含 (hán): to keep in the mouth, to contain

含 (hán) is a Chinese character meaning “to keep in the mouth.” Classified as HSK Level 5 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 今 (phonetic) and 口 (semantic). It ranks #937 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 含 mouth. Its radical form 口 (mouth) appears in many related characters such as 口 (kǒu, mouth), 叫 (jiào, to call, to be called), 右 (yòu, (bound form) right).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. to keep in the mouth
  2. to contain

Etymology & Origin

含

pictophoneticmouth

Decomposition: ⿱今口 (layout: top-bottom)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7

Practice writing 含 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

HSK Vocabulary with 含

WordPinyinMeaningHSK
含义nounhán yìmeaning (implicit in a phrase)6
包含verbbāo hánto contain5
含有verbhán yǒuto contain5
含量nounhán liàngcontent5

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
含糊adjectivehán huambiguous
蕴含verbyùn hánto contain
含蓄adjectivehán xùto contain
富含verbfù hánto contain in great quantities
含意nounhán yìmeaning
隐含verbyǐn hánto contain in a concealed form
含羞草nounhán xiū cǎomimosa
饱含verbbǎo hánto be full of (emotion)
含辛茹苦phrasehán xīn rú kǔto suffer every possible torment (idiom)
含冤verbhán yuānwronged
含混adjectivehán hùnvague
含泪verbhán lèitearful
不含糊bù hán huunambiguous
含情脉脉phrasehán qíng mò mòfull of tender feelings (idiom)
暗含verbàn hánto imply
57
Total compounds
74
As first character
12
As last character
14
As middle character

含 appears in 57 compound words: 74 as the first character, 12 as the last, and 14 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 含 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

包bāo
0.739194,700 co-occurrences
汉hàn
0.643115 co-occurrences
古gǔ
0.583116 co-occurrences
褪tuì
0.56911 co-occurrences
义yì
0.48712,309 co-occurrences
语yǔ
0.487117 co-occurrences
蕴yùn
0.4801,220 co-occurrences
糊hú
0.4632,218 co-occurrences
量liàng
0.45728,680 co-occurrences
厘lí
0.44911 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (13)

含含糊糊hánhánhūhūHSK 5+

ambiguous; vague

adjective
含糊不清hán hú bù qīngHSK 5+

unclear; indistinct; ambiguous

phrase
含情脉脉hánqíngmòmòHSK 7+

full of tender affection, (eyes) exuding tenderness and love

phrase
含沙射影hánshāshèyǐngHSK 6+

to attack or slander by insinuation

phrase
含辛茹苦hánxīnrúkǔ

to suffer untold hardships (to bring up one's child); to endure sufferings

phrase
含血喷人hánxuèpēnrénHSK 6+

to slander someone; to falsely accuse someone

phrase
含英咀华hányīngjǔhuáHSK 7+

to savour the merits of a literary work; to appreciate the subtleties in a literary work by rumination

phrase
茹苦含辛rú kǔ hán xīn

see 含辛茹苦

phrase
闪含语系ShǎnhányǔxìHSK 6+

the Hamito-Semitic (Afroasiatic) language family

含苞待放hán bāo dài fàngHSK 5+

in bud; budding

phrase
含垢忍辱hán gòu rěn rǔHSK 7+

(idiom) to bear shame and humiliation

phrase
含饴弄孙hányínòngsūnHSK 5+

to enjoy life in old age

phrase

Showing 12 of 13 idioms containing 含.

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

这种水果含有丰富的维生素C,对身体很好。

Zhè zhǒng shuǐguǒ hányǒu fēngfù de wéishēngsù C, duì shēntǐ hěn hǎo.

This fruit is rich in vitamin C and is very good for the body.

99 健康网Feb 2026

无糖食品真的不含糖吗?国标允许每100克含糖≤0.5克对...

wú táng shí pǐn zhēn de bù hán táng ma ? guó biāo yǔn xǔ měi kè hán táng . kè duì . . .

Are sugar-free foods truly sugar-free? National standards permit ≤0.5 grams of sugar per 100 grams for...

99 健康网Feb 2026

...和无糖食品区别在哪?一个看血糖反应一个看含糖量吗

. . . hé wú táng shí pǐn qū bié zài nǎ ? yī gè kàn xiě táng fǎn yīng yī gè kàn hán táng liàng ma

What's the difference between sugar-free and no-sugar-added foods? Is it based on blood sugar response versus sugar content?

99 健康网Feb 2026

无糖食物有哪些?天然未加工食材多数不含添加糖吗

wú táng shí wù yǒu nǎ xiē ? tiān rán wèi jiā gōng shí cái duō shǔ bù hán tiān jiā táng ma

What foods are sugar-free? Do most natural, unprocessed ingredients contain no added sugar?

中国新闻网_梳理天下新闻Feb 2026

头孢停药三天能饮酒?车厘子含褪黑素可助眠?科学流言榜最新辟谣

tóu 孢 tíng yào sān tiān néng yǐn jiǔ ? chē lí zǐ hán 褪 hēi sù kě zhù mián ? kē xué liú yán bǎng zuì xīn pì yáo

Can you drink alcohol three days after stopping cephalosporin antibiotics? Do cherries contain melatonin to aid sleep? The latest debunking from the Science Rumor Chart

UdnnewsindexFeb 2026

高含「金」量ETF績效長紅 適合穩健型、長抱...

gāo hán jīn liàng 績 xiào 長 紅 適 gě 穩 jiàn xíng 長 bào . . .

High-gold-content ETFs deliver sustained strong performance, suitable for conservative investors seeking long-term holdings...

Tatoeba

不含香料、防腐剂及人造色素。

Bù hán xiāngliào, fángfǔjì jí rénzào sèsù.

No artificial colours, preservatives or flavours.

Tatoeba

酸性会腐蚀含有金属的物质。

Suānxìng huì fǔshí hányǒu jīnshǔ de wùzhì.

Acid acts on things which contain metal.

Tatoeba

你为什么这么含糊其辞?

Nǐ wèishénme zhème hánhu qí cí?

Why are you being so evasive?

Tatoeba

我抓不到句子的确切含义。

Wǒ zhuā bù dào jùzi de quèqiè hányì.

I can't get at the exact meaning of the sentence.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 口 (mouth) component

Homophones — Characters pronounced hán

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 含 (hán) mean in Chinese?
含 (hán) primarily means "to keep in the mouth." It is classified as HSK Level 5, making it an advanced character. It ranks #937 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 含 and 贪?
含 (hán) and 贪 (tān) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 口 vs 贝 (same 今 component).
How many strokes does 含 have?
含 is written with 7 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.
What is the radical of 含?
The radical associated with 含 is 口 (mouth). This radical appears in many characters related to mouth.
What are the components of 含?
含 is composed of: 今 (phonetic), 口 (semantic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿱今口 with a top-bottom layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 含?
Common words with 含 include: 含义 (hán yì, "meaning (implicit in a phrase)"); 包含 (bāo hán, "to contain"); 含有 (hán yǒu, "to contain"); 含量 (hán liàng, "content"); 含糊 (hán hu, "ambiguous"). There are over 57 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 含 (hán)?
Several characters share the pronunciation hán: 汉 (Han ethnic group), 喊 (to yell), 韩 (Han, one of the Seven Hero States of the Warring States 戰國七雄|战国七雄), 寒 (cold), and 4 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 含 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 含 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 含 with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

Character data sourced from Unihan (Unicode Consortium), SUBTLEX-CH frequency corpus (Cai & Brysbaert, 2010), and Make Me a Hanzi (stroke data). Collocation strength measured via NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information). Verified by the HanziFeed linguistics team.

HSK classification follows the HSK 3.0 Standard (Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, 2022 revision). Idiom data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Data last verified: March 2026.