gāi
verb HSK 2 #129

Meanings

  1. 1 should
  2. 2 ought to

Characters

Speech radical + — words about what one ought to do

Examples

Nǐ gāi xiūxi le.
You should rest now.
Wǒ gāi zěnmebàn?
What should I do?
Xiànzài gāi nǐ le.
Now it's your turn.

Tips

grammar
is softer than 必须 (must) but stronger than 可以 (may). It implies something is expected or proper.
usage
... pattern expresses 'it's time to...': 吃饭 = It's time to eat, = It's time to go.

Components

radical
yán
speech (radical form)
Left speech radical (simplified from ) — the indexing semantic. Heads verbs of speaking, agreeing, promising, judging: , , , . In it points to the verbal sense of stating an obligation: words about what someone ought to do.
phonetic
hài
12th earthly branch (here phonetic)
Right gives the sound — shares the rime with gāi, with the initial shifting (h→g) but the rime preserved. A typical phonetic compound. Same phonetic body produces (child) and (skeleton); the 'pig / earthly branch' meaning of doesn't carry.

Stroke Order

gāi