暫 meaning and stroke order
Temporary
How to write 暫, stroke by stroke
15 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
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Meaning of 暫
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- temporary
- Taiwan pr. [zhan4]
How 暫 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Sun.
日 gives the meaning and 斬 hints at the sound.
Radical: 日 (sun), shared by 116 characters on this site.
How to remember 暫
暫 is built from 斬 (zhǎn, to chop) on top of 日 (rì, sun or day). Picture time being chopped into a short piece of the day: something that lasts only a little while is temporary.
暫 is the traditional form; mainland China writes it 暂. It rarely stands alone and usually appears in words like 暂时 (zànshí, for the time being), 暂停 (zàntíng, to pause), and 短暂 (duǎnzàn, brief). Example: 我暂时住在朋友家。(Wǒ zànshí zhù zài péngyou jiā.) I'm staying at a friend's place for now.
Common mistake: Because the top part 斬 is read zhǎn, learners sometimes read 暫 as zhǎn or zhàn. The standard reading is zàn with a fourth tone, although some speakers in Taiwan say zhàn. Also do not confuse it with 慚 (cán, ashamed) or 漸 (jiàn, gradually), which share the same 斬 part with a different radical.
Common words with 暫
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
Questions about 暫
How many strokes are in 暫?
暫 is written with 15 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 暫 mean?
暫 (zàn) means temporary. A common word with it is 暂时 (zànshí), meaning "temporary; provisional; for the time being".
How do you pronounce 暫?
暫 is pronounced zàn, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 暫?
The radical of 暫 is 日, which carries the idea of "sun". Dictionaries list 暫 under this radical.
What is the simplified form of 暫?
暫 is a traditional character. Its simplified form is 暂, used in mainland China and Singapore.
What is the difference between 暂时 and 临时?
暂时 (zànshí) means for the time being and focuses on a short span of time, as in 暂时不去 (not going for now). 临时 (línshí) means provisional or done at the last minute, as in 临时工 (temporary worker) or 临时决定 (a last-minute decision).
How do you say pause on a video or in a game?
Use 暂停 (zàntíng). It is the label on pause buttons and is also used for a time-out in sports, for example 裁判叫了暂停 (the referee called a time-out).