HSK 5 · Adjectives

淡 dàn “light (in taste or colour)” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 淡 means

  1. light (in taste or colour)
  2. weak
  3. bland
  4. insipid
  5. diluted
More meanings from CC-CEDICT
  • mild
  • light in colour
  • tasteless

How to say 淡

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale淡dàn4th tone, falling

淡 in a sentence

  1. 这太淡了。

    Zhè tài dàn le.

    This is too bland.

    Sentence #9419109 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 今天想吃清淡的食物呢。

    Jīntiān xiǎng chī qīngdàn de shíwù ne.

    I feel like eating something light today.

    Sentence #3805154 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 他有一件淡蓝色的毛衣。

    Tā yǒu yí jiàn dànlánsè de máoyī.

    He has a light blue jumper.

    Sentence #765216 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

How 淡 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 淡 (dàn) with each of its parts in a different colour
淡dàninsipid
  • 氵water form of 水 · shuǐMeaning part
  • 炎flame · yánSound part

氵 hints at the meaning (water); 炎 (yán) hints at the sound. Compare it with dàn.

How to write 淡

淡 11 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

淡 (dàn) stroke order chart: each stroke of the character in the order you write it
Stroke order chart for 淡 (dàn). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 淡

Words with 淡

清淡qīngdàn · light (of food冷淡lěngdàn · cold淡季dànjì · off season淡水dànshuǐ · fresh water

More words: Adjectives

大型dàxíng · large呆dāi · foolish单纯dānchún · simple单调dāndiào · monotonous地道dìdao · authentic干燥gānzào · dry (weather高级gāojí · high level好客hàokè · hospitable

FAQs

淡 (dàn) means “light (in taste or colour)” or “weak”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it dàn: dàn with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 淡 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type dan with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 淡 from the suggestions. Typing dan into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
淡 is an HSK 5 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

Turn words into conversations

A dictionary gives you the words. A native teacher shows you how to use them. Start with a free 30-minute intro call.

Book a free intro call

Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.