sweet

Origin & mnemonic

This radical derives from the pictographic representation of sweetness or a sweet substance in ancient scripts. It developed from seal-script forms and represents the concept of "sweet" or "sweetness."

Mnemonic: The shape resembles a head or mouth with a curved stroke below, like a smiling face tasting something sweet.

• 甘gān🔊

  (bound form) sweet; pleasant (contrasted with 苦[ku3]: bitter, unpleasant)

  5 strokes

• 甚shèn🔊

  excessive; undue

  9 strokes

• 甜tián🔊

  sweet

  HSK 3

  11 strokes

• 甛tián🔊

  old variant of 甜[tian2]

  11 strokes

• 甝hán🔊

  white tiger

  13 strokes