HSK 5 · Function Words

赶快 gǎnkuài “quickly” in Chinese

Traditional 趕快

What 赶快 means

  1. quickly
  2. at once

How to say 赶快

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale赶gǎn3rd tone, dipping
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale快kuài4th tone, falling

赶快 in a sentence

  1. 赶快回家。

    Gǎnkuài huíjiā.

    Hurry home.

    Sentence #5092584 from Tatoeba

  2. 面对这个机会不能犹豫，要赶快行动。

    Miànduì zhè ge jīhuì bù néng yóuyù, yào gǎnkuài xíngdòng.

    Don’t hesitate when an opportunity like this comes along – act quickly.

    Sentence #1584521 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 你的脸色这么差，还是赶快去睡觉吧。

    Nǐ de liǎnsè zhème chà, háishi gǎnkuài qù shuìjiào ba.

    You look terrible – you’d better go to bed right away.

    Sentence #499525 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

How 赶快 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 赶 (gǎn) with each of its parts in a different colour
赶gǎnto overtake; to catch up with
  • 走walk · zǒuMeaning part
  • 干dry · gānSound part

走 hints at the meaning (walk); 干 (gān) hints at the sound. Compare it with gǎn.

The character 快 (kuài) with each of its parts in a different colour
快kuàirapid
  • 忄heart form of 心 · xīn
  • 夬decisive · guài

Memory aidHeart 忄 with 夬 (guài) for the sound: happy, and fast.

How to write 赶快

赶 10 strokes · 快 7 strokes

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

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

Words related to 赶快

Words with 赶

赶gǎn · to hurry赶紧gǎnjǐn · hurriedly

Words with 快

快kuài · fast快乐kuàilè · happy快要kuàiyào · about to凉快liángkuai · nice and cold愉快yúkuài · cheerful痛快tòngkuài · delighted尽快jǐnkuài · as soon as possible爽快shuǎngkuài · frank快活kuàihuo · happy

More words: Function Words & Grammar

非fēi · to not be纷纷fēnfēn · one after another幅fú · measure word for paintings赶紧gǎnjǐn · hurriedly格外géwài · especially各自gèzì · each根gēn · root怪不得guàibude · no wonder!

FAQs

赶快 (gǎnkuài) means “quickly” or “at once”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it gǎnkuài: gǎn with a 3rd tone, then kuài with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 赶快 is written 趕快. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type gankuai with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 赶快 from the suggestions. Typing gankuai into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
赶快 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.