干 (gān): dry, dried food, empty, hollow
干 (gān) is a Chinese character meaning “dry.” Classified as HSK Level 3 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 一 (structural) and 十 (structural). It ranks #353 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically pictographic, 干 a club or axe. Its radical form 干 (dry) appears in many related characters such as 年 (nián, year), 平 (píng, flat), 并 (bìng, and).
Definitions
- dry
- dried food
- empty
- hollow
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 干 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 干
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 干净adjective | gān jìng | clean | 3 |
| 干杯verb | gān bēi | to drink a toast | 4 |
| 饼干noun | bǐng gān | biscuit | 4 |
| 干脆adjective/adverb | gān cuì | candid | 6 |
| 干扰verb | gān rǎo | to disturb | 6 |
| 干燥adjective | gān zào | (of weather, climate, soil etc) dry | 6 |
| 能干adjective | néng gàn | capable | 5 |
| 干旱adjective | gān hàn | drought | 6 |
| 干活儿verb | gàn huó r | erhua variant of 幹活|干活[gan4 huo2] | 4 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 干吗 | gàn má | variant of 幹嘛|干嘛[gan4 ma2] |
| 干掉 | gàn diào | to get rid of |
| 干活 | gàn huó | to work |
| 干涉 | gān shè | to interfere |
| 干酪 | gān lào | cheese |
| 干预 | gān yù | to meddle |
| 干洗 | gān xǐ | to dry clean |
| 单干 | dān gàn | to work on one's own |
| 干系 | gān xì | responsibility |
| 干劲 | gàn jìn | enthusiasm for doing sth |
| 才干 | cái gàn | ability |
| 干草 | gān cǎo | hay |
| 干冰 | gān bīng | dry ice (i.e. frozen CO2) |
| 干涸 | gān hé | to dry up |
| 干事 | gàn shi | administrator |
干 appears in 100 compound words: 84 as the first character, 16 as the last, and 0 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 干 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (15)
cookie sandwich; a middleman who has to tolerate frustration from both sides
High Qing era (the era when the Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong Emperors reigned)
dry mouth and sore throat; having spoken so much that one's mouth and throat become thirsty
lit. intense fire to dry wood (idiom); inferno in a woodpile; fig. consuming passion between lovers
cookie sandwich; a middleman who has to tolerate frustration from both sides
High Qing era (the era when the Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong Emperors reigned)
dry mouth and sore throat; having spoken so much that one's mouth and throat become thirsty
lit. intense fire to dry wood (idiom); inferno in a woodpile; fig. consuming passion between lovers
Showing 12 of 15 idioms containing 干.
Example Sentences
干字在不同的语境中有不同的用法。
gān zì zài bù tóng de yǔ jìng zhōng yǒu bù tóng de yòng fǎ .
The character "干" has different usages in different contexts.
无糖食品有哪些东西?代糖饼干、无糖豆浆、黑巧算吗
wú táng shí pǐn yǒu nǎ xiē dōng xī ? dài táng bǐng gān , wú táng dòu jiāng , hēi qiǎo suàn ma
What are the sugar-free foods? Sugar substitute biscuits, sugar-free soy milk, black calculations?
移植心脏运送遭干冰冻坏 男童苦撑2月亡
yí zhí xīn zāng yùn sòng zāo gān bīng dòng huài nán tóng kǔ chēng 2 yuè wáng
The transplanted heart was damaged by dry ice and the boy died in February
预防干眼症、黄斑部病变:食疗与四招护眼操
yù fáng gān yǎn zhèng , huáng bān bù bìng biàn : shí liáo yǔ sì zhāo hù yǎn cāo
Prevent dry eye syndrome and macular degeneration: diet therapy and four-way eye care exercises
搭新干线遇孩童狂踢椅背 近7成日本人选择忍?坦...
dā xīn gān xiàn yù hái tóng kuáng tī yǐ bèi jìn 7 chéng rì běn rén xuǎn zé rěn ? tǎn . . .
Nearly 70% of Japanese people choose to endure when they encounter children on the Shinkansen? Tan ...
鹿儿岛补助外国游客乘搭新干线引争议 知事:可创17亿日圆效益
lù ér dǎo bǔ zhù wài guó yóu kè chéng dā xīn gān xiàn yǐn zhēng yì zhī shì : kě chuàng 1 7 yì rì yuán xiào yì
Kagoshima subsidizes foreign tourists to take the Shinkansen and causes controversy Governor: It can create a benefit of 1.7 billion yen
你这么早来到干什么？
Nǐ zhème zǎolái dào gàn shénme?
What did you come here so early for?
昨天我打电话来的时候，你在干什么？
Zuótiān wǒ dǎdiànhuà lái de shíhou, nǐ zài gànshénme?
What were you doing when I called you yesterday?
你要干洗还是湿洗？
Nǐ yào gānxǐ háishi shī xǐ?
Do you want dry cleaning or regular wash?
你放学以后干什么？
Nǐ fàngxué yǐhòu gànshénme?
What do you do after school?
Character Family
干 Radical Family — Characters sharing the dry radical
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 干 (gān) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 干 and 湿?
How many strokes does 干 have?
What is the radical of 干?
What are the components of 干?
What are common words containing 干?
What characters sound the same as 干 (gān)?
Is 干 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 干 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear native pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.