干 (gān) is a Chinese character meaning “dry”. It takes 3 strokes. It has a second reading, gàn, which turns up in 干活 — here the two readings are two separate things to learn, not one card with two answers.
Learn this character
Structure
干
Single unit
- 干 dry · gān unknown
Structure from: Unicode U+5E72 and hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 modern glyph inspection
Memory aid
Remember the three-stroke shape of 干 as the character itself.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
3 strokes
In real words
- 干净gān jìngclean干 = gān
- 干杯gān bēicheers; to drink a toast干 = gān
Go deeper
All readings
dry
dry; empty of water
没有水分或水分很少。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 干净gān jìngclean干 = gān
- 干杯gān bēicheers; to drink a toast干 = gān
do
to do; to work
做；从事某种工作。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 干活gàn huóto work; to do a job干 = gàn
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 干 mean?
干 (gān) means dry; empty of water.
How do you pronounce 干?
Its main reading is gān. It also has a second reading, gàn, which only shows up in certain words such as 干活 — so the word tells you the reading, not the character on its own.
Why is 干 sometimes pronounced gàn?
Because it is a multi-reading character: each reading carries a different sense, and the word decides which one applies. In 干活 it is read gàn.
How many strokes does 干 have?
3. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 干?
干. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.
What words use 干?
Common ones are 干净 and 干杯. The reading of 干 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.