单

單

dān / chán / Shàn

adjective HSK 4 #1,225

Meanings

1 single; alone; only
2 list; form; bill
3 simple; odd (number)

Examples

他是单身。

Tā shì dānshēn.

He is single.

请给我一张菜单。

Qǐng gěi wǒ yī zhāng càidān.

Please give me a menu.

简单的事情不要复杂化。

Jiǎndān de shìqing bùyào fùzáhuà.

Don't complicate simple things.

Tips

usage

Three reading paths for 单: the everyday dān covers "single / list / simple / odd" and powers nearly every compound (简单, 菜单, 单位). Read chán only inside 单于 (the Xiongnu king title). Read Shàn as a Chinese surname. Context — almost always the compound itself — picks the reading.

Components

ideograph

单 dān

single; simple; list

Simplified from traditional 單 (12 strokes) in the 1956 reform — the traditional form joined 吅 over 田 plus a base stroke, originally depicting a Y-shaped slingshot or hunting weapon ("single-shot" → "single, lone"). The modern 8-stroke 单 is a stylised cursive contraction with no transparent component split today. Indexed under Kangxi #24 十 by tradition; the ten-radical isn't a separable piece in the modern silhouette.

Filed under radical 八 (bā) by convention. 八 is not a separate component in 单, so no strokes are highlighted.

Stroke Order