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HSK 4

感觉

feeling; to feel; sense

verbneutral
感
gǎn3rd tone
觉
jué2nd tone

HSK level

1
2
3
4
5
6
Pinyin
gǎnjué
Part of speech
verb
Level
HSK 4
Strokes
22
Register
neutral
Measure word
种 / 个

Stroke order for 感觉

感觉 is written with 22 strokes (感: 13, 觉: 9). The animation replays automatically.

What does 感觉 mean?

感觉 (gǎnjué) works as both a verb (to feel, to sense) and a noun (a feeling, sensation, impression).

As a verb it covers physical sensation (感觉冷 'feel cold') and mental impression (我感觉他不高兴 'I feel he's unhappy'). As a noun it names the resulting feeling: 一种奇怪的感觉 'a strange feeling.' Two things surprise English speakers. First, spoken Mandarin uses 我感觉… as a soft way to say 'I think / it seems to me,' much like a hedged opinion.

Second, 感觉 is broader than English 'feel': it spans the five senses, gut impressions, and vibe, but not emotions toward a person — that's 感情. Register is neutral and it is extremely high-frequency in conversation. Compare 觉得 (juéde), which is closer to 'to think/consider' and is used for opinions more than raw sensation.

Character by character

感gǎnto feel; sense
+
觉juéto sense; perceive; be aware
=
感觉

Memory hook: 感 (feel) + 觉 (perceive) — the doubled 'feel/perceive' gives you the full sense of sensation.

Example sentences

我感觉今天会下雨。

Wǒ gǎnjué jīntiān huì xià yǔ.

I feel like it's going to rain today.

spoken

这家餐厅的感觉很温馨。

Zhè jiā cāntīng de gǎnjué hěn wēnxīn.

This restaurant has a very cozy feel.

neutral

睡了一觉，感觉好多了。

Shuì le yí jiào, gǎnjué hǎo duō le.

After a nap, I feel much better.

spoken

他做决定常常凭感觉。

Tā zuò juédìng chángcháng píng gǎnjué.

He often makes decisions by gut feeling.

neutral

Common phrases with 感觉

感觉不错gǎnjué búcuòfeels good / not bad
一种感觉yì zhǒng gǎnjuéa kind of feeling
凭感觉píng gǎnjuéto go by feel / intuition
没有感觉méiyǒu gǎnjuéto feel nothing / no chemistry

Synonyms

觉得juéde

觉得 leans toward 'to think / consider' and takes an opinion (我觉得贵 'I think it's expensive'). 感觉 leans toward raw sensation or vibe. For pure opinions, 觉得 is more natural; for a gut sense, 感觉.

感受gǎnshòu

感受 is a more reflective, experiential feeling — how something felt after you lived through it (谈谈你的感受 'share your experience/feelings'). 感觉 is more immediate and everyday.

Don't confuse 感觉 with

感情gǎnqíng

感情 is emotion or affection between people (a relationship's feelings). 感觉 is sensation or impression. You have 感情 for a person, but 感觉 about a situation.

感动gǎndòng

感动 means to be emotionally touched. 感觉 is general sensing. Being touched by a story is 感动, not 感觉.

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