tàn
verb HSK 7-9 #549

Meanings

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

Examples

Tāmen zài tànsuǒ yǔzhòu de àomì.
They are exploring the mysteries of the universe.
Wǒqù tànwàng le shēngbìng de péngyou.
I went to visit my sick friend.

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