汽 (qì) is a Chinese character meaning “steam”. It is written from 氵 (water (left-side form)) and 气 (air; gas; breath), side by side, and takes 7 strokes.
Build the character for “steam; vapour”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
氵 + 气
Left–right structure
Structure from: 说文解字·水部（汽，水涸也。从水气聲）；现代字形以 hanzi-writer-data 核验：7 画 = 氵 3 画 + 气 4 画
Memory aid
Water (氵) turned into air (气) — that is steam.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
7 strokes
In real words
- 汽车qì chēcar; automobile汽 = qì
- 汽水qì shuǐsoda; fizzy drink汽 = qì
- 汽笛qì dísteam whistle; siren (of a ship or train)汽 = qì
Go deeper
All readings
steam; vapour
steam; vapour; used in words for steam-powered or gas-powered things
液体受热变成的气体，多指水蒸气；也用于以燃料驱动的机器名称。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 汽车qì chēcar; automobile汽 = qì
- 汽水qì shuǐsoda; fizzy drink汽 = qì
- 汽笛qì dísteam whistle; siren (of a ship or train)汽 = qì
Sound component
气 family exact
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 汽 mean?
汽 (qì) means steam; vapour; used in words for steam-powered or gas-powered things.
How do you pronounce 汽?
It is pronounced qì.
What parts is 汽 made of?
氵 (water (left-side form)) and 气 (air; gas; breath), side by side. The recorded source is: 说文解字·水部（汽，水涸也。从水气聲）；现代字形以 hanzi-writer-data 核验：7 画 = 氵 3 画 + 气 4 画. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 汽 have?
7. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 汽?
水. 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 汽?
Common ones are 汽车 and 汽水. The reading of 汽 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.