tàn
verb HSK 7-9 #549

Meanings

  1. 1 to explore
  2. 2 to probe
  3. 3 to visit

Examples

HSK 6
Wǒ qù tànwàng le shēngbìng de péngyou.
I went to visit my sick friend.
HSK 7-9
Tāmen zài tànsuǒ yǔzhòu de àomì.
They are exploring the mysteries of the universe.

Tips

usage
Common in 探索 (tànsuǒ, to explore) and 探望 (tànwàng, to visit).

Components

radical
shǒu
hand
Hand radical on the left - the standing form of with three strokes. It supplies meaning: is fundamentally a hand action, whether reaching into something to feel its depth (探险) or stretching out to test (试探). Same radical anchors a huge family of physical-action verbs: , , , .
phonetic
shēn
deep
on the right - the bare phonetic of without its water radical. Pictures a hand reaching down into a cave-mouth () toward a tree at the bottom. Supplies the sound (drifted shēn → tàn) and a strong semantic flavour: is a hand reaching deep. Same phonetic stem also feeds itself.

Stroke Order

tàn