HSK 5 · Function Words

哎 āi “hey” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 哎 means

  1. hey
  2. oh (surprise or annoyance)
  3. hey!
  4. (interjection used to attract attention or to express surprise or disapprobation)

How to say 哎

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale哎āi1st tone, high and level

哎 in a sentence

  1. 哎，今天真丢人，我把衣服穿反了。

    Āi, jīntiān zhēn diūrén, wǒ bǎ yīfu chuān fǎn le.

    Ugh, I was so embarrassed today – I wore my clothes inside out.

    Sentence #3060461 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 哎哟，撞到你了，对不起！

    Āiyō, zhuàngdào nǐ le, duìbuqǐ!

    Oops, I bumped into you – sorry!

    Sentence #374838 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 哎呀，差点上课迟到！

    Āiyā, chàdiǎn shàngkè chídào!

    Oh no, I was nearly late for class!

    Sentence #10024477 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 哎 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 哎 (āi) with each of its parts in a different colour
哎āihey!
  • 口mouth · kǒuMeaning part
  • 艾part of the characterSound part

How to write 哎

哎 8 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

哎 (āi) stroke order chart: each stroke of the character in the order you write it
Stroke order chart for 哎 (āi). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 哎

More words: Function Words & Grammar

唉āi · (sigh) oh彼此bǐcǐ · each other必然bìrán · inevitable毕竟bìjìng · after all众所周知zhòngsuǒzhōuzhī · as everyone knows幢zhuàng · (measure word for buildings)总而言之zǒng'éryánzhī · in short足以zúyǐ · enough to

FAQs

哎 (āi) means “hey” or “oh (surprise or annoyance)”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it āi: āi with a 1st tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 哎 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type ai with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 哎 from the suggestions. Typing ai into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
哎 is an HSK 5 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.