会 (huì): can, to have the skill, to know how to, to be likely to, to be sure to, to meet, to get together

会 (huì) is a Chinese character meaning “can.” Classified as HSK Level 1 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 人 (structural) and 云 (structural). It ranks #29 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 会 people 人 speaking 云. Its radical form 亻 (person) appears in many related characters such as 人 (rén, person), 什 (shén, what), 今 (jīn, now).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. can
  2. to have the skill
  3. to know how to
  4. to be likely to
  5. to be sure to
  6. to meet
  7. to get together

Etymology & Origin

会

ideographicPeople 人 speaking 云

Decomposition: ⿱人云 (layout: top-bottom)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6

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

Words & Compounds

HSK Vocabulary with 会

WordPinyinMeaningHSK
机会nounjī huìopportunity3
约会verb/nounyuē huìappointment4
一会儿numeral-measure/adverbyī huì ra moment2
聚会verb/nounjù huìparty4
会议nounhuì yìmeeting3
社会nounshè huìsociety4
学会nounxué huìto learn6
误会verb/nounwù huìto misunderstand4
会见verbhuì jiànto meet with (sb who is paying a visit)6
晚会nounwǎn huìevening party3
大会noundà huìgeneral assembly5
协会nounxié huìan association6
宴会nounyàn huìbanquet6
开会verbkāi huìto hold a meeting3
体会verb/nountǐ huìto know from experience5
会员nounhuì yuánmember4
会计nounkuài jìaccountant6
运动会nounyùn dòng huìsports competition3
博览会nounbó lǎn huìan exposition6
省会nounshěng huìprovincial capital5

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
舞会nounwǔ huìdance
会儿huì r(coll.) a short while
委员会nounwěi yuán huìcommittee
一会adverbyī huìa moment
会面verbhuì miànto meet with
不会verbbù huìimprobable
教会nounjiāo huìto show
待会儿verbdāi huì rin a moment
国会nounguó huìParliament (UK)
演唱会nounyǎn chàng huìvocal recital or concert
音乐会yīn yuè huìconcert
夜总会nounyè zǒng huìnightclub
会议室nounhuì yì shìmeeting room
董事会noundǒng shì huìboard of directors
听证会nountīng zhèng huì(legislative) hearing
136
Total compounds
25
As first character
69
As last character
6
As middle character

会 appears in 136 compound words: 25 as the first character, 69 as the last, and 6 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 会 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

员yuán
0.661337,586 co-occurrences
协xié
0.59282,656 co-occurrences
委wěi
0.580374,442 co-occurrences
议yì
0.573252,029 co-occurrences
社shè
0.503252,837 co-occurrences
株zhū
0.46311,026 co-occurrences
谈tán
0.46013,470 co-occurrences
席xí
0.45752,082 co-occurrences
义yì
0.45040,040 co-occurrences
运yùn
0.44858,154 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (32)

穿凿附会chuānzáofùhuìHSK 7+

to give an implausible explanation and draw far-fetched analogies

phrase
单刀赴会dān dāo fù huìHSK 7+

lit. to go among enemies with only one's sword (idiom); fig. to go alone into enemy lines

phrase
封建社会fēngjiàn shèhuìHSK 4+

feudal society

noun
高峰会议gāofēng huìyìHSK 6+

summit; summit conference (gathering of leaders)

noun
股东大会gǔdōng dàhuìHSK 6+

shareholders' meeting

noun
国会大厦Guóhuì DàshàHSK 5+

Capitol; Parliament House

和平会谈hé píng huì tánHSK 4+

peace talks; peace discussions

phrase
红十字会HóngshízìhuìHSK 2+

the Red Cross

后会有期hòu huì yǒu qīHSK 1+

I'm sure we'll meet again some day. (idiom); Hope to see you again.

phrase
皇家学会huáng jiā xué huìHSK 6+

the Royal Society (UK scientific academy)

phrase
聚精会神jùjīnghuìshénHSK 5+

to maintain one's concentration; to stay focused; to be attentive or absorbed

phrase
能写会算néngxiěhuìsuànHSK 3+

to be literate and numerate

phrase

Showing 12 of 32 idioms containing 会.

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

学会一门外语需要长期的坚持和不断的练习。

Xuéhuì yī mén wàiyǔ xūyào chángqī de jiānchí hé bùduàn de liànxí.

Learning a foreign language requires long-term persistence and continuous practice.

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Tatoeba

你的妈妈会开车吗?

Nǐ de māma huì kāichē ma?

Can your mother drive a car?

Tatoeba

你会代替我去派对吗?

Nǐ huì dàitì wǒ qù pàiduì ma?

Will you go to the party instead of me?

Tatoeba

你会在这儿待多久?

Nǐ huì zài zhèr dài duōjiǔ?

How long will you stay here?

Tatoeba

我休息一会没问题吧?

Wǒ xiūxi yīhuì méiwèntí ba?

Is it okay if I take a break?

Character Family

Homophones — Characters pronounced huì

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 会 (huì) mean in Chinese?
会 (huì) primarily means "can." It is classified as HSK Level 1, making it a beginner-level character. It ranks #29 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 会 have?
会 is written with 6 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 会?
The radical associated with 会 is 亻 (person). This radical appears in many characters related to person.
What are the components of 会?
会 is composed of: 人 (structural), 云 (structural). Its IDS decomposition is ⿱人云 with a top-bottom layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 会?
Common words with 会 include: 机会 (jī huì, "opportunity"); 约会 (yuē huì, "appointment"); 一会儿 (yī huì r, "a moment"); 聚会 (jù huì, "party"); 会议 (huì yì, "meeting"). There are over 136 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 会 (huì)?
Several characters share the pronunciation huì: 回 (to circle), 挥 (to wave), 毁 (to destroy), 汇 (to remit), and 6 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 会 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
No. The simplified form is 会 and the traditional form is 會.

Practice writing 会 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.