颗 (kē): classifier for small spheres, pearls, corn grains, teeth, hearts, satellites etc

颗 (kē) is a Chinese character meaning “classifier for small spheres, pearls, corn grains, teeth, hearts, satellites etc.” Classified as HSK Level 5 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 果 (semantic) and 页 (phonetic). It ranks #1439 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 颗 grain. Its radical form 页 (page) appears in many related characters such as 页 (yè, page), 顺 (shùn, to obey), 须 (xū, must).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. classifier for small spheres, pearls, corn grains, teeth, hearts, satellites etc

Etymology & Origin

颗

pictophoneticgrain

Decomposition: ⿰果页 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
颗粒nounkē lìkernel
颗粒无收phrasekē lì wú shōunot a single grain was reaped (as in a bad harvest year)
细颗粒物nounxì kē lì wùfine particle (PM 2.5)
一颗老鼠屎坏了一锅汤yī kē lǎo shǔ shǐ huài le yī guō tānglit. one pellet of rat feces spoiled the whole pot of soup (idiom)
颗粒物nounkē lì wùparticulate matter (PM)
一颗老鼠屎坏了一锅粥yī kē lǎo shǔ shǐ huài le yī guō zhōusee 一粒老鼠屎壞了一鍋粥|一粒老鼠屎坏了一锅粥
分泌颗粒fēn mì kē lìsecretory granule
颗粒归仓verbkē lì guī cāngto gather all the harvested grain into the granary
8
Total compounds
50
As first character
0
As last character
50
As middle character

颗 appears in 8 compound words: 50 as the first character, 0 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 颗 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

绕rào
0.78623,646 co-occurrences
恒héng
0.72216,794 co-occurrences
围wéi
0.62015,116 co-occurrences
粒lì
0.5707,660 co-occurrences
这zhè
0.51317,528 co-occurrences
星xīng
0.50840,598 co-occurrences
一yī
0.47652,164 co-occurrences
运yùn
0.4668,478 co-occurrences
是shì
0.45937,764 co-occurrences
齿chǐ
0.458908 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (2)

颗粒无收kēlìwúshōuHSK 6+

to reap nothing

phrase
细颗粒物xìkēlìwùHSK 6+

particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5)

noun

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

颗字在日常生活中使用频率中等。

kē zì zài rì cháng shēng huó zhōng shǐ yòng pín lǜ zhōng děng .

The character "颗" is used moderately frequently in daily life.

風傳媒Feb 2026

...印0050还0056”内行看傻:心脏很大颗唉

. . . yìn 0 0 5 0 hái 0 0 5 6 nèi háng kàn shǎ : xīn zāng hěn dà kē āi

... Print 0050 and 0056 "Insiders look stupid: the heart is big, alas

UdnnewsindexFeb 2026

中钢员工餐厅年销百万颗月饼、自助餐75元夹到饱...“亏钱也要...

zhōng gāng yuán gōng cān tīng nián xiāo bǎi wàn kē yuè bǐng , zì zhù cān 7 5 yuán jiā dào bǎo . . . kuī qián yě yāo . . .

The annual sales of one million mooncakes in the staff restaurant of China Steel and the buffet for 75 yuan...

EttodayFeb 2026

英男飞美国大扫货!买“10颗硬碟”送纽约5天4夜 惊人价差曝光

yīng nán fēi měi guó dà sǎo huò ! mǎi 1 0 kē yìng dié sòng niǔ yuē 5 tiān 4 yè jīng rén jià chā pù guāng

British men fly to the United States to clean up goods! Buy "10 hard drives" and get 5 days and 4 nights in New York, and the amazing price difference is exposed

LtnFeb 2026

西屿民宅收假日前夜 突遭3颗钢弹珠袭击玻璃门

xī yǔ mín zhái shōu jiǎ rì qián yè tū zāo 3 kē gāng dàn zhū xí jī bō lí mén

On the eve of the holiday in Xiyu House, the glass door was suddenly attacked by 3 steel marbles

百度新闻Feb 2026

(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 zǐ de . .

From the Tarim River to the Qiantang River: a "pomegranate seed":

Tatoeba

汤姆偷了一颗苹果。

Tāngmǔ tōu le yī kē píngguǒ.

Tom stole an apple.

Tatoeba

雅尼的挡风玻璃上有一颗星形碎片。

Yǎ ní de dǎngfēngbōli shàng yǒu yī kē xīng xíng suìpiàn.

Yanni has a star chip in his windshield.

Tatoeba

你要再来颗苹果吗?

Nǐ yào zài lái kē píngguǒ ma?

Would you like another apple?

Tatoeba

我们能拯救这颗星球吗?

Wǒmen néng zhěngjiù zhè kē xīngqiú ma?

Can we save the planet?

Character Family

Homophones — Characters pronounced kē

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 颗 (kē) mean in Chinese?
颗 (kē) primarily means "classifier for small spheres, pearls, corn grains, teeth, hearts, satellites etc." It is classified as HSK Level 5, making it an advanced character. It ranks #1439 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 颗 and 大?
颗 (kē) and 大 (dà) are often confused. antonym. The key distinguishing feature: 颗 (small) vs 大 (big).
How many strokes does 颗 have?
颗 is written with 14 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 颗?
The radical associated with 颗 is 页 (page). This radical appears in many characters related to page.
What are the components of 颗?
颗 is composed of: 果 (semantic), 页 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰果页 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 颗?
Common words with 颗 include: 颗粒 (kē lì, "kernel"); 颗粒无收 (kē lì wú shōu, "not a single grain was reaped (as in a bad harvest year)"); 细颗粒物 (xì kē lì wù, "fine particle (PM 2.5)"); 一颗老鼠屎坏了一锅汤 (yī kē lǎo shǔ shǐ huài le yī guō tāng, "lit. one pellet of rat feces spoiled the whole pot of soup (idiom)"); 颗粒物 (kē lì wù, "particulate matter (PM)"). There are over 8 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 颗 (kē)?
Several characters share the pronunciation kē: 可 (can, may), 克 (to be able to), 科 (branch of study), 客 (guest, customer), and 5 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 颗 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 颗 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 颗 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.