Learn Chinese Characters

Meaning

air; anger; gas; gas; air; smell

Chinese: 空气、气息或精神状态。

Hear the Four Tones

The same syllable “qi” becomes a different word in each tone. 气 is the 4th 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

  • 天气tiān qìweather
  • 生气shēng qìto get angry; to be furious; vitality; liveliness
  • 不客气bù kè qiyou're welcome; don't mention it; impolite; rude
  • 空气kōng qìair; atmosphere
  • 气温qì wēnair temperature

Example Sentence

他生气地走开了。Tā shēng qì de zǒu kāi le.He walked away angrily.

he生气shēng qìto get angryde(adverb marker)走开zǒu kāito leavele(completed action)

Go deeper

Where this character comes from

A pictograph of vapour or thin clouds drifting in layers. It means ‘air / gas / breath’ and, by extension, ‘vital energy (qì)’.

A way to remember it

Wavy lines of drifting vapour — air.

Easy to confuse with

  • ‘To beg’: almost the same, but missing the middle horizontal stroke.