歌 (gē): song, (bound form) to sing
歌 (gē) is a Chinese character meaning “song.” Classified as HSK Level 1 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 哥 (phonetic) and 欠 (semantic). It ranks #1039 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 歌 breath. Its radical form 欠 (yawn) appears in many related characters such as 次 (cì, next in sequence), 欢 (huān, hubbub), 欠 (qiàn, to owe).
Definitions
- song
- (bound form) to sing
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 歌 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 歌
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 歌曲noun | gē qǔ | song | 5 |
| 歌手noun | gē shǒu | singer | 4 |
| 歌词noun | gē cí | song lyric | 5 |
| 歌唱verb | gē chàng | to sing | 6 |
| 歌声noun | gē shēng | singing voice | 4 |
| 诗歌noun | shī gē | poem | 6 |
| 国歌noun | guó gē | national anthem | 6 |
| 民歌noun | mín gē | folk song | 6 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 唱歌verb | chàng gē | to sing a song |
| 歌剧noun | gē jù | Western opera |
| 歌迷noun | gē mí | fan of a singer |
| 歌星noun | gē xīng | singing star |
| 歌舞verb | gē wǔ | singing and dancing |
| 情歌noun | qíng gē | love song |
| 歌剧院noun | gē jù yuàn | opera house |
| 颂歌noun | sòng gē | carol |
| 歌喉noun | gē hóu | singing voice |
| 歌颂verb | gē sòng | to sing the praises of |
| 凯歌noun | kǎi gē | triumphal hymn |
| 儿歌noun | ér gē | nursery rhyme |
| 歌利亚proper-noun | gē lì yà | Goliath |
| 对歌noun | duì gē | answering phrase of duet |
| 歌唱家noun | gē chàng jiā | singer |
歌 appears in 100 compound words: 37 as the first character, 50 as the last, and 13 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 歌 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (12)
lit. sing to accompany wine (idiom); fig. life is short, make merry while you can
Example Sentences
歌字在不同的语境中有不同的用法。
gē zì zài bù tóng de yǔ jìng zhōng yǒu bù tóng de yòng fǎ .
The character "歌" has different usages in different contexts.
“民歌50”唱进湾区,共赴岁月的约定
mín gē 5 0 chàng jìn wān qū , gòng fù suì yuè de yuē dìng
"Folk Song 50" sung into the Bay Area and went to the agreement of the years
江若琳支持老公追梦 相隔20年再出歌
jiāng ruò 琳 zhī chí lǎo gōng zhuī mèng xiāng gé 2 0 nián zài chū gē
Jiang Ruolin supports her husband to pursue her dreams and sing again after 20 years
U2 发布批评美国的新歌
U 2 fā bù pī píng měi guó de xīn gē
U2 releases new songs critical of the United States
...泳性感镜头疑遭刻意删减 公开绝密福利照凭歌寄意回应
. . . yǒng xìng gǎn jìng tóu yí zāo kè yì shān jiǎn gōng kāi jué mì fú lì zhào píng gē jì yì huí yīng
... Yong's sexy footage is suspected of being deliberately deleted, and the release of top-secret welfare photos responds with songs
2026“欢乐春节·新春音乐会”在悉尼歌剧院举行
2 0 2 6 huān lè chūn jié xīn chūn yīn lè huì zài xī ní gē jù yuàn jǔ háng
The 2026 "Happy Spring Festival and New Year Concert" will be held at the Sydney Opera House
你有听过那首歌的法文版本吗？
Nǐ yǒu tīng guo nà shǒu gē de Fǎwén bǎnběn ma?
Have you ever heard that song sung in French?
约翰在台上唱了什么歌？
Yuēhàn zài táishàng chàng le shénme gē?
What did John sing on the stage?
我这个歌唱得好不好？
Wǒ zhège gēchàng de hǎobuhǎo?
Am I singing that song well?
哪首是你最喜欢的歌？
Nǎ shǒu shì nǐ zuì xǐhuan de gē?
Which is your favorite song?
Character Family
欠 Radical Family — Characters sharing the yawn radical
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 歌 (gē) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 歌 have?
What is the radical of 歌?
What are the components of 歌?
What are common words containing 歌?
What characters sound the same as 歌 (gē)?
Is 歌 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 歌 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.