隔 (gé) means "to separate; at a distance from" in Chinese. It has 12 strokes with the radical 阝, and is HSK Level 4.
Rated 3.9/5 in difficulty (challenging).
Harder than 56% of HSK Level 4 characters.
Appears in 3+ common words including 隔壁 (gé bì), 间隔 (jiàn gé), 隔离 (gé lí).
Due to its 12 strokes, Hanzi Writer's error detection shows 隔 requires focused practice — most learners need 10+ attempts for consistent accuracy.
Open Hanzi Writer to see the animated stroke order and practice writing 隔 with real-time feedback.
The character 隔 (gé) is written with 12 strokes. Follow the standard Chinese stroke order: top to bottom, left to right, outside before inside. The radical 阝 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.
隔 means to separate; at a distance from.
As an HSK Level 4 character, 隔 is an intermediate-level character.
The left radical 阝 (from 阜) represents a mound or hill, indicating a physical barrier. The right part 鬲 is a pictograph of a tripod cauldron, contributing the sound gé and visually suggesting a solid object that blocks. Together, they express the idea of separating or being at a distance, as if a mound and cauldron create a division.
💡 Memory Tip: Imagine a hill (阝) with a giant tripod cauldron (鬲) sitting on top, forcing everything to stay separated on either side.
他住在我的隔壁。
tā zhù zài wǒ de gé bì
He lives next door to me.
两座山之间间隔很远。
liǎng zuò shān zhī jiān jiàn gé hěn yuǎn
There is a great distance between the two mountains.
生病的人需要隔离。
shēng bìng de rén xū yào gé lí
Sick people need to be isolated.
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The left side is the radical 阝, which means 'hill' or 'place' and often relates to barriers or locations. The right side 鬲 provides the pronunciation gé and originally meant a tripod vessel; together they suggest a physical or spatial separation, like a wall or hill that divides places.