各 (gè) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

各

gè[ge4]Tone 4

each, every

HSK 3

Guru Deep Dive

English · each, every

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Topology:Top-bottom

Strokes:6

Writing Balance Rule: Ensure the top element (夂) crowns the bottom element (口) symmetrically, keeping the center of gravity stable.

1. Meaning

each, every

respectivevarious

Pronoun / DeterminerNeutral#quantifiers#pronouns#distribution

Sample Usage

各有利弊
gè yǒu lì bì
each has its pros and cons
各位朋友
gè wèi péng you
every friend / ladies and gentlemen

2. Sound

/[kɤ⁵¹]/Tone: 51

各

gège4

`(51)

=gè

Initial Consonant

Type: Unaspirated Velar

Sounds like: g sound as in 'go'

Unaspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: No burst of air (sounds like 'c' in Vietnamese 'cá' or 'k' in English 'skate').

Tongue & Mouth Position: Back of the tongue raises to make contact with the soft palate, then releases softly.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -e vowel group

Sounds like: err sound without the r (like the unrounded back vowel)

Mouth Shape Guide: Pronounce as standalone vowel 'uh'.

Common Learner Trap: Keep vowel quality steady across all 4 tone contours.

Tone

T4 (51)

5 → 1 (51)

4th Tone (High-Falling)

Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 4 starts high and plunges sharply to the bottom, similar to saying 'No!' in English when declining something firmly.

👂

Listening trap: Mistaking it for a first tone or third tone due to fast speech; remember Tone 4 is forceful and abrupt.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: A sharp karate chop downwards, mirroring the high-to-low plummet of Tone 4.

3. Writing

Topology: Top-bottom · Strokes: 6 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: Ensure the top element (夂) crowns the bottom element (口) symmetrically, keeping the center of gravity stable.

4. Components

Radical 口 · Mouth Radical (mouth)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 口 (Represents people or mouths speaking / participating individually)

A walking/following foot symbol (夂) arriving at a mouth (口), signifying that every single person has a mouth to speak for themselves.

夂 slowly coming / arrival
口 mouth / individual person

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

27· Phonetic Root: 各 (gè)

5. History

Liushu category: Compound ideogram (会意)

Origin: Originally depicted a foot (夂) walking towards a place or stopping at a boundary/mouth (口), evolving to mean 'to arrive at' and later generalizing to 'each' or 'every'.

Semantic Evolution: From 'reaching an individual point' to the distributive meaning of 'each' or 'every individual one'.

In classical Chinese, it frequently functioned as a verb meaning 'to agree' or 'to belong to', but modern usage is predominantly a distributive pronoun.

6. Sinosphere

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: カク / Kun: おのおの

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

EACH person (口) walking step by step (夂) arrives at their own destination.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

路

lùroadAdds the foot/path radical (足) on the left to indicate walking on a road.

阁

gépavilionAdds the enclosure/door radical (门) to mean a multi-story building.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

名(míng)

名 has 夕 (evening) on top of 口 (mouth), meaning name. 各 has 夂 on top.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

我们[___]有不同的意见。

Clue: gè

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the top component 夂 with 夊 or placing the elements in the wrong vertical proportion.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: What does 各 mean when seen in compound words like 各国 (gèguó)?

Production: How do you write the character for 'each/every' with 6 strokes?

各gèeach, every

Speed:

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