烷 meaning and stroke order
Alkane
How to write 烷, stroke by stroke
11 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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- 11
Meaning of 烷
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- alkane
How 烷 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Fire.
火 gives the meaning and 完 hints at the sound.
Radical: 火 (fire), shared by 128 characters on this site.
How to remember 烷
烷 combines 火 (fire) with 完 (wán, finished), which gives the sound. Think of alkanes as fuels that burn with fire until they are completely used up, 完.
烷 appears almost only in chemistry and fuel words, usually after a counting prefix like 甲, 乙, 丙 that tells how many carbon atoms there are. Example: 厨房用的是丙烷。(Chúfáng yòng de shì bǐngwán.) The kitchen uses propane.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 烷 with 完 (wán, finished) because they sound the same. In chemical names you must write the fire radical, so methane is 甲烷, not 甲完.
Common words with 烷
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 甲烷 | jiǎwán | methane CH4 | |
| 丙烷 | bǐngwán | propane |
Questions about 烷
How many strokes are in 烷?
烷 is written with 11 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 烷 mean?
烷 (wán) means alkane. A common word with it is 甲烷 (jiǎwán), meaning "methane CH4".
How do you pronounce 烷?
烷 is pronounced wán, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 烷?
The radical of 烷 is 火, which carries the idea of "fire". Dictionaries list 烷 under this radical.
What is the difference between 烷, 烯 and 炔 in chemistry?
烷 (wán) is an alkane with only single bonds. 烯 (xī) is an alkene with a double bond, and 炔 (quē) is an alkyne with a triple bond. All three use the fire radical 火.
How do I say ethane and butane in Chinese?
Ethane is 乙烷 (yǐwán) and butane is 丁烷 (dīngwán). The prefixes 甲, 乙, 丙, 丁 stand for one, two, three and four carbon atoms.