Pinyin Syllable
Chinese characters pronounced gai
Learn common Chinese characters pronounced gai, including 该 gāi, 改 gǎi, 概 gài, 盖 gài / gě. Compare tones, meanings, traditional forms, words…
How to Pronounce This Syllable
gai joins the initial g to the final ai in one motion — say it as a single Mandarin beat with the tone over it, not as English letters in a row.
Initial g
Start the syllable on the initial g, then run straight into the final ai — keep them joined instead of sounding out separate English letters.
Final ai
Settle the final ai into a steady mouth shape first, then lay the tone on top.
Study Tip
Start with the most common characters (该 gāi, 改 gǎi, 概 gài, 盖 gài / gě) and lock in their tones. 4 common characters share the sound gai, so lean on words to tell the rest apart.
Learn by Tone
gai turns up here with 3 different tones; a change of tone usually means a different character, so the groups below are split by tone.
1st tone
Taking the 1st tone here: 该 (1 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
3rd tone
Taking the 3rd tone here: 改 (1 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
4th tone
Taking the 4th tone here: 概, 盖 (2 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
Common Words With This Sound
Seeing gai inside whole words makes it clear which character is meant — here are common ones.
Characters
4 common characters in this group.