How to say “cough” in Chinese
cough (short word)
“Cough” in Chinese is 咳, ké: the meaning, a recording of how it sounds, the characters stroke by stroke and examples.
How to pronounce it
咳 is read ké. The tone is part of the word: with another melody you get another word, or just a jumble of sounds.
How to write it
On the left, 口 “mouth”. The right part is the same as in 孩 hái and 该 gāi.
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 “咳”.
Examples
Sentences from the course lessons with 咳. Tap the sound icon to listen.
- 我的咳嗽怎么也不好。wǒdekésouzěnmeyěbùhǎoMy cough just won't go away.
- 吃了三天药他仍然咳嗽chīlesāntiānyào,tāréngránkésouHe's taken medicine for three days, but he's still coughing.
More characters by topic — happiness, luck, strength, nature — on the page “Chinese characters with meanings”.
More words from the lesson “What hurts?”
Look up another word in the Chinese–English dictionary: in English, in pinyin or in characters.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say “cough” in Chinese?
“Cough” in Chinese is 咳, pinyin ké.
What does 咳 mean?
咳 (ké) means “cough (short word)”.
How do you write 咳?
咳 is 1 character. The stroke order of each one is shown step by step on this page.
How do you pronounce 咳?
咳 is read ké. Tones: ké — second tone. The page has a native speaker recording.
“cough” in the lesson “What hurts?”
This word is from the topic “Health and habits” of HSK 4. 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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