况 (kuàng) · situation; condition

Meanings

1 situation; condition
2 moreover; besides

Characters

况

kuàng

situation; condition; moreover

Examples

HSK 2

情况怎么样？

Qíngkuàng zěnmeyàng?

How is the situation?

HSK 5

状况不太好。

Zhuàngkuàng bú tài hǎo.

The condition is not great.

HSK 7-9

何况他还是个孩子。

Hékuàng tā háishi gè háizi.

Besides, he is still a child.

Tips

usage

况 is used in: 情况 (situation), 状况 (condition), 况且 (moreover), 何况 (let alone), 战况 (battle situation). It is almost exclusively used in compounds.

Components

radical

冫 bīng

ice (two-drops radical)

Left two-drops ice radical - the indexing radical, drawn as two short strokes (compare the three drops of 氵 water). Sits in 况 by phonetic borrowing rather than meaning: the older form was 況 with 氵, and 冫 is the post-reform graphic substitute. The 'cold / ice' family includes 冷, 冻, 冬.

phonetic

兄 xiōng

elder brother

Right side 兄 supplies the sound - xiōng shifted to kuàng through an Old Chinese velar alternation, the same shift that gave 矿 (mine) from 黄. The 'elder brother' meaning is incidental; 况 is about circumstances and comparison ('moreover, what's more') - 何况, 情况.