HSK 6 · Ideas

沾光 zhānguāng “to benefit from association with others” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 沾光 means

  1. to benefit from association with others
  2. to bask in the light
  3. fig. to benefit from association with sb or sth
  4. reflected glory

How to say 沾光

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale沾zhān1st tone, high and level
  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale光guāng1st tone, high and level

沾光 in a sentence

  1. 我哥哥是医生，我们全家都沾光。

    Wǒ gēge shì yīshēng, wǒmen quánjiā dōu zhānguāng.

    My brother is a doctor, and the whole family benefits.

    Sentence by WillyChina

  2. 朋友开了饭馆，我们去吃饭也沾光，常常打折。

    Péngyou kāi le fànguǎn, wǒmen qù chīfàn yě zhānguāng, chángcháng dǎzhé.

    A friend opened a restaurant, and we benefit too: we often get a discount.

    Sentence by WillyChina

How 沾光 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 沾 (zhān) with each of its parts in a different colour
沾zhānto moisten
  • 氵water form of 水 · shuǐMeaning part
  • 占to divine · zhānSound part

氵 hints at the meaning (water); 占 (zhān) hints at the sound. Compare it with zhān.

The character 光 (guāng) with each of its parts in a different colour
光guānglight; ray
  • ⺌small form of 小 · xiǎo
  • 兀weak · wù

How to write 沾光

沾 8 strokes · 光 6 strokes

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

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

Words related to 沾光

Words with 光

光guāng · light阳光yángguāng · sunshine光临guānglín · (formal) to honour with one’s presence光滑guānghuá · glossy光明guāngmíng · bright光盘guāngpán · compact disc (CD)时光shíguāng · time目光mùguāng · gaze曝光bàoguāng · to expose (to the public)观光guānguāng · to go sightseeing

More words: Ideas & Concepts

与日俱增yǔrìjùzēng · to grow day by day预兆yùzhào · omen再接再厉zàijiēzàilì · to keep up the good work障碍zhàng'ài · obstacle战略zhànlüè · strategy战术zhànshù · tactics展望zhǎnwàng · outlook正气zhèngqì · integrity

FAQs

沾光 (zhānguāng) means “to benefit from association with others” or “to bask in the light”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it zhānguāng: zhān with a 1st tone, then guāng with a 1st tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 沾光 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type zhanguang with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 沾光 from the suggestions. Typing zhanguang into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
沾光 is an HSK 6 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 written by WillyChina. Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.