客气
HSK 4 (exam 2025)
客气 (kèqi) · polite
客气 (kèqi) means “polite; to be polite; to stand on ceremony”. It is written with 2 characters: 客 (guest) + 气 (air). It is an HSK 4 word in the current exam syllabus (2025).
How 客气 is built
The characters
客 kè · guest
What 客 is made of
- 宀 — roof
- 丶 — dot
- 冖mì — cover
- 各gè — individual
- 夂zhǐ — to go
- 丿 — falling stroke
- 又yòu — and
- 口kǒu — mouth
- 冂 — frame
- 一 — horizontal stroke
- 夂zhǐ — to go
Origin hint: A person 各 welcomed under one's roof 宀; 各 also provides the pronunciation (from the Make Me a Hanzi dataset; treat as a memory aid where history is uncertain)
气 qì · air
What 气 is made of
- 亻rén — person
Origin hint: A person 亻 breathing air (from the Make Me a Hanzi dataset; treat as a memory aid where history is uncertain)
Example sentences
别客气，多吃一点。Bié kèqi, duō chī yìdiǎn.Don't be shy, have some more.
他对人很客气。Tā duì rén hěn kèqi.He is very polite to people.
Questions about 客气
What does 客气 mean?
客气 (kèqi) means “polite; to be polite; to stand on ceremony”.
How do you pronounce 客气?
客气 is pronounced kèqi.
Which HSK level is 客气?
客气 is in HSK 4 (exam 2025).
Related words
- 不客气bùkèqiyou are welcome
- 顾客gùkècustomer
- 客人kèrénguest
- 旅客lǚkètraveler
- 请客qǐngkèto treat
- 游客yóukètourist
- 客观kèguānobjective
- 做客zuòkèto be a guest
- 客厅kètīngliving room
- 好客hàokèhospitable
Learn 客气 with its group
It is part of HSK 4 · Group 44: a short group with quick checks and spaced repeats.