guàn
noun HSK 7-9 #3,003

Measure Word

一个

Meanings

  1. 1 can
  2. 2 jar
  3. 3 pot
  4. 4 tin

Examples

Gěi wǒ yī guàn kělè.
Give me a can of cola.
Chúfáng lǐ yǒu yīgè bōli guàn.
There's a glass jar in the kitchen.

Tips

usage
is both a noun and a measure word. As a measure word, it counts canned items: 啤酒 (a can of beer). For larger containers, use 罐子.

Components

radical
fǒu
earthenware jar (radical)
Pot radical on the left — also 's indexing radical (Kangxi #121). itself depicts a wide-bellied clay pot with a lid, the earliest pictograph for a storage vessel. Direct semantic match: is exactly that — a jar, can, or jug. Same radical in (vat), (empty), (large jar) — every ceramic vessel sits here.
phonetic
guàn
heron-shaped phonetic
Right side supplies the sound directly: guàn → guàn (no shift). is the original pictograph of a long-tailed heron and is the phonetic core of a wide cluster: (guān, simplified from ), (guàn, irrigate), (guàn), (guàn, stork), (quán, simplified from ). Recognising the component opens up the whole family.

Stroke Order

guàn