HSK 3.0 Level 4 · Action

改 gǎi “to change” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 改 means

  1. to change
  2. to correct
  3. to alter
  4. to transform

How to say 改

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale改gǎi3rd tone, dipping

改 in a sentence

  1. 我该改一下我的计划。

    Wǒ gāi gǎi yíxià wǒ de jìhuà.

    I ought to change my plans a bit.

    Sentence #795421 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 这必须改。

    Zhè bìxū gǎi.

    This has to be changed.

    Sentence #504304 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 我们要改哪里？

    Wǒmen yào gǎi nǎlǐ?

    Which parts do we need to change?

    Sentence #13524039 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

How 改 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 改 (gǎi) with each of its parts in a different colour
改gǎito change
  • 己self · jǐ
  • 攵tap form of 攴 · pū

How to write 改

改 7 strokes

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

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

Words related to 改

Words with 改

改变gǎibiàn · to change改进gǎijìn · to improve改善gǎishàn · to make better改正gǎizhèng · to correct修改xiūgǎi · to amend改革gǎigé · reform改良gǎiliáng · to improve

More words: Action & Change Verbs

见到jiàndào · to see变biàn · to change服务fúwù · to serve进入jìnrù · to enter生shēng · to be born算suàn · to calculate成chéng · to become求qiú · to seek

FAQs

改 (gǎi) means “to change” or “to correct”. It is an HSK 3.0 Level 4 word.
Say it gǎi: gǎi with a 3rd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 改 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type gai with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 改 from the suggestions. Typing gai into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
改 is an HSK 3.0 Level 4 word in the official 2021 syllabus, and it is on our HSK 3.0 Band 3 word list. It is not on the older 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.