What does 海 mean in Chinese?

海 is a Chinese character with the radical 氵.

How do you write 海?

海 is written with 10 strokes, starting from the 氵 (water) radical and following standard Chinese stroke order (top to bottom, left to right). See the interactive stroke-order tool for the full animation.

What is the radical of 海?

The radical of 海 is 氵 (water, Kangxi radical #85). Other common HSK characters using the same radical include 法, 没, 洗, 河.

How many strokes does 海 have?

The Chinese character 海 has 10 strokes.

What HSK level is 海?

海 first appears in HSK 4 and also shows up in HSK 5, 6. It is used in 4 HSK vocabulary words that we have indexed.

海: Chinese Character Details

海

HSK 4 10 strokes Radical: 氵 (water)

Quick Answer

海 is a Chinese character with 10 strokes, radical 氵 (water), HSK 4, 5, 6.

Full dictionary entry for 海 →Animated stroke-order for 海 →

Etymology

Water of every mother — the sea

Mnemonic hooks the visual decomposition to a memorable image. The full oracle-bone to modern evolution is being added character-by-character via the Phase 13 etymology pass.

Decomposition

海=氵radical+每component

Breaking a character into its components makes it far easier to recall. Each component above links to its own detail page.

Basic info

Stroke count	10 strokes
Radical	氵 (#85: water)
HSK levels	HSK 4, HSK 5, HSK 6
Frequency	#654 most common

Example sentences

海洋很大。
Hǎiyáng hěn dà.
The ocean is very large.
From 海洋 (HSK 4)
这家餐厅的海鲜很新鲜。
Zhè jiā cāntīng de hǎixiān hěn xīnxiān.
The seafood at this restaurant is very fresh.
From 海鲜 (HSK 5)
出国要在海关接受检查。
Chūguó yào zài hǎiguān jiēshòu jiǎnchá.
You must undergo inspection at customs when leaving the country.
From 海关 (HSK 5)

Words containing 海

Word	Pinyin	Meaning	HSK
海洋	hǎiyáng	ocean	HSK 4
海鲜	hǎixiān	seafood	HSK 5
海关	hǎiguān	Customs	HSK 5
公海	gōnghǎi	high seas, open sea	HSK 6

Related characters

Don't confuse with

每

海 ≠ 每 (měi), every

梅

海 ≠ 梅

Share the 氵 (water) radical

法fǎ 没洗xǐ 河hé 注治

See all characters with the 氵 radical →

Similar meaning (nature)

气风wind 天day 根root 草grass 水water 山mountain 花flower

Practice this character

Learn all words containing 海 with spaced repetition.

Start studying All HSK 4 words

Frequently Asked Questions

Appears in these articles

Reviewed by Rudolph Minister, Founder and HSK Instructor.

海