嘉 meaning and stroke order
Excellent; joyful; auspicious
How to write 嘉, stroke by stroke
14 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
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Meaning of 嘉
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- excellent
- auspicious
- to praise
- to commend
How 嘉 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Drum.
壴 gives the meaning and 加 hints at the sound.
Radical: 口 (mouth), shared by 428 characters on this site.
How to remember 嘉
On top is 壴, a drum, and below is 加 (jiā), which gives the sound. Picture people beating a drum to celebrate something excellent, and the sound jiā tells you how to say it.
嘉 is a formal, literary character that mostly appears inside fixed words like 嘉宾 (jiābīn, honored guest) and 嘉奖 (jiājiǎng, commendation) rather than on its own. You will often hear it on TV shows and at events: 今天的嘉宾是一位作家。(Jīntiān de jiābīn shì yí wèi zuòjiā.) Today's guest is a writer.
Common mistake: Learners sometimes write the top as 士 plus 口 and then forget the short horizontal stroke and the two dots that complete 壴 before 加. Also do not confuse 嘉 with 喜 (xǐ, happy), which shares the same top but has 口 at the bottom instead of 加.
Common words with 嘉
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
嘉 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 嘉
How many strokes are in 嘉?
嘉 is written with 14 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 嘉 mean?
嘉 (jiā) means excellent; joyful; auspicious. A common word with it is 嘉宾 (jiābīn), meaning "esteemed guest; honored guest".
How do you pronounce 嘉?
嘉 is pronounced jiā, in the first tone (high and level).
What is the radical of 嘉?
The radical of 嘉 is 口, which carries the idea of "mouth". Dictionaries list 嘉 under this radical.
Is 嘉 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 嘉 is part of the HSK 6 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
Is 嘉 used in names?
Yes, 嘉 is very common in Chinese given names because it means excellent and auspicious. It also appears in place names such as 嘉兴 (Jiāxīng) in Zhejiang.
What is the difference between 嘉宾 and 客人?
客人 (kèrén) is the everyday word for any guest, like someone visiting your home. 嘉宾 (jiābīn) is formal and means an invited or honored guest, such as a speaker at a conference or a guest on a TV program.