肩 (jiān): shoulder, to shoulder (responsibilities etc)
肩 (jiān) is a Chinese character meaning “shoulder.” Classified as HSK Level 6 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 户 (structural) and ⺼ (structural). It ranks #1407 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 肩 a man bringing home meat ⺼ for the family 户. Its radical form 肉 (meat) appears in many related characters such as 肉 (ròu, meat), 能 (néng, can), 背 (bèi, the back of a body or object).
Definitions
- shoulder
- to shoulder (responsibilities etc)
Etymology & Origin
ideographicA man bringing home meat ⺼ for the family 户
Decomposition: ⿸户⺼ (layout: surround-from-upper-left)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 肩 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 肩
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 并肩 | bìng jiān | alongside |
| 披肩 | pī jiān | cape |
| 肩负 | jiān fù | to shoulder (a burden) |
| 擦肩而过 | cā jiān ér guò | to brush past |
| 耸肩 | sǒng jiān | to shrug one's shoulders |
| 肩胛骨 | jiān jiǎ gǔ | scapula |
| 肩头 | jiān tóu | on one's shoulders |
| 肩章 | jiān zhāng | epaulet |
| 垫肩 | diàn jiān | shoulder pad |
| 肩胛 | jiān jiǎ | shoulder |
| 坎肩 | kǎn jiān | sleeveless jacket (usually cotton) |
| 携手并肩 | xié shǒu bìng jiān | hand in hand and shoulder to shoulder |
| 勾肩搭背 | gōu jiān dā bèi | (idiom) arms around each other's shoulders |
| 双肩包 | shuāng jiān bāo | backpack |
| 摩肩接踵 | mó jiān jiē zhǒng | lit. rubbing shoulders and following in each other's footsteps |
肩 appears in 45 compound words: 31 as the first character, 38 as the last, and 31 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 肩 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (4)
Example Sentences
他拍了拍我的肩膀,鼓励我不要放弃。
Tā pāi le pāi wǒ de jiānbǎng, gǔlì wǒ bùyào fàngqì.
He patted my shoulder, encouraging me not to give up.
少女第一次做ae一般多少秒正常?肩颈酸痛是姿势不良的早期信号吗
shǎo nǚ dì yī cì zuò a e yī bān duō shǎo miǎo zhèng cháng ? jiān jǐng suān tòng shì zī shì bù liáng de zǎo qī xìn hào ma
How many seconds is normal for a girl to do AE for the first time? Is shoulder and neck pain an early sign of poor posture?
赵露思传执刘亦菲二摊 懒理是非骚香肩卖萌
zhào lù sī chuán zhí liú yì 菲 èr tān lǎn lǐ shì fēi sāo xiāng jiān mài méng
Zhao Lusi passed on Liu Yifei's second stall and was lazy to deal with right and wrong
刘雨柔被传老公想离婚 深夜再发声“一肩扛起所有压力”
liú yǔ róu bèi chuán lǎo gōng xiǎng lí hūn shēn yè zài fā shēng yī jiān gāng qǐ suǒ yǒu yā lì
Liu Yurou was rumored to want a divorce and spoke out late at night to "shoulder all the pressure"
...出游路线“省钱又不容易塞车”管制路段+路肩开放一次看
. . . chū yóu lù xiàn shěng qián yòu bù róng yì sāi chē guǎn zhì lù duàn lù jiān kāi fàng yī cì kàn
... The travel route is "cost-saving and not easy to get stuck in traffic", the controlled road section + shoulder is open to see at once
長假結束腰背痛肩頸僵假日症候群? 聯新國際:核心斷線
長 jiǎ 結 shù yāo bèi tòng jiān 頸 jiāng jiǎ rì zhèng hòu qún ? 聯 xīn 國 際 hé xīn 斷 線
Post-Holiday Syndrome: Back Pain and Stiff Shoulders After the Long Break? Lianxin International: Core Disconnection
我把盒子扛在肩上。
Wǒ bǎ hézi gāng zài jiān shàng.
I carried the box on my shoulder.
她把头枕在母亲的肩膀上。
Tā bǎtóu zhěn zài mǔqīn de jiānbǎng shàng.
She rested her head on her mother's shoulder.
汤姆给玛丽冷的肩膀。
Tāngmǔ gěi Mǎlì lěng de jiānbǎng.
Tom gave Mary the cold shoulder.
垂直的金发滑过她的肩膀。
Chuízhí de jīnfà huá guo tā de jiānbǎng.
Straight golden hair slides over her shoulder.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 肩 (jiān) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 肩 have?
What is the radical of 肩?
What are the components of 肩?
What are common words containing 肩?
What characters sound the same as 肩 (jiān)?
Is 肩 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 肩 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear native pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.