How to Write 更 (gēng/gèng) — Meaning “more / even more / to change”

Picture the sun (曰) slowly walking (夂) across the sky — as time moves, things change 'even more'. This image combines the visual parts with the meanings of 'change' and 'more' in a simple scene.

The order is: horizontal, vertical, horizontal bend, horizontal, horizontal, left-falling, right-falling. The top 曰 must be wide, and the last two strokes — the left-falling (撇) and then the right-falling (捺) — should extend outward, with the right-falling stroke being the final one.

更 has a bottom part 夂 that looks like two long strokes going left and right, while 曱 is a rare character (used only in 'cockroach') with a closed square shape. 曲 looks like a box with two inner lines and means 'song' or 'bent', whereas 更 has an open bottom and means 'more' or 'to change'.

更 has two common pronunciations: gèng means 'even more' (e.g., 更加 'even more'), used in comparisons; gēng means 'to change' (e.g., 更换 'replace', 更正 'correct'). You also find it in traditional time terms like 三更半夜, referring to night watches, but gèng is more frequent in daily language.

Common words containing 更 include: 更换 (gēng huàn) — Replace; 更正 (gēng zhèng) — To correct; to emend.; 更加 (gèng jiā) — Even more.