(dàn) - egg in Mandarin
dànTraditional: 蛋
Translation
egg
Word origin
A phono-semantic character: 虫 (chóng, small creature) gives the sense and 疋 gives the sound.
- Origin
- phono-semantic
- Root
- 虫 (chóng, creature) + 疋 (phonetic)
Stroke order
蛋
Examples
。
I ate two eggs this morning.
冰？
Are there any eggs left in the fridge?
。
This egg has gone off.
。
She made a cake with eggs and flour.
。
That bird laid three eggs.
蛋 (dàn) is an egg, any egg, from any creature. On a menu or a shopping list you will more often meet the two-character 鸡蛋 (jī dàn, a hen's egg), which is what Chinese speakers say when they mean the ordinary breakfast article.
It is the building block for a family of everyday words: 蛋糕 (cake), 蛋白 (egg white, and by extension protein), 荷包蛋 (a fried egg). Learn the character and several of those come free.
The trap is that 蛋 is also a standard ingredient in insults, where it stands for a person: 笨蛋 (idiot), 混蛋 (swine), 坏蛋 (a wrong one). None of that is available in the English word, so a sentence about eggs can turn rude faster than you expect.
Where this fits
Used in
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蛋: worksheet, infographic and listicle
Free printable study downloads for the Mandarin word "蛋" (egg): 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.