扛 (káng) · to carry on one's shoulder

Meanings

1 to carry on one's shoulder
2 to bear; to endure

Characters

扛

káng

to carry on the shoulder; to bear

Examples

HSK 4

这个责任我来扛。

Zhège zérèn wǒ lái káng.

I'll shoulder this responsibility.

HSK 4

他一个人扛不住这么大的压力。

Tā yígè rén káng búzhù zhème dà de yālì.

He can't bear such enormous pressure by himself.

HSK 5

他扛着一袋大米回家。

Tā káng zhe yí dài dàmǐ huí jiā.

He carried a bag of rice home on his shoulder.

Tips

usage

扛 specifically means carrying on the shoulder (unlike 背 on the back or 提 by hand). Figuratively, 扛住 means to withstand pressure, and 扛不住 means to buckle under it. Very colloquial and expressive.

Components

radical

扌 shǒu

hand

Hand radical on the left, the indexing component and a contracted form of 手. It places 扛 in the hand-action family - carrying, lifting, hauling - alongside 抬 lift, 提 hold up, 拿 take, 担 shoulder. The hand is doing real physical work in 扛.

phonetic

工 gōng

work; craft

Right side 工 gōng supplies the sound with a regular shift gōng -> káng (the gang-rhyme group). It also lends a faint flavour of labour: 工 is the carpenter's square, the symbol of hands-on work, and 扛 is hands-on labour at its most physical - shouldering a heavy load.