HSK 5 · Verbs

断 duàn “to break” in Chinese

Traditional 斷

What 断 means

  1. to break
  2. to snap
  3. to cut off
  4. to give up or abstain from sth
  5. to judge
More meanings from CC-CEDICT
  • (usu. used in the negative) absolutely

How to say 断

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale断duàn4th tone, falling

断 in a sentence

  1. 我们爬山的时候绳子断了。

    Wǒmen páshān de shíhou shéngzi duàn le.

    The rope broke when we were climbing the mountain.

    Sentence #13573229 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters

  2. 我的指甲断了。

    Wǒ de zhǐjia duàn le.

    I broke a nail.

    Sentence #1319931 from Tatoeba

  3. 我想我的右手臂断了。

    Wǒ xiǎng wǒ de yòu shǒubì duàn le.

    I think I’ve broken my right arm.

    Sentence #884159 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

How 断 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 断 (duàn) drawn as one shape
断duànto break

断 is a single shape of 11 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.

How to write 断

断 11 strokes

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

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

Words related to 断

Words with 断

判断pànduàn · to judge诊断zhěnduàn · to diagnose不断búduàn · unceasing断定duàndìng · to conclude断绝duànjué · to break off中断zhōngduàn · to interrupt果断guǒduàn · decisive垄断lǒngduàn · monopoly片断piànduàn · fragment

More words: Common Verbs

等待děngdài · to wait等于děngyú · to equal滴dī · a drop递dì · to hand over鼓掌gǔzhǎng · to applaud戒jiè · to give up (a habit)集合jíhé · to gather看望kànwàng · to visit

FAQs

断 (duàn) means “to break” or “to snap”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it duàn: duàn with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 断 is written 斷. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type duan with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 断 from the suggestions. Typing duan into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
断 is an HSK 5 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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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.