干

乾
gān
#353 most
frequent character
do
verb

Character breakdown

Source: Make Me a Hanzi.

干 is a drawing of a hunting or military tool, so its first meaning was that tool. It grew to mean 'shield', then 'to interfere'. Later the same written form was borrowed for 'celestial stem' and for 'dry', just for its sound. In simplified Chinese it also stands for 幹 gàn 'to work' and 乾 gān 'to dry'.

Drawn as: hunting or military tool

干 as a component in other characters

meaning1 character
刊
sound19 characters
赶岸刊汗肝奸杆罕轩旱竿鼾秆矸酐旰
picture4 characters
奸罕讦顸

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Example Sentences

我每天干作业。
wǒ měitiān gān zuòyè 。
I do homework every day.
你要干什么？
nǐyào gànshénme ？
What do you want to do?
他们在干活。
tāmen zài gànhuó 。
They are doing work.

Words with similar meanings

做zuò
to do
更常用于一般的动作或任务，表示执行某项活动或工作。
执行zhíxíng
to execute
通常用于更正式的场合，强调按照计划或命令去做某事。

Words Starting With 干

干净gān jìng
clean; neat
干杯gān bēi
to drink a toast; Cheers! (proposing a toast); Here's to you!; Bottoms up!; lit. dry cup
干燥gān zào
"to dry (of weather, paint, cement etc); desiccation; dull; uninteresting; arid"
干脆gān cuì
straightforward; clear-cut; blunt (e.g. statement); you might as well; simply
干扰gān rǎo
to interfere; obstruction

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