Meaning of 吨
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- ton (loanword)
- Taiwan pr. [dun4]
How to use 吨
吨 is a measure word for metric tons, used for heavy goods, cargo, water, coal and emissions. It goes directly after a number, like other measure words. Example: 这辆卡车能装十吨货。(Zhè liàng kǎchē néng zhuāng shí dūn huò.) This truck can carry ten tons of goods.
吨 is made of 口 (mouth) plus 屯 (tún), which gives the sound. Picture a mouth saying the English word "ton" out loud, since 吨 is a sound loan of that word.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 吨 (dūn) with 顿 (dùn), the measure word for meals or beatings, as in 一顿饭. They look and sound similar, but 吨 has the mouth radical 口 and is first tone, while 顿 has 页 and is fourth tone.
吨 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
吨 dūn · ton · 7 strokes
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Questions about 吨
What does 吨 mean?
吨 (dūn) means "ton (loanword); Taiwan pr. [dun4]" and is used as a measure word.
How do you write 吨?
吨 is made of 1 character: 吨 (7 strokes). That is 7 strokes in total.
Is 吨 an HSK word?
Yes. 吨 is on the HSK 5 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 吨 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 吨 is written 噸.
Does 吨 mean a metric ton or an American ton?
In mainland China 吨 normally means the metric ton, which is 1000 kilograms. If you need to specify other tons, you can say 公吨 (gōngdūn) for metric ton or 短吨 (duǎndūn) for a short ton.
Why is 吨 sometimes pronounced dùn?
The dictionary notes that in Taiwan the standard pronunciation is dùn with the fourth tone. In mainland Mandarin it is dūn with the first tone, so use dūn unless you are learning Taiwanese usage.