加

jiā

力 + 口

HSK 3.0Level 3

Definitions

jiā (verb) to add; plus

jiā (verb) to apply (restrictions, rules etc)

Jiā (noun) Canada (abbreviation)

Etymology

Depicts making loud noises with the mouth (口) to add power (力) during manual labor.

About

加 (jiā) combines 力 (lì, 'strength') on the left and 口 (kǒu, 'mouth') on the right, originally depicting making loud noises with the mouth to add power during manual labor. From this concrete image of exerting extra force, the character's meaning broadened to encompass the general and mathematical concepts of adding, increasing, appending, or applying something extra to an existing state or amount.

Etymology Hide

Bronze Early Western Zhou (~1000 BC)

Seal Chu (Warring States: 475-221 BC)

Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)

Clerical Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)

Clerical Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Traditional Modern

Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

我在咖啡里加糖。

Wǒ zài kāfēi lǐ jiā táng.

I add sugar to the coffee.

他参加了比赛。

Tā cānjiā le bǐsài.

He participated in the competition.

明天我要加班。

Míngtiān wǒ yào jiābān.

Tomorrow I will work overtime.

天气冷，加件衣服吧。

Tiānqì lěng, jiā jiàn yīfu ba.

It's cold, put on more clothes.

因为工作多，我们得加班。

Yīnwèi gōngzuò duō, wǒmen děi jiābān.

Because there's a lot of work, we have to work overtime.

如果你参加活动，记得提前报名。

Rúguǒ nǐ cānjiā huódòng, jìde tíqián bàomíng.

If you participate in the activity, remember to sign up in advance.

经济增长速度加快。

Jīngjì zēngzhǎng sùdù jiākuài.

The economic growth rate is accelerating.

通过技术创新，生产效率显著增加。

Tōngguò jìshù chuàngxīn, shēngchǎn xiàolǜ xiǎnzhù zēngjiā.

Through technological innovation, production efficiency has significantly increased.

Related Characters

Composed characters:

Component: 力

Component: 口

加