完 (wán): to finish

Meanings

1 to finish
2 to complete
3 to run out of

Characters

完

wán

finish; complete; whole

Contains 宀 (roof) + 元 (origin) — a complete house.

Examples

作业做完了吗？

Zuòyè zuò wán le ma?

Have you finished your homework?

饭吃完了。

Fàn chī wán le.

The meal is finished.

钱花完了。

Qián huā wán le.

The money is all spent.

Tips

grammar

完 is one of the most important result complements in Chinese. It attaches after verbs to mean 'finished doing': 看完 (finished reading), 吃完 (finished eating), 用完 (used up).

usage

完了! as an exclamation means 'It's over!' or 'We're doomed!' — like saying 'Oh no!' in English.

Components

radical

宀 mián

roof; house cover

Top roof radical (Kangxi #40) — a peaked-roof outline picturing a covered house. Anchors the original sense: a building made structurally complete (完工 finish construction). Same radical groups domestic concepts: 家, 安, 室, 宿, 客 — anything that happens 'under a roof'.

phonetic

元 yuán

first; origin; primary

Bottom phonetic 元 — supplies the sound, shifting to wán through n/y onset substitution. The 'origin, whole, complete' sense of 元 also tints the meaning: a building reaches its complete original form. Same phonetic in 院 (courtyard) where it again pairs with a building radical.