湯 meaning and stroke order
Soup, gravy, broth; hot water
How to write 湯, stroke by stroke
12 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 湯
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- rushing current
- soup
- hot or boiling water
- decoction of medicinal herbs
- water in which sth has been boiled
How 湯 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Water.
氵 gives the meaning and 昜 hints at the sound.
Radical: 氵 (water), shared by 467 characters on this site.
How to remember 湯
湯 is water 氵 on the left plus 昜 (yáng) on the right, which gives the sound. Picture water heated under the sun (日 sits on top of 昜) until it becomes hot broth.
湯 (tāng) is the everyday word for soup and broth, and it appears in many food words like 鸡汤 (jītāng, chicken soup) and 汤圆 (tāngyuán, sweet rice balls). It can also mean an herbal medicine decoction. Example: 我想喝一碗热汤。(Wǒ xiǎng hē yì wǎn rè tāng.) I want to drink a bowl of hot soup.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 湯 (tāng) with 場 (chǎng, field) and 陽 (yáng, sun), which share the same right side 昜. Check the left part: water 氵 means soup, earth 土 means a place, and 阝 means sun.
Common words with 湯
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 湯圓 | tāngyuán | boiled or deep-fried balls of glutinous rice flour, usually eaten during Lantern Festival | HSK 7-9 |
| 泡湯 | pàotāng | (coll.) to fizzle out; to come to nothing; to dawdle; to stall | |
| 湯匙 | tāngchí | soup spoon; tablespoon | |
| 雞湯 | jītāng | chicken stock; chicken soup | |
| 赴湯蹈火 | fùtāngdǎohuǒ | lit. to jump into scalding water and plunge into raging fire (idiom); fig. to brave any da | |
| 肉湯 | ròutāng | meat soup; broth | |
| 濃湯 | nóngtāng | thick soup; puree |
Characters that contain 湯
Learning 湯 makes these easier to recognize and write.
Questions about 湯
How many strokes are in 湯?
湯 is written with 12 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 湯 mean?
湯 (tāng) means soup, gravy, broth; hot water. A common word with it is 汤圆 (tāngyuán), meaning "boiled or deep-fried balls of glutinous rice flour, usually eaten during Lantern Festival".
How do you pronounce 湯?
湯 is pronounced tāng, in the first tone (high and level).
What is the radical of 湯?
The radical of 湯 is 氵, which carries the idea of "water". Dictionaries list 湯 under this radical.
What is the simplified form of 湯?
湯 is a traditional character. Its simplified form is 汤, used in mainland China and Singapore.
Do Chinese people eat soup or drink soup?
The normal verb is 喝 (hē, to drink), so you say 喝汤 (hē tāng). Saying 吃汤 sounds odd to most speakers, though 吃汤圆 is fine because 汤圆 are solid balls.
What does 泡汤 (pàotāng) mean in casual speech?
Literally it is soaking in soup, but colloquially it means a plan fell through or came to nothing. For example, 我们的旅行计划泡汤了 (Wǒmen de lǚxíng jìhuà pàotāng le) means our travel plans fell through.