Meaning
black; dark
Chinese: 黑色、黑暗，也可表示非法。
Hear the Four Tones
The same syllable “hei” becomes a different word in each tone. 黑 is the 1st tone. Tap any tone to hear a native voice and see its pitch shape.
Stroke Order
Tap Animate to watch the strokes in order, or Practice to trace it yourself.
Common Words
- 黑色hēi sèblack
- 黑板hēi bǎnblackboard
- 黑暗hēi àndark; darkly; darkness
- 黑夜hēi yènight
- 乌黑wū hēijet-black; dark
Example Sentence
天黑了，街上的灯都亮了。Tiān hēi le, jiē shàng de dēng dōu liàng le.It got dark, and the street lights all came on.
天黑Tiān hēito get dark了le(completed action)，街上jiē shàngon the street的deof灯dēnglamp都dōuall亮liàngbright了le(completed action)。
Go deeper
Where this character comes from
A face or chimney blackened by smoke, with fire (灬) beneath: soot turns things black. It means ‘black / dark’.
A way to remember it
Soot from the fire (灬) below — black.