哥 (gē): elder brother
哥 (gē) is a Chinese character meaning “elder brother.” Classified as HSK Level 1 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 可 (structural) and 可 (structural). It ranks #804 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 哥 one person talking 可 over another 可. 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
- elder brother
Etymology & Origin
ideographicOne person talking 可 over another 可
Decomposition: ⿱可可 (layout: top-bottom)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 哥 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 哥
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 哥们 | gē men | Brothers! |
| 墨西哥 | mò xī gē | Mexico |
| 芝加哥 | zhī jiā gē | Chicago, USA |
| 哥们儿 | gē men r | erhua variant of 哥們|哥们[ge1 men5] |
| 大哥 | dà gē | eldest brother |
| 哥伦比亚 | gē lún bǐ yà | Colombia (country in South America) |
| 圣地亚哥 | shèng dì yà gē | Santiago, capital of Chile |
| 帅哥 | shuài gē | handsome guy |
| 表哥 | biǎo gē | older male cousin through a female relative |
| 墨西哥人 | mò xī gē rén | Mexican |
| 摩洛哥 | mó luò gē | Morocco |
| 温哥华 | wēn gē huá | Vancouver (city in Canada) |
| 墨西哥城 | mò xī gē chéng | Mexico City, capital of Mexico |
| 哥伦布 | gē lún bù | Cristóbal Colón or Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) |
| 老大哥 | lǎo dà gē | big brother |
哥 appears in 100 compound words: 27 as the first character, 44 as the last, and 29 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 哥 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (15)
Columbia (the capital city of South Carolina, United States); Colombia (a country in South America)
Santiago (various cities in Hispanophone countries, including the capital of Chile); San Diego
Columbia (the capital city of South Carolina, United States); Colombia (a country in South America)
Santiago (various cities in Hispanophone countries, including the capital of Chile); San Diego
Showing 12 of 15 idioms containing 哥.
Example Sentences
我哥哥在一家互联网公司工作，主要负责产品开发。
Wǒ gēge zài yì jiā hùliánwǎng gōngsī gōngzuò, zhǔyào fùzé chǎnpǐn kāifā.
My older brother works at an internet company, mainly responsible for product development.
加拿大航空因安全局势暂停墨西哥巴亚尔塔港营运
jiā ná dà háng kōng yīn ān quán jú shì zàn tíng mò xī gē bā yà ěr tǎ gǎng yíng yùn
Air Canada suspended operations in the port of Vallarta, Mexico due to the security situation
加纳与多哥海疆分歧将国际仲裁
jiā nà yǔ duō gē hǎi jiāng fēn qí jiāng guó jì zhòng cái
Ghana and Togo will arbitrate internationally due to maritime disputes
从球场到社区 三哥力撑学界足球精英梦
cóng qiú chǎng dào shè qū sān gē lì chēng xué jiè zú qiú jīng yīng mèng
From the stadium to the community, the third brother supports the dream of school football elites
肥城:外卖小哥的“暖心守护”升级了
féi chéng wài mài xiǎo gē de nuǎn xīn shǒu hù shēng jí le
Feicheng: takeaway brother's "warm heart guardian" upgraded
你哥哥结婚了，不是吗？
Nǐ gēge jiéhūn le, bùshìma?
Your brother got married, didn't he?
你觉得我是个酷哥吗？
Nǐ juéde wǒ shì gè kù gē ma?
Do you think of me as a cool guy?
在墨西哥人们讲什么语言？
Zài Mòxīgē rénmen jiǎng shénme yǔyán?
What language is spoken in Mexico?
墨西哥大使馆在哪里？
Mòxīgē dàshǐguǎn zài nǎlǐ?
Where is the Mexican embassy?
为什么哥哥是笨蛋啊？
Wèishénme gēge shì bèndàn ā?
Why is my brother stupid?
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 哥 (gē) mean in Chinese?
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What characters sound the same as 哥 (gē)?
Is 哥 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 哥 with real-time feedback
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