敢 (gǎn) is a Chinese character meaning “to dare”. It is written from 乛 (horizontal hook stroke) and 耳 (ear) and 攵 (a hand holding a stick; marks an action done to something), side by side, and takes 11 strokes.
Build the character for “to dare”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
乛 + 耳 + 攵
Left–right structure
- 乛 horizontal hook stroke unknown
- 耳 ear · ěr unknown
- 攵 a hand holding a stick; marks an action done to something · pū unknown
Structure from: cjkvi-ids (U+6562 ⿰⿱乛耳攵 [G]); makemeahanzi decomposition; strokes verified against hanzi-writer-data
Memory aid
Under a little hook (乛) sits an ear (耳), and beside it a hand raises a stick (攵). To go right up to someone's ear with a stick raised — you have to dare.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
11 strokes
In real words
- 勇敢yǒng gǎnbrave; courageous敢 = gǎnspoken asyóng gǎn
- 不敢bù gǎnnot dare to敢 = gǎn
- 岂敢qǐ gǎnhow would I dare (humble reply to praise)敢 = gǎnspoken asqí gǎn
Go deeper
All readings
to dare
to dare; bold; brave
有胆量做某事；有勇气。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 勇敢yǒng gǎnbrave; courageous敢 = gǎnspoken asyóng gǎn
- 不敢bù gǎnnot dare to敢 = gǎn
- 岂敢qǐ gǎnhow would I dare (humble reply to praise)敢 = gǎnspoken asqí gǎn
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 敢 mean?
敢 (gǎn) means to dare; bold; brave.
How do you pronounce 敢?
It is pronounced gǎn.
What parts is 敢 made of?
乛 (horizontal hook stroke) and 耳 (ear) and 攵 (a hand holding a stick; marks an action done to something), side by side. The recorded source is: cjkvi-ids (U+6562 ⿰⿱乛耳攵 [G]); makemeahanzi decomposition; strokes verified against hanzi-writer-data. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 敢 have?
11. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 敢?
攵. 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 敢?
Common ones are 勇敢 and 不敢. The reading of 敢 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.