DICTIONARY
The Chinese word hai - 海 - hǎi
(sea in Chinese)
Phonetic script (Hanyu Pinyin)
hǎi
Listen to pronunciation
(Mandarin = standard Chinese without accent)
You're listening to the natural voice of a native speaker of Mandarin Chinese.
English translations
sea,
extra large capacity
Chinese character and stroke order animation"How do I write 海 ( hǎi ) correctly?"
The strokes that all Chinese characters are composed of are to be written in a certain order which has originally been defined by Chinese calligraphy. Writing all characters according to the same rules assures that their intended shape and style are generally preserved even if written by different writers.
This dictionary shows you the correct stroke order as an animation for all characters so you can learn and understand how to write the character correctly. :
The strokes that all Chinese characters are composed of are to be written in a certain order which has originally been defined by Chinese calligraphy. Writing all characters according to the same rules assures that their intended shape and style are generally preserved even if written by different writers.
This dictionary shows you the correct stroke order as an animation for all characters so you can learn and understand how to write the character correctly. :
The traditional Chinese characters of hǎi are identical with the modern (simplified) characters displayed above.
Chinese Pinyin example sentence with 海 ( hai / hǎi ) ⓘWriting in Pinyin
Before using this Pinyin example sentence, consider that Chinese characters should always be your first choice in written communication.
If you cannot use Chinese characters, it is preferable to use the Pinyin with tones. Only use the Pinyin without tones if there's no other option (e.g. writing a text message from/to a mobile phone that doesn't support special characters such as ā, í, ǒ, ù).
Before using this Pinyin example sentence, consider that Chinese characters should always be your first choice in written communication.
If you cannot use Chinese characters, it is preferable to use the Pinyin with tones. Only use the Pinyin without tones if there's no other option (e.g. writing a text message from/to a mobile phone that doesn't support special characters such as ā, í, ǒ, ù).
Xiatian women qu haibian youyong.
Xiàtiān wǒmen qù hǎibiān yóuyǒng.– English translation: In summer we go swimming at the seaside.
Topic
Character complexity
海 is composed of 10 strokes and therefore is of average complexity compared to the other simplified Chinese characters (average: 13.1 strokes).
Tags and additional information
(Meaning of individual characters, character components etc.)
water | mother | memory aid: the origin of all waters
海 ( hai / hǎi ) belongs to the 500 most common Chinese characters (rank 169)
海 ( hai / hǎi ) belongs to the 500 most common Chinese characters (rank 169)
Chinese example words containing the character 海 ( hai / hǎi )
北海 ( Běihǎi = the Northern Sea ), 北海道 ( Běihǎidào = Hokkaido ), 博斯普鲁斯海峡 ( Bósīpǔlǔsī Hǎixiá = Bosporus ), 大海 ( dàhǎi = sea ), 海豹 ( hǎibào = seal ), 海报 ( hǎibào = poster ), 海龟 ( hǎiguī = (sea) turtle ), 海马 ( hǎimǎ = sea horse ), 海参 ( hǎishēn = sea cucumber ), 海狮 ( hǎishī = sea lion ), 海滩 ( hǎitān = beach ), 海王星 ( hǎiwángxīng = Neptune (planet) ), 海鲜 ( hǎixiān = seafood ), 海洋 ( hǎiyáng = ocean ),
More words that mean sea in Chinese
dàhǎi ( 大海 )
Report missing or erroneous translation of hai in English
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All words in this dictionary (more to come) were taken from the multimedia Chinese learning software Han Trainer Pro.
This Chinese-English dictionary is currently under development.
This Chinese-English dictionary is currently under development.
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Version 5.52 / Last updated: 2026-11-03