feeling; to feel; sense
HSK level
感觉 is written with 22 strokes (感: 13, 觉: 9). The animation replays automatically.
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
Memory hook: 感 (feel) + 觉 (perceive) — the doubled 'feel/perceive' gives you the full sense of sensation.
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
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 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.
Acquire it by listening
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