阿

2 readings · tap one to hear it

prefix used before monosyllabic names, kinship terms etc to indicate familiarity; (bound form) abbreviation for country names beginning with 阿, e.g. 阿富汗[A1 fu4 han4] "Afghanistan"

Make a writing worksheet

HSK 3.0: Level 4
Old HSK: Level 3
Strokes: 7
Radical: 阜 +5
Structure: Left–right 左右
Traditional: 阿
Common rank: #110
Unicode: U+963F

Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

How 阿 is formed

Phono-semantic compound (形声字)

阝 meaning “place” + 可 sound ( kě )

Components 阝可

How to remember it

Apollo · Heisig RSH #1055

pinnacle + 可 can

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

Words with 阿

The most common words first — learning a character in context makes it stick.

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
阿尔山市	Ā ěr shān Shì	Arxan, a county-level city in Hinggan League 興安盟\|兴安盟[Xing1 an1 Meng2], Inner Mongolia
阿拉尔市	Ā lā ěr shì	Aral shehiri (Aral city) or Ālā'ěr subprefecture level city in west Xinjiang
阿拉山口市	Ā lā shān kǒu Shì	Alashankou, a county-level city in Bortala Mongol Autonomous Prefecture 博爾塔拉蒙古自治州\|博尔塔拉蒙古自治…
阿斯马拉	Ā sī mǎ lā	Asmara, capital of Eritrea
阿尔山	Ā ěr shān	see 阿爾山市\|阿尔山市[A1 er3 shan1 Shi4]
阿拉斯加大学	Ā lā sī jiā Dà xué	University of Alaska
阿拉斯	Ā lā sī	Arras, town in northern France
阿拉山口	Ā lā shān kǒu	see 阿拉山口市[A1 la1 shan1 kou3 Shi4]
阿里地区	Ā lǐ Dì qū	Ngari, prefecture in Tibet Autonomous Region 西藏自治區\|西藏自治区[Xi1 zang4 Zi4 zhi4 qu1]
阿拉尔	Ā lā ěr	Aral shehiri (Aral city) or Ālā'ěr subprefecture level city in west Xinjiang
阿特拉斯	Ā tè lā sī	Atlas, a Titan in Greek mythology; Atlas Mountains in North Africa
阿特金斯	Ā tè jīn sī	Atkins (name)
山阿	shān ē	a nook in the mountains
阿克拉	Ā kè lā	Accra, capital of Ghana
阿法尔	Ā fǎ ěr	Afar region of northeast Ethiopia; Afar people
阿尔法	ā ěr fǎ	alpha (Greek letter Α, α)
阿拉巴马	Ā lā bā mǎ	Alabama, US state
阿物儿	ā wù r	thing; (you) useless thing
阿里山	Ā lǐ Shān	Alishan mountain range in the central-southern region of Taiwan
阿拉法特	Ā lā fǎ tè	Mohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf Arafat al-Qudwa al-Husseini (1929-2004), Palestinian lea…

Sound family

Characters sharing the sound component 可 — compare how they read.

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
可 sound part	kě	may, can, -able; possibly
河	hé	river, stream; the Yellow river
柯	kē	axe-handle, bough, stalk; surname
呵	hē	to scold; to yawn; the sound of someone laughing (when repeated)
诃	hē	to scold loudly, to curse, to abuse
苛	kē	severe, harsh; rigorous, exacting
坷	kē	uneven, bumpy; a clod of earth; a lump of soil
轲	kě	axle
蚵	é	oyster
岢	kě	the name of a mountain
疴	kē	sickness, illness; pain
哿	gě	excellent, capable; happy; to commend
舸	gě	barge, large boat
钶	kē	columbium