咖 (kā) · coffee

Meanings

1 coffee
2 tier; grade

Characters

咖

kā

coffee (in compounds)

Examples

HSK 2

我想喝一杯咖啡。

Wǒ xiǎng hē yī bēi kāfēi.

I want to drink a cup of coffee.

HSK 7-9

这位导演是电影界的大咖。

Zhèwèi dǎoyǎn shì diànyǐngjiè de dàkā.

This director is a big name in the film world.

Tips

usage

Read kā in the coffee words: 咖啡 (coffee), 咖啡馆 (cafe), and the slang 大咖 (a big shot). Read gā in 咖喱 (curry). The 口 radical signals the right side is a borrowed sound.

Components

radical

口 kǒu

mouth

口 on the left is a small square for parted lips, the indexing radical. It appears on characters built to spell borrowed sounds, here drinking-related loanwords like 咖啡 coffee and 咖喱 curry. The radical tells the reader the right side is pronounced, not analyzed for meaning.

phonetic

加 jiā

to add

加 on the right supplies the sound, jiā shifting to kā or gā in transliteration. Same phonetic powers 架 frame, 茄 eggplant, 嫁 to marry off. Pure sound role here.