河 (hé): river
河 (hé) is a Chinese character meaning “river.” Classified as HSK Level 3 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 氵 (semantic) and 可 (phonetic). It ranks #574 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 河 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
- river
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 河 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 河
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 爱河noun | ài hé | the river of love |
| 河边noun | hé biān | river bank |
| 银河proper-noun | yín hé | Milky Way |
| 运河noun | yùn hé | canal |
| 银河系proper-noun | yín hé xì | Milky Way Galaxy |
| 河豚noun | hé tún | blowfish |
| 河水noun | hé shuǐ | river water |
| 河马noun | hé mǎ | hippopotamus |
| 河岸noun | hé àn | riverside |
| 河谷noun | hé gǔ | river valley |
| 小河 | xiǎo hé | creek |
| 冰河noun | bīng hé | glacier |
| 河畔noun | hé pàn | riverside |
| 尼罗河proper-noun | ní luó hé | the Nile (river in northeastern Africa) |
| 河童noun | hé tóng | kappa, a child-size humanoid water creature in Japanese folklore |
河 appears in 104 compound words: 49 as the first character, 50 as the last, and 1 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 河 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (21)
half of the country (usually referring to the unoccupied part of an invaded country)
the boundary between the spheres of influence of two parties at war; the separation line between two sides
Volga (a river in Russia, the longest river in Europe, flowing 2,325 miles through western Russia to the Caspian Sea)
to burn one's bridges; to abandon one's benefactor upon achieving one's goal
an extremely large number of; as numerous as there are grains of sand in the Ganges
Volga (a river in Russia, the longest river in Europe, flowing 2,325 miles through western Russia to the Caspian Sea)
an extremely large number of; as numerous as there are grains of sand in the Ganges
Showing 12 of 21 idioms containing 河.
Example Sentences
昨天下午暴雨过后，街道上的河水涨得很高，车辆只能绕道行驶。
Zuótiān xiàwǔ bàoyǔ guòhòu, jiēdào shàng de héshuǐ zhǎng de hěn gāo, chēliàng zhǐ néng ràodào xíngshǐ.
After yesterday afternoon's heavy rain, the river water on the streets rose very high, and vehicles had to take detours.
微视频|冀望米兰·一封家书——致河北运动员何凯乐
wēi shì pín 冀 wàng mǐ lán yī fēng jiā shū — — zhì hé běi yùn dòng yuán hé kǎi lè
Micro video|Hope Milan A letter from home - to Hebei athlete He Kaile
河北男孩放寒假每天睡到中午12点,爸爸不许...
hé běi nán hái fàng hán jiǎ měi tiān shuì dào zhōng wǔ 1 2 diǎn , bà bà bù xǔ . . .
Hebei boy slept until 12 noon every day during the winter vacation, and his father was not allowed...
(新春走基层)从塔里木河到钱塘江:一颗“石榴籽”的..
xīn chūn zǒu jī céng cóng tǎ lǐ mù hé dào qián táng jiāng yī kē shí 榴 籽 de . .
(Chinese New Year) From Tarim River to Qiantang River: A "Pomegranate Seed" of...
永定河山峡段4座梯级水电站累计发电破100亿千...
yǒng dìng hé shān xiá duàn zuò tī jí shuǐ diàn zhàn lěi jì fā diàn pò yì qiān . . .
Cumulative power generation from the four cascade hydropower stations along the Yongding River's mountainous gorge section has surpassed 10 billion kilowatt-hours...
盘核桃、叠衣服、穿烤肠,银河通用春晚机器人是怎么“..
pán hé táo dié yī fú chuān kǎo cháng , yín hé tōng yòng chūn wǎn jī qì rén shì zěn má . .
Cracking walnuts, folding clothes, threading sausages—how does the Galaxy Universal Spring Festival Gala robot do it?
请问河南中路五十二弄在什么地方？
Qǐngwèn Hénán zhōnglù wǔshí èr nòng zài shénmedìfang?
Excuse me, where is 52 south river street?
你看过红色的河吗？
Nǐ kàn guo hóngsè de hé ma?
Have you seen the red river?
你看到那条河了吗？
Nǐ kàn dào nà tiáo hé le ma?
Have you seen that river?
密西西比河流经哪个城市？
Mìxīxībǐ Hé liú jīng nǎge chéngshì?
Through which city does the Mississippi River pass?
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 氵 (water) component
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 河 (hé) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 河 and 阿?
How many strokes does 河 have?
What is the radical of 河?
What are the components of 河?
What are common words containing 河?
What characters sound the same as 河 (hé)?
Is 河 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 河 with real-time feedback
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