当 (dàng): to regard as; to treat as; to t…

Meanings

1 to regard as; to treat as; to take for
2 to replace; to act in place of
3 to pawn
4 suitable; appropriate; proper
5 at the very same (time or place)
6 to fail (a student)

Characters

当

dàng

to regard as; to treat as; to take for

Examples

别把我的话当耳边风。

Bié bǎ wǒ de huà dàng ěrbiānfēng.

Don't treat what I say as wind passing your ear.

他把手表当了。

Tā bǎ shǒubiǎo dàng le.

He pawned his watch.

这样处理比较得当。

Zhèyàng chǔlǐ bǐjiào dédàng.

Handling it this way is more appropriate.

Tips

usage

The dàng reading is mostly bound — it rarely stands alone. You meet it inside fixed compounds: 当作 and 当成 (regard as), 上当 (be duped), 妥当, 恰当 and 适当 (suitable), 当铺 (pawnshop), 当真 (take seriously).

memory

Two readings, two flavors. The dāng reading leans forward in time ("when something happens", "to take on a role"); the dàng reading leans down onto a value or substitute ("to regard X as Y", "to pawn", "to fit just right"). Both senses share the underlying idea of matching — dāng matches the moment, dàng matches the worth.

Components

radical

彐 jì

snout-shape; clasping-hand component

Indexing radical. Traditional 當 had 田 (field) below; the 1956 simplification redrew it as 彐, and 当 is filed under 彐 in the modern radical scheme.

semantic

⺌ xiǎo

small-top; three-dot crown form of 小

Same glyph as the dāng reading — both readings share one character. Top three strokes are the ⺌ small-crown, a stylised reduction of the traditional 尚 top. The dàng reading carries the senses of equivalence and substitution: matched to, pawned for, fit for.