How to say “hey! oh!” in Chinese

哎
āi

hey! oh! (exclamation)

interjection · HSK 5 · topic “Feelings”

“Hey! oh!” in Chinese is 哎, āi: the meaning, a recording of how it sounds, the characters stroke by stroke and examples.

How to pronounce it

哎 is read āi. The tone is part of the word: with another melody you get another word, or just a jumble of sounds.

āi — 1st tonehigh and level, like a long note

How to write it

哎
āi — hey, oh (exclamation)

On the left, 口 “mouth”; on the right, 艾 ài hints at the sound.

Strokes go in order: top to bottom and left to right, horizontal before vertical. Tap a character to open its page, with the strokes shown large and the words it appears in. To train your hand, print a handwriting sheet for “哎”.

Examples

Sentences from the course lessons with 哎. Tap the sound icon to listen.

  • 哎呀,你怎么来了?āiyā,nǐzěnmeláileOh, what are you doing here?
  • 哎呀,你踩到我的脚了!āiyā,nǐcǎidàowǒdejiǎoleOuch, you stepped on my foot!

More characters by topic — happiness, luck, strength, nature — on the page “Chinese characters with meanings”.

More words from the lesson “A surprise”

Look up another word in the Chinese–English dictionary: in English, in pinyin or in characters.

Frequently asked questions

How do you say “hey! oh!” in Chinese?

“Hey! oh!” in Chinese is 哎, pinyin āi.

What does 哎 mean?

哎 (āi) means “hey! oh! (exclamation)”.

How do you write 哎?

哎 is 1 character. The stroke order of each one is shown step by step on this page.

How do you pronounce 哎?

哎 is read āi. Tones: āi — first tone. The page has a native speaker recording.

“hey! oh!” in the lesson “A surprise”

This word is from the topic “Feelings” of HSK 5. In the lesson you hear it in a dialogue, build a sentence with it and say it out loud. Start for free, no sign-up needed.

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