颗 (kē): classifier for small round thin…

Meanings

1 classifier for small round things (hearts, stars, teeth, gems, bullets)

Characters

颗

kē

measure word for small round things

Examples

HSK 2

天上有很多颗星星。

Tiānshang yǒu hěnduō kē xīngxing.

There are many stars in the sky.

HSK 4

他掉了一颗牙。

Tā diào le yì kē yá.

He lost a tooth.

HSK 4

她有一颗善良的心。

Tā yǒu yì kē shànliáng de xīn.

She has a kind heart.

Tips

usage

Used for small, roundish things: 星星 (stars), 牙 (teeth), 心 (heart), 珠子 (beads), 子弹 (bullets), 糖 (candy).

mistakes

Do not confuse with 棵, which is for trees and plants. Same pronunciation, different characters.

Components

radical

页 yè

head; page

Right indexing head radical 页 - originally pictured a head with hair. The original sense of 颗 was "a head-like grain" - a small round body. The radical extends head / round-thing logic to anything bead-shaped. Same radical in 头 (head), 颜 (face), 顶 (top).

phonetic

果 guǒ

fruit (here phonetic)

Left 果 supplies the sound - guǒ to kē shows mild drift in the same Old Chinese velar series. The "fruit" meaning resonates lightly: a 颗 typically counts small round fruit-like objects (a pearl, a star, a tooth). Same phonetic in 棵 (tree-classifier), 课 (lesson).