恳 (kěn): sincere

Meanings

1 sincere
2 earnest
3 to request earnestly

Characters

恳

kěn

sincere; earnest

Examples

我们恳请大家支持这个计划。

Wǒmen kěn qǐng dàjiā zhīchí zhège jìhuà.

We earnestly ask everyone to support this plan.

他的态度很诚恳。

Tā de tàidu hěn chéngkěn.

His attitude is very sincere and earnest.

Tips

usage

恳 rarely stands alone in modern Chinese. It lives in compounds like 诚恳 (sincere) and 恳求 (to implore), where it adds a tone of heartfelt sincerity.

Components

radical

心 xīn

heart; mind

The full heart radical sits at the bottom. It marks this as an emotion or attitude word: sincerity is a quality of the heart.

phonetic

艮 gèn

stopping; one of the eight trigrams

Sits on top and supplies the sound. 艮 appears as the phonetic in a family of characters such as 恳 and 垦; the reading has shifted away from gèn over time.

Stroke Order

恳 kěn

Related Words

恳求 kěnqiú HSK 7-9 #7,205

to implore / to plead / to beg earnestly

诚恳 chéngkěn HSK 7-9 #11,101

sincere / honest / earnest

恳请 kěnqǐng #18,452

to earnestly request / to implore

勤勤恳恳 qínqínkěnkěn #36,783

diligent and conscientious / industrious and earnest

拜托 bàituō HSK 7-9 #405

to request someone to do something / please! (earnest request) / come on! (exasperation)

请求 qǐngqiú HSK 2 #1,636

to request / request

忠告 zhōnggào #7,250

sincere advice; earnest counsel / to advise sincerely; to admonish

语重心长 yǔzhòng-xīncháng

earnest and heartfelt words / with sincere concern and deep feeling

开口 kāikǒu HSK 7-9 #2,307

to open one's mouth; to start to speak / to make a request; to ask (someone for something)

情真意切 qíngzhēn-yìqiè #47,288

sincere and heartfelt / with genuine feeling / truly earnest in emotion