TraceHanzi

褐 meaning and stroke order

hè

Coarse wool; dull, brown

14 strokesRadical 衤
Strokes14
Pinyinhè
ToneTone 4
Frequency#3,360
Printable worksheet

How to write 褐, 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.

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
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  14. 14

Meaning of 褐

Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.

hèfourth tone (falling)
  1. brown
  2. gray or dark color
  3. coarse hemp cloth
  4. Taiwan pr. [he2]

How 褐 is built

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

yīcloth+héwhat

衤 gives the meaning and 曷 hints at the sound.

Radical: 衤 (cloth), shared by 72 characters on this site.

How to remember 褐

The left side 衤 is the clothing radical, and 曷 (hé) on the right gives the sound. Picture rough, undyed cloth 衤 in a dull brown color, and you have 褐 (hè).

Today 褐 mostly appears in color words, especially 褐色 (hèsè, brown), which sounds a bit more formal or descriptive than 棕色 (zōngsè). The old sense of coarse hemp or wool cloth shows up mainly in classical texts. Example: 他穿着一件褐色的外套。(Tā chuānzhe yí jiàn hèsè de wàitào.) He is wearing a brown coat.

Common mistake: Learners often write the left side as 礻 (the spirit radical) instead of 衤, which has an extra short stroke. Also do not confuse 褐 (hè) with 喝 (hē, to drink) or 渴 (kě, thirsty), which share 曷 but have different radicals and sounds.

Common words with 褐

Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.

WordPinyinMeaningLevel
褐色hèsèbrown

褐 in example sentences

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

汤tāng姆mǔ把bǎ他tā的de头tóu发fà染rǎn成chéng了le褐hè色sè。
Tom dyed his hair brown.
我wǒ们men的de邻lín居jū有yǒu两liǎng只zhǐ褐hè色sè的de狗gǒu。
Our neighbor has two brown dogs.
你nǐ有yǒu如rú此cǐ美měi丽lì的de淡dàn褐hè色sè眼yǎn睛jīng。
You have such beautiful, hazel eyes.
汤tāng姆mǔ和hé玛mǎ丽lì都dū戴dài着zhe褐hè色sè的de帽mào子zi。
Tom and Mary are both wearing brown hats.
褐hè煤méi是shì一yī种zhǒng化huà石shí燃rán料liào。
Lignite is a fossil fuel.

Questions about 褐

How many strokes are in 褐?

褐 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 褐 mean?

褐 (hè) means coarse wool; dull, brown. A common word with it is 褐色 (hèsè), meaning "brown".

How do you pronounce 褐?

褐 is pronounced hè, in the fourth tone (falling).

What is the radical of 褐?

The radical of 褐 is 衤, which carries the idea of "cloth". Dictionaries list 褐 under this radical.

What is the difference between 褐色 and 棕色?

Both mean brown. 棕色 (zōngsè) is the everyday word, while 褐色 (hèsè) often suggests a darker, duller or grayish brown and is common in written or descriptive language, such as describing animals, soil or rocks.

Is 褐 pronounced hè or hé?

In mainland Standard Mandarin it is fourth tone, hè. In Taiwan it is commonly pronounced with the second tone, hé.