Dictionary › 该

该

gāi

HSK 3 Character Traditional 該

What 该 means

1. should
2. ought to
3. probably
4. must be
5. to deserve
6. to owe
7. to be sb's turn to do sth
8. that
9. the above-mentioned

Example sentences

• 活该。
  Huógāi.
  You reap what you sow.
• 该走了。
  It's time to go.
• 我活该。
  I deserved that.
• 该你走了。
  It's your move.
• 该起床了。
  Time to get up.
• 我该走了。
  I have to leave now.

Words starting with 该

• 该死gāi sǐDamn it!; damned; wretched
• 该应gāi yīngshould
• 该亚Gāi yàGaea, the Earth Goddess and mother of the Titans
• 该当gāi dāngshould; to deserve
• 该博gāi bóerudite; broad and profound; learned
• 该隐Gāi yǐnCain (name); Cain (biblical character), a figure of Judeo-Christian-Muslim mythology

Words containing 该

• 应该yīng gāiought to; should; must
• 活该huó gāi(colloquial) serve sb right; deservedly; ought
• 不该bù gāishould not; to owe nothing
• 合该hé gāiought to; should
• 应该的yīng gāi de(polite response) you're welcome; just doing my duty; no problem
• 亚该亚Yà gāi yàAchaia
• 米该亚Mǐ gāi yàMicah
• 哈该书Hā gāi shūBook of Haggai
• 撒都该人sā dū gāi rénSadducees
• 罪该万死zuì gāi wàn sǐ(idiom) deserving the severest punishment; death is too good for sb

Characters built on 亥

These share the phonetic component 亥 (hài), which is why their readings rhyme. Learning them as a family is far cheaper than learning them one at a time.

• 孩hái(bound form) child
• 骸háibones of the body
• 骇hàito astonish; to startle; to hack (computing, loanword)
• 氦hàihelium (chemistry)
• 赅gāicomplete; full
• 陔gāistep; terrace
• 垓gāiboundary
• 胲hǎihydroxylamine (chemistry)

Characters that look like 该

Easy to confuse on sight. Compare them side by side once and the pair stops costing you.

• 侯hóumarquis, second of the five orders of ancient Chinese nobility 五等爵位; nobleman…
• 诡guǐ(bound form) sly; crafty; (literary) weird; bizarre; (literary) contradictory…
• 诶xīsigh (to express regret)
• 俟qíused in 万俟
• 诏zhào(literary) to admonish; (bound form) imperial edict
• 诮qiàoridicule; to blame

Sounds the same

Read gāi, tone for tone, but written differently.

• 赅complete; full
• 陔step; terrace
• 垓boundary
• 㱾a kind of metal or jade ornament worn in ancient times to ward off evil spirits
• 侅to give; prepared for included in; embraced in
• 荄roots of plant
• 賌old variant of 赅