How to Write 嘿 (hēi) — Meaning “hey; hi”

Imagine a person with a black (黑) mouth (口) saying 'Hey!' to get your attention. The black color represents the dark outline of an open mouth shouting. This visual links the shape of 嘿 to its meaning of a casual greeting.

Pay special attention to the right side 黑: it has four dots, not three, and the top part is 里 with a small dot above. The left radical 口 should be small and high, not too big. A common mistake is making the left mouth too large or forgetting the top dot on 黑.

嘿 (hēi) means 'hey' and is a greeting sound, while 㕡 (hè or huò) is an ancient word for a deep valley or a shout, and 喿 (zào) means noise or chatter. Visually, 嘿 has a clear 黑 component on the right, whereas 㕡 has 霍 (sudden) and 喿 has three mouths stacked on top.

嘿 is used as an informal exclamation to call someone or show surprise, similar to 'Hey!' in English. It also appears in reduplicated form 嘿嘿 to represent a soft chuckle or smug laugh. You might hear it in casual speech or online chats, but it is not used in formal writing.

Common words containing 嘿 include: 嘿 (hēi) — hey; hi; 嘿嘿 (hēi hēi) — hehe; chuckle; 嘿哟 (hēi yō) — heave-ho; yo-ho.