Hanzi Writer

How to Write 嗨 (hāi) — Meaning “Hi or Hey.”

hāi 13 strokes Radical: 口

嗨 (hāi) means "Hi or Hey." in Chinese. It has 13 strokes with the radical 口.

Rated 4.2/5 in difficulty (advanced).

Appears in 3+ common words including 嗨 (hāi), 嗨呀 (hāi ya), 嗨哟 (hāi yō).

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

Stroke order practice for 嗨 - hāi

Practice Writing 嗨 (hāi)

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

The character (hāi) is written with 13 strokes. Follow the standard Chinese stroke order: top to bottom, left to right, outside before inside. The radical 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.

means Hi or Hey..

Character
Pinyinhāi (hai)
MeaningHi or Hey.
Strokes13
Radical
Difficulty4.2/5

嗨 is a modern phono-semantic compound. The mouth radical (口) indicates it's a sound or exclamation, while 海 (hǎi, 'sea') provides the pronunciation. Originally a loanword from English 'hi', it represents a casual greeting.

💡 Memory Tip: Imagine shouting 'Hi!' into the ocean (海) with your mouth (口) wide open — 嗨!

hāi
Hi or Hey.
hāi ya
Oh or Oops (exclamation of surprise or regret).
hāi yō
Heave-ho (sound of physical effort).

嗨,你好吗?

hāi nǐ hǎo ma

Hi, how are you?

嗨呀,我忘了。

hāi ya wǒ wàng le

Oh, I forgot.

大家加油,嗨哟!

dà jiā jiā yóu hāi yō

Come on everyone, heave-ho!

Character Pinyin Strokes Radical
(current) hāi 13
14
fěng 11
jìn 11
Stroke order practice for 嗨 - hāi

Practice Writing 嗨 (hāi)

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

✨ Animated stroke order · Handwriting recognition · HSK-graded practice · Free to use

Frequently Asked Questions about 嗨

The character 嗨 has the radical 口 (mouth) on the left, indicating it is a sound or spoken word, and the phonetic component 海 (hǎi, sea) on the right gives a clue to its pronunciation. However, the meaning "Hi" does not come from the sea; the character was borrowed for its sound to represent an informal greeting.

Characters with Radical 口

Other 13-Stroke Characters