合 meaning in English

hé

to close; to join

HSK 3verb6 strokes

Meaning of 合

Definitions from CC-CEDICT.

hé

to close
to join
to fit
to be equal to
whole
together
round (in battle)
conjunction (astronomy)

hé

variant of 合[he2]

gě

100 ml
one-tenth of a peck
measure for dry grain equal to one-tenth of sheng 升 or liter, or one-hundredth dou 斗

How to use 合

合 rarely stands alone in modern speech. It mostly appears in compounds like 合适 (héshì, suitable), 合作 (hézuò, to cooperate) and 适合 (shìhé, to suit). Example: 这件衣服很适合你。(Zhè jiàn yīfu hěn shìhé nǐ.) This piece of clothing really suits you.

合 (hé) is built from 亼 on top and 口 (kǒu, mouth or opening) below. Picture a lid coming down to close over an opening, so the two parts join together.

Common mistake: Learners often mix up 合适 and 适合. 合适 is an adjective (这个很合适), while 适合 is a verb that takes an object (适合你), so 这个很适合 without an object sounds incomplete. Also do not confuse 合 with 舍 (shě), which has a 舌-like middle instead of a single horizontal stroke.

合 in example sentences

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

你nǐ那nà样yàng做zuò是shì合hé理lǐ的de。

It's reasonable that you should do that.

我wǒ需xū要yào你nǐ们men的de合hé作zuò。

I need your cooperation.

他tā说shuō的de话huà不bù合hé情qíng理lǐ。

What he says is total nonsense.

把bǎ你nǐ的de书shū合hé起qǐ来lái看kàn著zhù我wǒ。

Look at me with your books closed.

她tā的de衣yī着zhuó不bù合hé我wǒ的de口kǒu味wèi。

Her dress is not to my taste.

Stroke order for each character

Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.

合 hé · to close · 6 strokes

Related words

Words that share a character with 合.

合适	héshì	suitable; fitting; appropriate
合作	hézuò	to cooperate; to collaborate; to work together
适合	shìhé	to fit; to suit
合法	héfǎ	lawful; legitimate
配合	pèihé	matching; fitting in with
联合	liánhé	to combine; to join
合理	hélǐ	rational; reasonable; sensible; fair
组合	zǔhé	to assemble; to combine; to compose; combination; association; set; compilation
结合	jiéhé	to combine; to link
联合国	Liánhéguó	United Nations
场合	chǎnghé	occasion; situation; context; setting; venue
合格	hégé	to meet the standard required; qualified

Questions about 合

What does 合 mean?

合 (hé) means "to close; to join" and is used as a verb.

How do you write 合?

合 is made of 1 character: 合 (6 strokes). That is 6 strokes in total.

Is 合 an HSK word?

Yes. 合 is on the HSK 3 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.

What does 合 mean in 合上?

In 合上 (héshàng), 合 means to close, like closing a book or your eyes. For example, 合上书 (héshàng shū) means close the book.

Is 合 ever pronounced gě?

Yes, as gě it is an old unit of dry measure, one tenth of a 升 (shēng). You will rarely meet this reading outside historical or specialized texts.