痰 (tán): phlegm, spittle

痰 (tán) is a Chinese character meaning “phlegm.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 疒 (semantic) and 炎 (phonetic). It ranks #2770 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 痰 sickness. Its radical form 疒 (illness) appears in many related characters such as 医 (yī, medicine), 病 (bìng, illness), 疼 (téng, ache).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. phlegm
  2. spittle

Etymology & Origin

痰

pictophoneticsickness

Decomposition: ⿸疒炎 (layout: surround-from-upper-left)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
痰盂nountán yúspittoon
化痰verbhuà tánto transform phlegm (TCM)
理气化痰lǐ qì huà tán(TCM) to rectify 氣|气 and transform phlegm
鱼生火,肉生痰,青菜豆腐保平安yú shēng huǒ , ròu shēng tán , qīng cài dòu fu bǎo píng ānfish brings heat, meat brings phlegm, vegetables and tofu keep you healthy
痰盂儿tán yú rerhua variant of 痰盂
卡痰verbkǎ tánto have phlegm stuck in one's throat
祛痰药qū tán yàomedicine to dispel phlegm (TCM)
痰液tán yèsaliva
吐痰verbtǔ tánto spit
咳痰verbké tánto cough up phlegm
祛痰verbqū tánto dispel phlegm (TCM)
黏痰nián tánphlegm
12
Total compounds
25
As first character
58
As last character
17
As middle character

痰 appears in 12 compound words: 25 as the first character, 58 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 痰 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

咳ké
0.721419 co-occurrences
嗽sòu
0.615120 co-occurrences
喘chuǎn
0.52664 co-occurrences
吐tǔ
0.514283 co-occurrences
液yè
0.425130 co-occurrences
肺fèi
0.41764 co-occurrences
唾tuò
0.40910 co-occurrences
沫mò
0.40118 co-occurrences
止zhǐ
0.400162 co-occurrences
稠chóu
0.38914 co-occurrences

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

痰字在不同的语境中有不同的用法。

tán zì zài bù tóng de yǔ jìng zhōng yǒu bù tóng de yòng fǎ .

The character "痰" has different usages in different contexts.

中国新闻网·生活Aug 2026

功效:银耳滋阴润燥、补充津液;雪梨清热润肺、止咳化痰;排骨温补益气。

gōng xiào : yín ěr zī yīn rùn zào , bǔ chōng jīn yè ; xuě lí qīng rè rùn fèi , zhǐ hāi huà tán ; pái gǔ wēn bǔ yì qì .

Benefits: Silver ear mushrooms nourish yin, relieve dryness, and replenish body fluids; snow pears clear heat, moisten the lungs, relieve coughs, and help expel phlegm; pork ribs provide gentle tonification and boost qi.

中国新闻网·生活Aug 2026

但羊奶滋腻之性相对更强,痰湿体质人群需要谨慎饮用。

dàn yáng nǎi zī nì zhī xìng xiāng duì gēng qiáng , tán shī tǐ zhì rén qún xū yāo jǐn shèn yǐn yòng .

However, goat's milk is relatively more greasy, so people with a phlegm-dampness constitution should consume it with caution.

東方日報Apr 2026

...环职员执法遭推跌 躁汉逃走前喝斥“你搵啲痰畀我睇吓!”

. . . huán zhí yuán zhí fǎ zāo tuī diē zào hàn táo zǒu qián hē chì nǐ 搵 啲 tán 畀 wǒ 睇 hè !

...A traffic enforcement officer was pushed to the ground; before fleeing, the agitated man shouted, "Go get me some spit to look at!"

99 健康网Apr 2026

渐冻症痰多还能活多久?呼吸肌无力导致排痰困难的预...

jiān dòng zhèng tán duō hái néng huó duō jiǔ ? hū xī jī wú lì dǎo zhì pái tán kùn nán de yù . . .

How long can someone with ALS who has excessive phlegm expect to live? Prognosis for patients with difficulty clearing phlegm due to respiratory muscle weakness...

UdnnewsindexFeb 2026

...韩国瑜:不要化骨绵掌 赖清德:专长止咳化痰

. . . hán guó 瑜 : bù yāo huà gǔ mián zhǎng lài qīng dé : zhuān cháng zhǐ hāi huà tán

... Han Guoyu: Don't turn bones into cotton palms Lai Qingde: Specialize in relieving cough and phlegm

Tatoeba

随地吐痰在新加坡算是犯罪行为。

Suídì tǔtán zài Xīnjiāpō suànshì fànzuìxíngwéi.

In Singapore, it is a crime to spit on the ground.

Tatoeba

他有个随地吐痰的习惯。

Tā yǒu gè suídì tǔtán de xíguàn.

He has the habit of spitting on the ground.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 疒 (sickness) component

Homophones — Characters pronounced tán

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 痰 (tán) mean in Chinese?
痰 (tán) primarily means "phlegm." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2770 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 痰 and 淡?
痰 (tán) and 淡 (dàn) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 疒 vs 氵 (same 炎 component).
How many strokes does 痰 have?
痰 is written with 13 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 痰?
The radical associated with 痰 is 疒 (illness). This radical appears in many characters related to illness.
What are the components of 痰?
痰 is composed of: 疒 (semantic), 炎 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿸疒炎 with a surround-from-upper-left layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 痰?
Common words with 痰 include: 痰盂 (tán yú, "spittoon"); 化痰 (huà tán, "to transform phlegm (TCM)"); 理气化痰 (lǐ qì huà tán, "(TCM) to rectify 氣|气 and transform phlegm"); 鱼生火,肉生痰,青菜豆腐保平安 (yú shēng huǒ , ròu shēng tán , qīng cài dòu fu bǎo píng ān, "fish brings heat, meat brings phlegm, vegetables and tofu keep you healthy"); 痰盂儿 (tán yú r, "erhua variant of 痰盂"). There are over 12 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 痰 (tán)?
Several characters share the pronunciation tán: 谈 (to talk, to discuss), 探 (to explore), 坦 (flat, candid), 叹 (to sigh), and 3 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 痰 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 痰 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 痰 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.