简 (jiǎn): simple, uncomplicated, letter
简 (jiǎn) is a Chinese character meaning “simple.” Classified as HSK Level 3 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of ⺮ (semantic) and 间 (phonetic). It ranks #716 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 简 bamboo. Its radical form 竹 (bamboo) appears in many related characters such as 笑 (xiào, to laugh), 第 (dì, (prefix indicating ordinal number, as in 第六 "sixth")), 等 (děng, to wait for).
Definitions
- simple
- uncomplicated
- letter
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 简 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 简
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 简单adjective | jiǎn dān | simple | 3 |
| 简直adverb | jiǎn zhí | simply | 5 |
| 简历noun | jiǎn lì | curriculum vitae (CV) | 5 |
| 简化verb | jiǎn huà | to simplify | 6 |
| 简介verb/noun | jiǎn jiè | summary | 6 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 简短adjective | jiǎn duǎn | brief (statement, summary etc) |
| 简报noun | jiǎn bào | presentation |
| 简称noun | jiǎn chēng | to be abbreviated to |
| 简洁adjective | jiǎn jié | concise |
| 简易adjective | jiǎn yì | simple and easy |
| 简陋adjective | jiǎn lòu | simple and crude |
| 简要adjective | jiǎn yào | concise |
| 简而言之adverb | jiǎn ér yán zhī | in a nutshell |
| 精简verb | jīng jiǎn | to simplify |
| 简单化 | jiǎn dān huà | simplification |
| 简约adjective | jiǎn yuē | sketchy |
| 简讯noun | jiǎn xùn | newsletter |
| 简朴adjective | jiǎn pǔ | (of lifestyle, clothing, writing etc) simple |
| 简写verb | jiǎn xiě | to write characters in simplified form |
| 简言之adverb | jiǎn yán zhī | in simple terms |
简 appears in 89 compound words: 73 as the first character, 16 as the last, and 11 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 简 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (6)
(of an official) to travel with little luggage and just a small escort; to travel without ostentation
(of an official) to travel with little luggage and just a small escort; to travel without ostentation
Showing 5 of 6 idioms containing 简.
Example Sentences
这份报告写得很简洁，重点突出，一目了然。
Zhè fèn bàogào xiě de hěn jiǎnjié, zhòngdiǎn tūchū, yīmù liǎorán.
This report is written very concisely, with highlighted key points that are clear at a glance.
刺青师夥同竹联帮大哥狂发钓鱼诈骗简讯 107人遭盗刷450万
cì qīng shī 夥 tóng zhú lián bāng dà gē kuáng fā diào yú zhà piàn jiǎn xùn 1 0 7 rén zāo dào shuā 4 5 0 wàn
The tattoo artist teamed up with the big brother of the Bamboo Union Gang to send fishing scam text messages 107 people were stolen and swiped 4.5 million
军事论坛丨以简驭繁:用简单规则“智”胜未来
jūn shì lùn tán 丨 yǐ jiǎn yù fán yòng jiǎn dān guī zé zhì shèng wèi lái
Military Forum丨Simplicity Over Complexity: Using Simple Rules to Outwit the Future
过年年菜吃不完!3招简单清冰箱 剩菜新吃法一次看
guò nián nián cài chī bù wán ! zhāo jiǎn dān qīng bīng xiāng shèng cài xīn chī fǎ yī cì kàn
New Year's Feast Leftovers? 3 Simple Ways to Clean Out Your Fridge Discover New Ways to Enjoy Leftover Dishes
放年假比上班还累?教你简单4招让身心快速归零
fàng nián jiǎ bǐ shàng bān hái lěi ? jiào nǐ jiǎn dān zhāo ràng shēn xīn kuài sù guī líng
Feeling more exhausted after the holidays than at work? Here are 4 simple tricks to reset your mind and body fast.
不只换轮胎那么简单:比亚迪详解澳洲车型本地化调校细节,悬...
bù zhī huàn lún tāi nà má jiǎn dān bǐ yà dí xiáng jiě ào zhōu chē xíng běn dì huà diào jiào xì jié , xuán . . .
Not only change tires so simple: BYD explains the details of localized tuning of Australian models, suspension...
简而言之，你恨我，是吧？
Jiǎn'éryánzhī, nǐ hèn wǒ, shì ba?
In a word, you hate me, don't you?
控制自己会说的语言可不简单呀！
Kòngzhì zìjǐ huì shuō de yǔyán kěbu jiǎndān ya!
It's not easy to control the languages that you can speak!
他简单地阐述了他的理由。
Tā jiǎndān de chǎnshù le tā de lǐyóu.
He gave his reasons in brief.
简的美丽丝毫不逊色于她母亲。
Jiǎn de měilì sīháo bù xùnsè yú tā mǔqīn.
Jane is no less beautiful than her mother.
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the ⺮ (bamboo) component
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 简 (jiǎn) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 简 have?
What is the radical of 简?
What are the components of 简?
What are common words containing 简?
What characters sound the same as 简 (jiǎn)?
Is 简 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 简 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.