海 (hǎi): sea
海 (hǎi) is a Chinese character meaning “sea.” Classified as HSK Level 3 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 氵 (semantic) and 每 (phonetic). It ranks #189 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 海 water. Its radical form 氵 (water) appears in many related characters such as 水 (shuǐ, water), 汉 (hàn, Han ethnic group), 汽 (qì, steam).
Definitions
- sea
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 海 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 海
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 海岸noun | hǎi àn | coastal | 6 |
| 海洋noun | hǎi yáng | ocean | 4 |
| 海外noun | hǎi wài | overseas | 5 |
| 海关noun | hǎi guān | customs (i.e. border crossing inspection) | 5 |
| 海鲜noun | hǎi xiān | seafood | 5 |
| 海面noun | hǎi miàn | the surface of the sea | 6 |
| 海域noun | hǎi yù | sea area | 6 |
| 海拔noun | hǎi bá | height above sea level | 6 |
| 沿海noun | yán hǎi | coastal | 6 |
| 人山人海phrase | rén shān rén hǎi | (idiom) multitude | 6 |
| 海内外noun | hǎi nèi wài | domestic and international | 6 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 海滩noun | hǎi tān | beach |
| 海军noun | hǎi jūn | navy |
| 海盗noun | hǎi dào | pirate |
| 大海noun | dà hǎi | sea |
| 海边noun | hǎi biān | coast |
| 脑海noun | nǎo hǎi | the mind |
| 海伦proper-noun | hǎi lún | (name) Helen or Hélène |
| 海洛因noun | hǎi luò yīn | (loanword) heroin |
| 海上adjective | hǎi shàng | maritime |
| 海选verb | hǎi xuǎn | (in elections for village committees in the PRC since the 1990s) unrestricted nomination, a type of election where 1.... |
| 海报noun | hǎi bào | poster |
| 海底noun | hǎi dǐ | seabed |
| 海湾noun | hǎi wān | bay |
| 海里noun | hǎi lǐ | nautical mile |
| 海豚noun | hǎi tún | dolphin |
海 appears in 117 compound words: 68 as the first character, 27 as the last, and 4 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 海 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (60)
green sea, blue sky (idiom); sea and sky merge in one shade; loneliness of faithful widow
a person with talent or something valuable, but is neglected by the society
green sea, blue sky (idiom); sea and sky merge in one shade; loneliness of faithful widow
a person with talent or something valuable, but is neglected by the society
Showing 12 of 60 idioms containing 海.
Example Sentences
这个港口城市以海鲜闻名，每天都有大量的渔船从海上归来。
Zhè gè gǎngkǒu chéngshì yǐ hǎixiān wénmíng, měitiān dōu yǒu dàliàng de yúchuán cóng hǎishang guīlái.
This port city is famous for its seafood, and every day large numbers of fishing boats return from the sea.
排山倒海 扑面而来!六百只宋代瓷碗在这叠成墙
pái shān dǎo hǎi pū miàn ér lái ! liù bǎi zhī sòng dài cí wǎn zài zhè dié chéng qiáng
Overwhelming and coming! Six hundred Song Dynasty porcelain bowls are stacked on this wall
「春节海采」今年春节怎么过
chūn jié hǎi cǎi jīn nián chūn jié zěn má guò
"How to spend the Spring Festival this year?
被抓现行!菲律宾海警在南海投放不明物体
bèi zhuā xiàn háng ! 菲 lǜ bīn hǎi jǐng zài nán hǎi tóu fàng bù míng wù tī
Caught in the act! Philippine Maritime Police Drop Unidentified Objects in South China Sea
一路走来,到了春节!上海静安祝您龙马精神、马到成功..
yī lù zǒu lái , dào le chūn jié ! shǎng hǎi jìng ān zhù nín lóng mǎ jīng shén mǎ dào chéng gōng . .
All the way to Chinese New Year! Shanghai Jing An wishes you the best of luck and success...
暖意融融 走进上海机场建设者小镇
nuǎn yì róng róng zǒu jìn shǎng hǎi jī chǎng jiàn shè zhě xiǎo zhèn
Warmth and Hospitality: A Visit to the Shanghai Airport Construction Workers' Village
你来上海多少时间了？
Nǐ lái Shànghǎi duōshao shíjiān le?
For how long are you in Shanghai?
海滩上你到底愿意去吗？
Hǎitān shàng nǐ dàodǐ yuànyì qù ma?
Are you willing to go to the beach?
从上海坐火车到郑州需几个小时？
Cóng Shànghǎi zuò huǒchē dào Zhèngzhōu xū jǐge xiǎoshí?
How long would a train from Shanghai to Zhengzhou take?
上海有什么不如北京的方面吗？
Shànghǎi yǒu shénme bù rú Běijīng de fāngmiàn ma?
Are there any aspects of Shanghai that are not as good as those of Beijing?
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 氵 (water) component
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 海 (hǎi) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 海 and 梅?
How many strokes does 海 have?
What is the radical of 海?
What are the components of 海?
What are common words containing 海?
What characters sound the same as 海 (hǎi)?
Is 海 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 海 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.