哎 (āi) is a Chinese character meaning “interjection used to call someone's attention, or to”. It is written from 口 (mouth) and 艾 (mugwort (a herb); here it carries the sound), side by side, and takes 8 strokes.
Build the character for “hey! (calling out)”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
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Structure
口 + 艾
Left–right structure
Structure from: hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph stroke inspection (口 3 strokes + 艾 5 strokes = 8)
Memory aid
A mouth (口) beside 艾 (ài) — the mouth tells you this is something you say out loud, and 艾 hands over the sound: āi!
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
8 strokes
In real words
- 哎呀āi yāoh dear!; oh my!; wow!哎 = āi
- 哎哟āi yōouch!; oh dear!; oh my!哎 = āi
Go deeper
All readings
hey!; oh!
interjection used to call someone's attention, or to express surprise or mild dissatisfaction
叹词，用来招呼人，或表示惊讶、不满。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 哎呀āi yāoh dear!; oh my!; wow!哎 = āi
- 哎哟āi yōouch!; oh dear!; oh my!哎 = āi
Sound component
艾 family tone diff
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 哎 mean?
哎 (āi) means interjection used to call someone's attention, or to express surprise or mild dissatisfaction.
How do you pronounce 哎?
It is pronounced āi.
What parts is 哎 made of?
口 (mouth) and 艾 (mugwort (a herb); here it carries the sound), side by side. The recorded source is: hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph stroke inspection (口 3 strokes + 艾 5 strokes = 8). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 哎 have?
8. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 哎?
口. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.
What words use 哎?
Common ones are 哎呀. The reading of 哎 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.