Meaning of 浅
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- shallow
- light (color)
- sound of moving water
How to use 浅
浅 describes shallow water or depth, light colors, and figuratively shallow knowledge or a short time. It is the opposite of 深 (shēn). Example: 这条河很浅。(Zhè tiáo hé hěn qiǎn.) This river is very shallow.
浅 (qiǎn) has the water radical 氵 on the left, so think of water that is only a little deep. The right side 戋 looks like thin stacked strokes, like a thin layer of water over the ground.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 浅 with 钱 (qián, money) and 线 (xiàn, thread), which share the same right side but have different radicals and sounds. Also remember the third tone in qiǎn, not the second tone of qián.
浅 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.
浅 qiǎn · shallow · 8 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 浅.
Questions about 浅
What does 浅 mean?
浅 (qiǎn) means "shallow; light (color)" and is used as a adjective.
How do you write 浅?
浅 is made of 1 character: 浅 (8 strokes). That is 8 strokes in total.
Is 浅 an HSK word?
Yes. 浅 is on the HSK 4 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 浅 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 浅 is written 淺.
How do I say a color is light in Chinese?
Put 浅 before the color word, as in 浅蓝色 (qiǎn lánsè, light blue) or 浅绿色 (qiǎn lǜsè, light green). For dark colors, use 深 (shēn) instead, as in 深蓝色 (shēn lánsè, dark blue).
Can 浅 describe a person as shallow?
浅 alone is rarely used for people. Use 肤浅 (fūqiǎn) or 浅薄 (qiǎnbó), as in 他的看法很肤浅 (tā de kànfǎ hěn fūqiǎn), his views are superficial.