuài yán chóng gài huà xīn shì xiě guǎn nèi zhèn bō suì shí shù jiù mìng

The heart artery of a septuagenarian woman is blocked and plaque is severely calcified, and the new intravascular shock wave lithotripsy saves life

UdnnewsindexFeb 2026

太空电池发威!台化切入“钙钛矿”股价大涨站上50元关卡

tài kōng diàn chí fā wēi ! tái huà qiē rù gài 钛 kuàng gǔ jià dà zhǎng zhàn shàng 5 0 yuán guān kǎ

Space batteries are powerful! Taiwan Chemical cut into the "perovskite" stock price rose sharply to the 50 yuan mark

UdnnewsindexFeb 2026

“台中有钙赞”首日上路 学童领鲜奶容量不一

tái zhōng yǒu gài zàn shǒu rì shàng lù xué tóng lǐng xiān nǎi róng liàng bù yī

"Taichung Calcium Praise" was on the road on the first day, and the school children received different capacities of fresh milk

Character Family

钅 Radical Family — Characters sharing the metal radical

镑bàng铲chǎn钞chāo锤chuí锻duàn钝dùn锋fēng钢gāng锅guō键jiàn

Related Characters

钱qián错cuò钟zhōng铁tiě银yín金jīn针zhēn销xiāo锻duàn镜jìng

Homophones — Characters pronounced gài

该gāi改gǎi丐gài溉gài概gài

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 钙 (gài) mean in Chinese?
钙 (gài) primarily means "calcium (chemistry)." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2720 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 钙 have?
钙 is written with 9 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 钙?
The radical associated with 钙 is 钅 (metal). This radical appears in many characters related to metal.
What are the components of 钙?
钙 is composed of: 钅 (semantic), 丐 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰钅丐 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 钙?
Common words with 钙 include: 碳酸钙 (tàn suān gài, "calcium carbonate"); 钙化 (gài huà, "to calcify"); 磷酸钙 (lín suān gài, "calcium phosphate (Ca3(PO4)2), inorganic salt used in fertilizers and food additives"); 降血钙素 (jiàng xuè gài sù, "calcitonin"); 氧化钙 (yǎng huà gài, "calcium oxide, CaO"). There are over 16 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 钙 (gài)?
Several characters share the pronunciation gài: 该 (should), 改 (to change), 丐 (to beg for alms), 溉 (to irrigate), and 1 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 钙 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 钙 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 钙 with real-time feedback

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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.