更 (gèng): more, even more, further, still, to change or replace, to experience, one of the five two-hour night watches

更 (gèng) is a Chinese character meaning “more.” Classified as HSK Level 3 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 一 (structural), 曰 (structural) and 乂 (structural). It ranks #221 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. more
  2. even more
  3. further
  4. still
  5. to change or replace
  6. to experience
  7. one of the five two-hour night watches

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7

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

Words & Compounds

HSK Vocabulary with 更

WordPinyinMeaningHSK
更加adverbgèng jiāmore (than sth else)4
更换verbgēng huànto replace (a worn-out tire etc)5
更新verbgēng xīnto replace the old with new5

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
更衣室noungēng yī shìchange room
更为adverbgèng wéieven more
更改verbgēng gǎito alter
更正verbgēng zhèngto correct
变更verbbiàn gēngto change
更年期noungēng nián qīmenopause
知更鸟nounzhī gēng niǎoredbreast
狄更斯proper-noundí gēng sīDickens (name)
更上一层楼phrasegèng shàng yī céng lóuto take it up a notch
自力更生phrasezì lì gēng shēngregeneration through one's own effort (idiom)
更衣verbgēng yīto change clothes
更胜一筹gèng shèng yī chóusuperior by a notch
半夜三更phrasebàn yè sān gēngsee 三更半夜
更是gèng shìeven more (so)
更替verbgēng tìto take over (from one another)
70
Total compounds
53
As first character
21
As last character
26
As middle character

更 appears in 70 compound words: 53 as the first character, 21 as the last, and 26 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 更 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

多duō
0.490113,750 co-occurrences
换huàn
0.47716,048 co-occurrences
新xīn
0.46399,272 co-occurrences
名míng
0.452132,358 co-occurrences
变biàn
0.44923,386 co-occurrences
加jiā
0.43871,948 co-occurrences
好hǎo
0.43031,292 co-occurrences
为wéi
0.40694,492 co-occurrences
改gǎi
0.40439,336 co-occurrences
易yì
0.39716,608 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (13)

熬更守夜áogēngshǒuyèHSK 5+

to stay up late or all night

verb
半夜三更bànyèsāngēngHSK 4+

late at night; depths of night; midnight hours

phrase
除旧更新chú jiù gēng xīnHSK 3+

to replace the old with new (idiom)

phrase
更仆难数gēng pú nán shǔHSK 7+

too many to count; very many; innumerable

phrase
更深人静gēng shēn rén jìngHSK 4+

deep at night and all is quiet (idiom)

phrase
更胜一筹gèng shèng yī chóuHSK 6+

superior by a notch; a cut above; even better

phrase
更新换代gēng xīn huàn dàiHSK 5+

reform and renewal; generational change

phrase
更有甚者gèngyǒushènzhěHSK 4+

what is more; what's worse; worse still

phrase
三更半夜sāngēngbànyèHSK 4+

in the middle of the night; late at night

phrase
少不更事shàobùgēngshìHSK 3+

young and inexperienced in life; wet behind the ears

phrase
深更半夜shēngēngbànyèHSK 4+

in the dead of the night

phrase
万象更新wànxiànggēngxīnHSK 4+

everything has been completely renovated

phrase

Showing 12 of 13 idioms containing 更.

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

了解更字的来源,有助于理解中国文化。

le xiè gēng zì de lái yuán , yǒu zhù yú lǐ xiè zhōng guó wén huā .

Understanding the origins of Chinese characters helps to comprehend Chinese culture.

東方日報Feb 2026

...报A1:新春8日 300万港人外游 市道更愁

. . . bào A 1 : xīn chūn 8 rì 3 0 0 wàn gǎng rén wài yóu shì dào gēng chóu

... Report A1: On the 8th of the Chinese New Year, 3 million Hong Kong people traveled abroad, and the market was even more worried

UdnnewsindexFeb 2026

...违法...南华早报:3月川习会 华府筹码更少了

. . . wéi fǎ . . . nán huá zǎo bào : 3 yuè chuān xí huì huá fǔ chóu mǎ gēng shǎo le

... illegal... South China Morning Post: The Sichuan-Xi meeting in March Washington has fewer chips

百度新闻Feb 2026

...基层|货运列车检车员:迟来的团圆,只为让更多..

. . . jī céng huò yùn liè chē jiǎn chē yuán : chí lái de tuán yuán , zhī wéi ràng gēng duō . .

... Freight train inspector: belated reunion, just to let more:

百度新闻Feb 2026

AI“硬控”春节档,电影为何更有“人味”了

A I yìng kòng chūn jié dàng , diàn yǐng wéi hé gēng yǒu rén wèi le

AI "hard controls" the Spring Festival file, why is the movie more "human"

百度新闻Feb 2026

俄方称欧洲在乌克兰问题上更倾向于延续冲突

é fāng chèn ōu zhōu zài wū kè lán wèn tí shàng gēng qīng xiàng yú yán xù chōng tū

Russia said that Europe is more inclined to continue the conflict on the Ukraine issue

Tatoeba

有什么比失明更不幸的呢?

Yǒu shénme bǐ shīmíng gèng bù xìng de ne?

What greater misfortune is there than to go blind?

Tatoeba

你更喜欢哪个,这个还是那个?

Nǐ gèng xǐhuan něige, zhège háishi nèige?

Which do you like better, this or that?

Tatoeba

春天和秋天,你更喜欢哪个?

Chūntiān hé qiūtiān, nǐ gèng xǐhuan něige?

Which do you prefer, spring or autumn?

Tatoeba

英文比日文更难吗?

Yīngwén bǐ Rìwén gèng nán ma?

Is English more difficult than Japanese?

Character Family

曰 Radical Family — Characters sharing the say radical

Homophones — Characters pronounced gèng

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 更 (gèng) mean in Chinese?
更 (gèng) primarily means "more." It is classified as HSK Level 3, making it a beginner-level character. It ranks #221 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 更 and 日?
更 (gèng) and 日 (rì) are often confused. antonym. The key distinguishing feature: 更 (night) vs 日 (day).
How many strokes does 更 have?
更 is written with 7 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 更?
The radical associated with 更 is 曰 (say). This radical appears in many characters related to say.
What are the components of 更?
更 is composed of: 一 (structural), 曰 (structural), 乂 (structural). Its IDS decomposition is ⿱一⿻曰乂 with a top-bottom layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 更?
Common words with 更 include: 更加 (gèng jiā, "more (than sth else)"); 更衣室 (gēng yī shì, "change room"); 更为 (gèng wéi, "even more"); 更换 (gēng huàn, "to replace (a worn-out tire etc)"); 更新 (gēng xīn, "to replace the old with new"). There are over 70 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 更 (gèng)?
Several characters share the pronunciation gèng: 耕 (to plow), 耿 (upright). Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 更 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 更 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 更 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.