(àn) - dark, dim; secret in Mandarin
ànTraditional: 暗
Translation
dark, dim; secret
Word origin
A phono-semantic character: 日 (rì, sun) on the left for the meaning, 音 (yīn) on the right for the sound. The sun shut away is the whole idea.
- Origin
- phono-semantic
- Root
- 日 (rì, sun) + 音 (yīn, phonetic)
Stroke order
暗
Examples
，。
The room is too dark, let us put the light on.
。
The sky slowly grew dark.
。
This photograph is a little dark.
。
He quietly made up his mind.
廊，。
The corridor is very dark, so mind how you go.
暗 (àn) is dark in the sense of unlit: a room without a lamp, a photograph that came out too dim, the sky at dusk. 天暗了 is the light going, and 暗下来 is the standard way to say something is darkening.
It has a strong second life meaning covert. 暗号 is a secret signal, 暗中 means behind the scenes, 暗暗 is an adverb for doing something quietly to yourself, and 暗恋 is loving somebody without telling them.
The trap is the two English senses of dark. 暗 is about light levels; 黑 (hēi) is the colour black and also darkness. Crucially, dark colours take 深, not 暗: dark blue is 深蓝色, dark green 深绿色. 暗蓝色 would suggest a blue that is badly lit, which is not what you meant.
Where this fits
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暗: worksheet, infographic and listicle
Free printable study downloads for the Mandarin word "暗" (dark, dim; secret): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.
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Start your free weekThis word is part of lesson 50.