脏 (zāng) is a Chinese character meaning “dirty”. It is written from 月 (moon; month) and 庄 (village; farmstead), side by side, and takes 10 strokes. It has a second reading, zàng, which turns up in 心脏 — here the two readings are two separate things to learn, not one card with two answers.
Build the character for “dirty”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
月 + 庄
Left–right structure
Structure from: studyhanzi 现代字形拆分，并以 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：笔画 0–3 为「月」，笔画 4–9 为「庄」（广 3 笔 + 土 3 笔），合计 10 笔
Memory aid
Your body (月) comes back from a day on the farmstead (庄) — covered in dirt. That body is dirty.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
10 strokes
In real words
- 脏话zāng huàdirty words; swear words脏 = zāng
- 肮脏āng zāngdirty; filthy脏 = zāng
Go deeper
All readings
dirty
dirty; filthy; foul (of language)
不干净；有污垢的。也指言语粗俗。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 脏话zāng huàdirty words; swear words脏 = zāng
- 肮脏āng zāngdirty; filthy脏 = zāng
internal organ
internal organs of the body (heart, liver, kidneys, etc.)
身体内部的器官，如心、肝、肾等。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 心脏xīn zàngheart (the organ)脏 = zàng
- 肝脏gān zàngliver (organ)脏 = zàng
- 肾脏shèn zàngkidney (the organ)脏 = zàng
Sound component
庄 family onset shift
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 脏 mean?
脏 (zāng) means dirty; filthy; foul (of language).
How do you pronounce 脏?
Its main reading is zāng. It also has a second reading, zàng, which only shows up in certain words such as 心脏 — so the word tells you the reading, not the character on its own.
Why is 脏 sometimes pronounced zàng?
Because it is a multi-reading character: each reading carries a different sense, and the word decides which one applies. In 心脏 it is read zàng.
What parts is 脏 made of?
月 (moon; month) and 庄 (village; farmstead), side by side. The recorded source is: studyhanzi 现代字形拆分，并以 hanzi-writer-data 笔画核验：笔画 0–3 为「月」，笔画 4–9 为「庄」（广 3 笔 + 土 3 笔），合计 10 笔. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 脏 have?
10. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 脏?
月. 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 脏?
Common ones are 脏话 and 肮脏. The reading of 脏 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.