呵 (hē): (bound form) to scold, to expel breath, (onom.) laughter (usu. reduplicated)
呵 (hē) is a Chinese character meaning “(bound form) to scold.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 口 (semantic) and 可 (phonetic). It ranks #1842 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 呵 mouth. 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
- (bound form) to scold
- to expel breath
- (onom.) laughter (usu. reduplicated)
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 呵 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 呵呵interjection | hē hē | (onom.) gentle laughter |
| 呵护verb | hē hù | to bless |
| 一气呵成phrase | yī qì hē chéng | to do something at one go |
| 呵欠noun | hē qiàn | yawn |
| 呵斥verb | hē chì | to berate |
| 乐呵呵adjective | lè hē hē | happily |
| 呵责verb | hē zé | to abuse |
| 打呵欠verb | dǎ hē qiàn | to yawn |
| 呵喝verb | hē hè | to shout loudly |
| 呵禁 | hē jìn | to berate |
| 叱呵verb | chì hē | to shout angrily |
| 呵叱verb | hē chì | variant of 呵斥 |
| 呵谴 | hē qiǎn | to reprimand |
| 谴呵 | qiǎn hē | variant of 譴訶|谴诃 |
呵 appears in 14 compound words: 64 as the first character, 14 as the last, and 21 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 呵 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (1)
Example Sentences
他呵干舌燥地讲了两个小时，终于说服了大家。
tā ā gān jī zào dì jiǎng le liǎng gě xiǎo shí , zhōng yú shuō fú le dà jiā .
He talked for two hours until his voice was hoarse, finally convincing everyone.
赵亚陆 摄 短短4分30秒，五人接力传薪一气呵成，仪式紧凑震撼。
zhào yà lù shè duǎn duǎn 4 fēn 3 0 miǎo , wǔ rén jiē lì chuán xīn yī qì hē chéng , yí shì jǐn còu zhèn hàn .
Photo by Zhao Yalu. In just 4 minutes and 30 seconds, the five-person torch relay was completed in one seamless motion, making for a fast-paced and awe-inspiring ceremony.
夏日使用空调，既要计算好账本，也要呵护好健康。
xià rì shǐ yòng kōng diào , jì yāo jì suàn hǎo zhàng běn , yě yāo hē hù hǎo jiàn kāng .
When using air conditioning in the summer, it’s important to keep track of your expenses and take care of your health.
吴宜泽以一气呵成的进攻节奏先声夺人，一度取得2:0的完美开局。
wú yí zé yǐ yī qì hē chéng de jìn gōng jié zòu xiān shēng duó rén , yī dù qǔ dé 2 : 0 de wán měi kāi jú .
Wu Yize took the early initiative with a seamless offensive rhythm and got off to a perfect 2-0 start.
面膜用完了，趁着 618 囤了一批面膜，夏天天天骑电车通勤，呵护一下脸面。
miàn mó yòng wán le , chèn zhe 6 1 8 囤 le yī pī miàn mó , xià tiān tiān tiān qí diàn chē tōng qín , hē hù yī xià liǎn miàn .
I ran out of face masks, so I stocked up on a bunch during the 618 sale. Since I commute by e-bike every day in the summer, I want to take good care of my skin.
这里是呵护孩子心灵的“港湾”
zhè lǐ shì hē hù hái zǐ xīn líng de gǎng wān
This is a "safe haven" that nurtures children's hearts
我始终不能理解看足球的乐趣，呵呵。
Wǒ shǐzhōng bù néng lǐjiě kàn zúqiú de lèqù, hēhē.
I have never been able to understand the joy of watching soccer, haha.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 呵 (hē) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 呵 and 阿?
How many strokes does 呵 have?
What is the radical of 呵?
What are the components of 呵?
What are common words containing 呵?
What characters sound the same as 呵 (hē)?
Is 呵 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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