(gān) - to do, to work (colloquial) in Mandarin
gānTraditional: 幹
Translation
to do, to work (colloquial)
Word origin
Originally a pictograph of a forked weapon or shield, 干 (gan) meant 'to offend, to shield against'. In modern colloquial use, written the same, it means 'to do, to work'; these verbal senses also carry the simplified form of 幹.
- Origin
- pictograph
- Root
- 干 (pictograph of a forked tool/shield)
Other proposed origins
- The colloquial verb 'to do, to work' also reflects 干 as the simplified form of 幹 (gan), which itself uses 干 as phonetic; the two characters have merged in writing. (幹 (gan), simplified to 干)
Stroke order
干
Examples
？
What kind of work do you do?
！
Well done!
。
I quit.
。
He downed a glass of wine.
。
The clothes aren't dry yet.
干 (gān) means to do, to work (colloquial). It is used as a verb in everyday Mandarin speech.
Where this fits
Appears in 7 words
Multi-character compounds in the corpus that contain 干.
Used in
Grammar articles
(5)The Mandarin 把 (bǎ) Construction: Fronting the Object to Say What You Did To It
Formal Mandarin Connectives: 然而, 因此, 于是 and 尽管 (The Written Register)
Mandarin Four-Character Idioms (四字格): The Shape, Not the List
The Spoken Passives 让 (ràng), 叫 (jiào) and 给 (gěi): What People Say Instead of 被
Mandarin Verb Reduplication: 看看, 看一看, 休息休息 and the 一下 Alternative
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干: worksheet, infographic and listicle
Free printable study downloads for the Mandarin word "干" (to do, to work (colloquial)): 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 6.