克 (kè): abbr. for 克羅地亞|克罗地亚, Croatia, (Tw) abbr. for 克羅埃西亞|克罗埃西亚, Croatia, to be able to
克 (kè) is a Chinese character meaning “to be able to.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 十 (structural) and 兄 (structural). It ranks #262 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 克 a weapon 十 used to subdue a beast 兄. Its radical form 儿 (legs) appears in many related characters such as 儿 (ér, child), 元 (yuán, Yuan dynasty (1279–1368)), 先 (xiān, beforehand).
Definitions
- abbr. for 克羅地亞|克罗地亚, Croatia
- (Tw) abbr. for 克羅埃西亞|克罗埃西亚, Croatia
- to be able to
Etymology & Origin
ideographicA weapon 十 used to subdue a beast 兄
Decomposition: ⿱十兄 (layout: top-bottom)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 克 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 克
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 巧克力noun | qiǎo kè lì | (loanword) chocolate | 4 |
| 克服verb | kè fú | (try to) overcome (hardships etc) | 5 |
| 麦克风noun | mài kè fēng | (loanword) microphone | 6 |
| 千克measure | qiān kè | kilogram | 4 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 杰克proper-noun | jié kè | Jack (name) |
| 麦克proper-noun | mài kè | (loanword) microphone |
| 弗兰克proper-noun | fú lán kè | Frank (name) |
| 尼克 | ní kè | Nick (name) |
| 克莱尔proper-noun | kè lái ěr | Claire (name) |
| 伊拉克proper-noun | yī lā kè | Iraq |
| 马克noun | mǎ kè | mark (monetary unit) |
| 迈克尔proper-noun | mài kè ěr | (name) Michael |
| 夹克 | jiā kè | (loanword) jacket |
| 迪克proper-noun | dí kè | Dick (person name) |
| 德克萨斯proper-noun | dé kè sà sī | Texas, US state |
| 布鲁克林proper-noun | bù lǔ kè lín | Brooklyn, borough of New York City |
| 扑克noun | pū kè | poker (game) (loanword) |
| 坦克noun | tǎn kè | (loanword) tank (military vehicle) |
| 帕特里克proper-noun | pà tè lǐ kè | Patrick (name) |
克 appears in 116 compound words: 25 as the first character, 52 as the last, and 23 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 克 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (57)
Showing 12 of 57 idioms containing 克.
Example Sentences
克字在日常生活中使用频率很高。
kè zì zài rì cháng shēng huó zhōng shǐ yòng pín lǜ hěn gāo .
The character "克" is used very frequently in daily life.
900克黄金遗漏列车 女乘客失而复得
9 0 0 kè huáng jīn yí lòu liè chē nǚ chéng kè shī ér fù dé
900 grams of gold missing train Female passenger lost and recovered
俄军打击乌能源设施 乌克兰多地大面积停电
é jūn dǎ jī wū néng yuán shè shī wū kè lán duō dì dà miàn jī tíng diàn
Russian forces hit Ukrainian energy facilities Large-scale power outages in many places in Ukraine
震撼!挖3563克拉紫星彩宝 飙126亿台币
zhèn hàn ! wā 3 5 6 3 kè lā zǐ xīng cǎi bǎo biāo 1 2 6 yì tái bì
Shocking! Digging 3,563 carats of purple star colored treasures soared to NT$12.6 billion
巴菲特执掌的最后一季 波克夏上季依然卖超美股
bā 菲 tè zhí zhǎng de zuì hòu yī jì bō kè xià shàng jì yī rán mài chāo měi gǔ
Buffett's last season at the helm Berkshire still sold more than U.S. stocks last season
俄方称欧洲在乌克兰问题上更倾向于延续冲突
é fāng chèn ōu zhōu zài wū kè lán wèn tí shàng gēng qīng xiàng yú yán xù chōng tū
Russia said that Europe is more inclined to continue the conflict on the Ukraine issue
什么？你把我的巧克力熊吃了？！
Shénme? nǐ bǎ wǒ de qiǎokèlì xióng chī le?!
What?! You ate my chocolate bear?!
想吃一点巧克力奶酪吗？
Xiǎng chī yīdiǎn qiǎokèlì nǎilào ma?
How about some chocolate cheese?
你不喜欢巧克力对吧？
Nǐ bù xǐhuan qiǎokèlì duì ba?
You don't like chocolate, do you?
迈克已经戒酒了吗？
Màikè yǐjīng jièjiǔ le ma?
Is Mike off the bottle?
Character Family
儿 Radical Family — Characters sharing the legs radical
Frequently Asked Questions
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What characters sound the same as 克 (kè)?
Is 克 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 克 with real-time feedback
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