When you go to the market, remember to bring the steelyard balance.
Tips
usage
gǎn is the reading for the shaft, stick, or handle part of an object: 笔杆 (pen shaft), 枪杆 (gun barrel), 杠杆 (lever), 杆秤 (steelyard balance), 自拍杆 (selfie stick), 钓鱼杆 (fishing rod). Often the stick is being held or operated.
memory
Long, free-standing, planted in the ground = gān (旗杆 flagpole). Short, handheld, attached to a tool = gǎn (笔杆 pen shaft). Same character, the reading flips with the shape and use.
Left tree radical (Kangxi #75) — the indexing radical. Tool handles and weapon shafts were traditionally carved from wood, so the wood radical fits the gǎn reading just as cleanly as it does the gān one.
Right component supplies the sound. Phonetic gān shifts to gǎn (third tone) for this reading — a tone change rather than a rime change. 干 itself originally pictured a forked weapon, which connects neatly to the 'handle of a tool' meaning.
