Meaning of 快
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- rapid
- quick
- speed
- rate
- soon
- almost
- to make haste
- clever
How to use 快
快 often goes before a verb to mean "quickly" or after a verb with 得 to describe speed. With 了 at the end, 快 or 快要 means "almost" or "about to". Example: 快走吧，要下雨了。(Kuài zǒu ba, yào xià yǔ le.) Let's hurry, it's about to rain.
快 combines the heart radical 忄 on the left with 夬 (guài) on the right, which also hints at the sound. Picture a heart beating fast when you rush, and remember that a light, quick heart is also a happy one, as in 快乐 (kuàilè).
Common mistake: Learners often forget the 了 in the "almost" pattern and say 我快到 when they mean 我快到了 (wǒ kuài dào le, I'm almost there). Also, in 凉快 (liángkuai) the 快 is usually read in the neutral tone, not the full fourth tone.
快 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
快 kuài · rapid · 7 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 快.
| 快乐 | kuàilè | happy; joyful |
| 快要 | kuàiyào | nearly at the point of (doing sth); about to (do sth) |
| 快点儿 | kuài diǎnr | erhua variant of 快點|快点[kuai4 dian3] |
| 凉快 | liángkuai | pleasantly cool (weather etc); to cool oneself; to cool off |
| 快餐 | kuàicān | fast food; snack |
| 赶快 | gǎnkuài | quickly; at once |
| 快速 | kuàisù | fast; high-speed; rapid |
| 加快 | jiākuài | to accelerate; to speed up; to hasten |
| 尽快 | jǐnkuài | as quickly as possible; as soon as possible |
| 痛快 | tòngkuài | delighted; to one's heart's content |
| 快递 | kuàidì | express delivery |
| 快活 | kuàihuo | happy; cheerful |
Questions about 快
What does 快 mean?
快 (kuài) means "rapid; quick" and is used as a adjective and adverb.
How do you write 快?
快 is made of 1 character: 快 (7 strokes). That is 7 strokes in total.
Is 快 an HSK word?
Yes. 快 is on the HSK 1 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 快 and 早?
快 is about speed, how fast something happens. 早 (zǎo) is about time, meaning early. 他来得很快 means he came quickly, while 他来得很早 means he came early.
How do you tell someone to hurry up in Chinese?
The most common phrases are 快点儿 (kuài diǎnr) and 快点 (kuài diǎn), meaning "hurry up" or "a bit faster". 赶快 (gǎnkuài) is also used, as in 赶快吃饭 (gǎnkuài chī fàn), eat quickly.