各 (gè): each

Meanings

1 each
2 every
3 various

Characters

各

gè

each; every; various

Examples

各国代表都参加了会议。

Gè guó dàibiǎo dōu cānjiā le huìyì.

Representatives from each country attended the meeting.

各有各的想法。

Gè yǒu gè de xiǎngfǎ.

Each has their own ideas.

每个人各做各的。

Měi gè rén gè zuò gè de.

Everyone does their own thing.

Tips

grammar

各 is placed before nouns without a measure word: 各国 (each country), 各人 (each person), 各地 (each place). Compare with 每 which needs a measure word: 每个人.

Components

radical

口 kǒu

mouth; opening (radical)

Bottom 口 — a small open square, here standing for a settlement or homestead where the arriving foot lands. The early sense was 'each one arrives at a different mouth/place'. 口 is the indexing radical and connects 各 to compounds about voices and places: 各位, 各国, 各地.

semantic

夂 zhǐ

to follow; foot coming down (semantic)

Top 夂 originally depicted a downward-pointing foot, the picture of someone arriving from outside. In 各 the foot enters toward the mouth 口 below, suggesting visitors coming from different directions, each with their own destination. The same component shapes the foot in 冬, 夏, 处.