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How to Write 嗳 (āi) — Meaning “Hey; oh (interjection of surprise or disapproval).”

āi 13 strokes Radical: 口

嗳 (āi) means "Hey; oh (interjection of surprise or disapproval)." in Chinese. It has 13 strokes with the radical 口.

Rated 4.2/5 in difficulty (advanced).

Appears in 2+ common words including 嗳 (āi), 嗳呀 (āi ya).

Due to its 13 strokes, Hanzi Writer's error detection shows 嗳 requires focused practice — most learners need 10+ attempts for consistent accuracy.

Stroke order practice for 嗳 - āi

Practice Writing 嗳 (āi)

Open Hanzi Writer to see the animated stroke order and practice writing 嗳 with real-time feedback.

The character 嗳 (āi) is written with 13 strokes. Follow the standard Chinese stroke order: top to bottom, left to right, outside before inside. The radical 口 is one of its key components.

Practice the correct stroke order with the Hanzi Writer app to see animated stroke-by-stroke guidance with real-time feedback.

嗳 means Hey; oh (interjection of surprise or disapproval)..

Character嗳
Pinyināi (ai)
MeaningHey; oh (interjection of surprise or disapproval).
Strokes13
Radical口
Difficulty4.2/5

This character is a phonetic-semantic compound combining the mouth radical 口 (indicating speech or sound) with 爱 (ài, love) as the phonetic component. It represents an exclamation or interjection, often expressing surprise or disapproval, spoken through the mouth.

💡 Memory Tip: Picture a mouth (口) suddenly exclaiming 'Ai!' in surprise when it sees a romantic love (爱) scene.

嗳 āi
Hey; oh (interjection of surprise or disapproval).
嗳呀 āi ya
Oh dear; gosh.

嗳,你别走啊!

āi nǐ bié zǒu a

Hey, don't go!

嗳呀,我忘了带钥匙。

āi ya wǒ wàng le dài yào shi

Oh no, I forgot my keys.

嗳,这可怎么办?

āi zhè kě zěn me bàn

Oh, what should I do now?

Character Pinyin Strokes Radical
嗳 (current) āi 13 口
㕡 hé 14 口
唪 fěng 11 口
唫 jìn 11 口
Stroke order practice for 嗳 - āi

Practice Writing 嗳 (āi)

Open Hanzi Writer to see the animated stroke order and practice writing 嗳 with real-time feedback.

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Frequently Asked Questions about 嗳

嗳 is a phonetic compound. The left radical 口 (mouth) shows it is an interjection, something spoken. The right part 愛 (ài, love) gives the pronunciation āi. So the character combines a mouth with a sound hint, meaning a spoken exclamation like 'hey' or 'oh'.

Characters with Radical 口

Other 13-Stroke Characters