肝 meaning and stroke order
Liver (CL:葉|叶[ye4]); (slang) to put in long hours, typically late into the night, playing (a video game); (of a video game) involving a lot of repetition in order to progress; grindy
How to write 肝, stroke by stroke
7 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 肝
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- liver (CL:葉|叶[ye4])
- (slang) to put in long hours, typically late into the night, playing (a video game)
- (of a video game) involving a lot of repetition in order to progress; grindy
How 肝 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Flesh.
⺼ gives the meaning and 干 hints at the sound.
Radical: ⺼ (meat), shared by 176 characters on this site.
How to remember 肝
The left side ⺼ is the flesh radical, used for body parts, and the right side 干 (gān) gives the sound. Picture the liver as a body part that works hard and says its name, gān.
In everyday and medical speech, 肝 (gān) appears in words like 肝脏 (gānzàng, liver) and 肝炎 (gānyán, hepatitis). Young people also use it as slang for grinding a video game late into the night. 我昨晚肝了一整夜游戏。(Wǒ zuówǎn gān le yì zhěng yè yóuxì.) I grinded the game all night last night.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 肝 (gān) with 肚 (dù, belly) or 胖 (pàng, fat), since all share the ⺼ side. Check the right part: 干 has two horizontal strokes, unlike 千 (qiān), which starts with a slanted stroke.
Common words with 肝
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
肝 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 肝
How many strokes are in 肝?
肝 is written with 7 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 肝 mean?
肝 (gān) means liver (CL:葉|叶[ye4]); (slang) to put in long hours, typically late into the night, playing (a video game); (of a video game) involving a lot of repetition in order to progress; grindy. A common word with it is 肝脏 (gānzàng), meaning "liver".
How do you pronounce 肝?
肝 is pronounced gān, in the first tone (high and level).
What is the radical of 肝?
The radical of 肝 is ⺼, which carries the idea of "meat". Dictionaries list 肝 under this radical.
Is 肝 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 肝 is part of the HSK 6 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
Why does 心肝 mean darling?
The heart and liver were seen as vital organs, so 心肝 (xīngān) describes someone as precious as your own organs. Parents often call a child 心肝宝贝 (xīngān bǎobèi).
What does it mean when a game is called 很肝?
It means the game is grindy and needs a lot of repetitive play to progress. For example, 这个游戏太肝了 (zhège yóuxì tài gān le) means this game is too grindy.