担 (dān): to carry, to undertake
担 (dān) is a Chinese character meaning “to carry, to undertake.” Classified as HSK Level 3 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 扌 (semantic) and 旦 (phonetic). It ranks #720 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 担 hand. Its radical form 扌 (hand) appears in many related characters such as 手 (shǒu, hand), 打 (dǎ, hit, make), 找 (zhǎo, to look for).
Definitions
- to carry, to undertake
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 担 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 担
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 担心verb | dān xīn | anxious | 3 |
| 承担verb | chéng dān | to undertake | 5 |
| 负担verb/noun | fù dān | to bear (an expense, a responsibility etc) | 5 |
| 担任verb | dān rèn | to hold a governmental office or post | 5 |
| 担忧verb | dān yōu | to worry | 6 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 担保verb | dān bǎo | to guarantee |
| 担架noun | dān jià | stretcher |
| 担当verb | dān dāng | to take upon oneself |
| 分担verb | fēn dān | to share (a burden, a cost, a responsibility) |
| 重担noun | zhòng dàn | heavy burden |
| 担惊受怕phrase | dān jīng shòu pà | (idiom) apprehensive |
| 担子noun | dàn zi | carrying pole and the loads on it |
| 担负verb | dān fù | to shoulder |
| 担待verb | dān dài | to pardon |
| 扁担noun | biǎn dan | carrying pole |
| 担纲verb | dān gāng | to play the leading role |
| 负担不起 | fù dān bu qǐ | cannot afford |
| 公担measure | gōng dàn | quintal (100 kg) |
| 担担面noun | dàn dàn miàn | Sichuan noodles with a spicy and numbing sauce |
| 市担 | shì dàn | Chinese unit of weight equal to 100 jin (or 50 kg) |
担 appears in 36 compound words: 61 as the first character, 22 as the last, and 17 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 担 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (2)
Showing 1 of 2 idioms containing 担.
Example Sentences
作为项目经理，他需要承担项目失败的责任。
Zuòwéi xiàngmù jīnglǐ, tā xūyào chéngdān xiàngmù shībài de zérèn.
As project manager, he needs to take responsibility for the project's failure.
瑞士同性恋群体担心仇视情绪反弹
ruì shì tóng xìng liàn qún tǐ dān xīn qiú shì qíng xù fǎn dàn
Swiss LGBT community fears resurgence of hate
甲骨文股价因Stargate项目担忧而下跌
jiǎ gǔ wén gǔ jià yīn xiàng mù dān yōu ér xià diē
Oracle stock price falls amid concerns over Stargate project
TD Cowen因竞争担忧下调Elastic目标价
yīn jìng zhēng dān yōu xià diào mù biāo jià
TD Cowen Lowers Elastic Price Target Due to Competition Concerns
Stifel因AI安全担忧下调JFrog目标价
yīn ān quán dān yōu xià diào mù biāo jià
Stifel Lowers JFrog Target Price Due to AI Security Concerns
我叔叔让我担任翻译。
Wǒ shūshu ràng wǒ dānrèn fānyì.
My uncle had me act as a translator.
别担忧。汤姆要来了。
Bié dānyōu. Tāngmǔ yào lái le.
Don't worry. Tom will come.
你为什么为我担忧？
Nǐ wèishénme wèi wǒ dānyōu?
Why are you worried about me?
克劳迪欧似乎有点担心。
Kè láo dí ōu sìhū yǒudiǎn dānxīn.
Claudio seemed a little concerned.
她完全不担心测验的分数。
Tā wánquán bù dānxīn cèyàn de fēnshù.
She is not in the least worried about her test scores.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 担 (dān) mean in Chinese?
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What are common words containing 担?
What characters sound the same as 担 (dān)?
Is 担 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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