坷 (kē): used in 坷垃

坷 (kē) is a Chinese character meaning “used in 坷垃.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 土 (semantic) and 可 (phonetic). It ranks #3022 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 坷 earth. Its radical form 土 (earth) appears in many related characters such as 土 (tǔ, earth, soil), 地 (dì, earth, ground), 场 (chǎng, field, place).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. used in 坷垃

Etymology & Origin

坷

pictophoneticearth

Decomposition: ⿰土可 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
坎坷adjectivekǎn kě(of a road) bumpy
坎坷不平kǎn kě bù píngpotholed and bumpy road (idiom)
命途坎坷phrasemìng tú kǎn kěto have a tough life
土坷垃nountǔ kē lā(dialect) clod of earth
坎坷多舛kǎn kě duō chuǎnfull of trouble and misfortune (usu. referring to someone's life)
坷垃nounkē lā(dialect) clod (of earth)
6
Total compounds
17
As first character
33
As last character
50
As middle character

坷 appears in 6 compound words: 17 as the first character, 33 as the last, and 50 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 坷 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

坎kǎn
0.7491,373 co-occurrences
岖qū
0.57752 co-occurrences
垃lā
0.535134 co-occurrences
糙cāo
0.44922 co-occurrences
掺chān
0.44810 co-occurrences
艰jiān
0.40014 co-occurrences
崎qí
0.36552 co-occurrences
折zhé
0.35638 co-occurrences
颇pō
0.34810 co-occurrences
粗cū
0.34722 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (1)

命途坎坷mìng tú kǎn kěHSK 7+

to have a tough life; to meet much adversity in one's life

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

这座古坷已经有两千多年的历史了。

zhè zuò gǔ kē yǐ jīng yǒu liǎng qiān duō nián de lì shǐ le .

This ancient site has a history of more than two thousand years.

中国新闻网·文化Aug 2026

然而通过这些小人物的悲喜、生活的坎坷与情感的丰盈,我们得以窥见人间冷暖。

rán ér tōng guò zhè xiē xiǎo rén wù de bēi xǐ , shēng huó de kǎn kē yǔ qíng gǎn de fēng yíng , wǒ men dé yǐ kuī jiàn rén jiān lěng nuǎn .

Yet through the joys and sorrows of these ordinary people, the ups and downs of their lives, and the richness of their emotions, we gain a glimpse into the warmth and harshness of the human world.

中国新闻网·体育Jul 2026

本届世界杯淘汰赛,英格兰队走得颇为坎坷,但球队的体能、拼劲和球星能力得到检验。

běn jiè shì jiè bēi táo tài sài , yīng gé lán duì zǒu dé pō wéi kǎn kē , dàn qiú duì de tǐ néng , pīn jìn hé qiú xīng néng lì dé dào jiǎn yàn .

England’s journey through the knockout stage of this World Cup has been quite rocky, but the team’s stamina, fighting spirit, and star power have been put to the test.

中国新闻网·体育May 2026

陈文浩寄语在场学子,追梦路上难免有迷茫与坎坷,不要轻易放弃。

chén wén hào jì yǔ zài chǎng xué zǐ , zhuī mèng lù shàng nán miǎn yǒu mí máng yǔ kǎn kē , bù yāo qīng yì fàng qì .

Chen Wenhao addressed the students in attendance, telling them that while confusion and setbacks are inevitable on the path to pursuing their dreams, they should not give up easily.

東方日報Mar 2026

营商路坎坷 去年清盘呈请20载最多

yíng shāng lù kǎn kē qù nián qīng pán chéng qǐng 2 0 zài zuì duō

The road to doing business is fraught with difficulties; last year saw the highest number of liquidation petitions in two decades

StheadlineMar 2026

F1|情场失意赛场坎坷 罗利斯开季陷低潮 旧爱晒性感照大获好评

F 1 qíng chǎng shī yì sài chǎng kǎn kē luó lì sī kāi jì xiàn dī cháo jiù ài shài xìng gǎn zhào dà huò hǎo píng

F1 | Down on the dating front and struggling on the track: Rolis hits a rough patch to start the season; ex-girlfriend’s sexy photos go viral

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 土 (earth) component

Homophones — Characters pronounced kē

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 坷 (kē) mean in Chinese?
坷 (kē) primarily means "used in 坷垃." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #3022 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 坷 and 阿?
坷 (kē) and 阿 (ā) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 土 vs 阝 (same 可 component).
How many strokes does 坷 have?
坷 is written with 8 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 坷?
The radical associated with 坷 is 土 (earth). This radical appears in many characters related to earth.
What are the components of 坷?
坷 is composed of: 土 (semantic), 可 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰土可 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 坷?
Common words with 坷 include: 坎坷 (kǎn kě, "(of a road) bumpy"); 坎坷不平 (kǎn kě bù píng, "potholed and bumpy road (idiom)"); 命途坎坷 (mìng tú kǎn kě, "to have a tough life"); 土坷垃 (tǔ kē lā, "(dialect) clod of earth"); 坎坷多舛 (kǎn kě duō chuǎn, "full of trouble and misfortune (usu. referring to someone's life)"). There are over 6 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 坷 (kē)?
Several characters share the pronunciation kē: 柯 ((literary) branch), 苛 (severe), 咳 (cough). Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 坷 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 坷 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 坷 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.