TraceHanzi

嗨 meaning and stroke order

hāi

An exclamation

13 strokesRadical 口
Strokes13
Pinyinhāi
ToneTone 1
Frequency#464
Printable worksheet

How to write 嗨, stroke by stroke

13 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.

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

Meaning of 嗨

Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.

hāifirst tone (high and level)
  1. oh alas
  2. hey!
  3. hi! (loanword)
  4. a high (natural or drug-induced) (loanword)

How 嗨 is built

Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Mouth.

kǒumouth+hǎiocean

口 gives the meaning and 海 hints at the sound.

Radical: 口 (mouth), shared by 428 characters on this site.

How to remember 嗨

A mouth 口 shouting across the sea 海 (hǎi) gives you 嗨 (hāi), a loud call of hey or hi. The 口 tells you it is a sound, and 海 gives the sound.

Today 嗨 is most often used as a casual greeting borrowed from English hi, common in texts and among young people. It can also mean having a great, excited time, a sense borrowed from English high. Example: 嗨，好久不见。(Hāi, hǎojiǔ bú jiàn.) Hi, long time no see.

Common mistake: Learners often read 嗨 with the third tone of its phonetic part 海 (hǎi), but 嗨 is first tone, hāi. Also do not drop the 口 on the left, or you get 海, which means sea.

嗨 in example sentences

Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.

嗨hāi！你nǐ在zài这zhè儿ér工gōng作zuò吗ma？
Hi! Do you work here?
-嗨hāi，是shì你nǐ吗ma? -是shì啊a，是shì我wǒ。
"Hi, is this you?" "Yes, this is me."
嗨hāi，你nǐ还hái在zài这zhè里lǐ吗ma？
Hey, are you still here?
嗨hāi，比bǐ尔ěr。你nǐ好hǎo吗ma?
Hi, Bill. How are you?
嗨hāi，我wǒ的de名míng字zì是shìOmid。
Hi, my name is Omid.

Questions about 嗨

How many strokes are in 嗨?

嗨 is written with 13 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.

What does 嗨 mean?

嗨 (hāi) means an exclamation.

How do you pronounce 嗨?

嗨 is pronounced hāi, in the first tone (high and level).

What is the radical of 嗨?

The radical of 嗨 is 口, which carries the idea of "mouth". Dictionaries list 嗨 under this radical.

How do you say to have a great time using 嗨?

People say 玩得很嗨 (wán de hěn hāi), meaning to have a blast. You may also hear 嗨起来 (hāi qǐlái), let's get the party going. This is informal, casual speech.

Is 嗨 polite enough for formal situations?

No. 嗨 is casual and best used with friends or peers. In formal settings use 您好 (nín hǎo) or 你好 (nǐ hǎo) instead.