淡 (dàn) · bland; tasteless; light (flavor)

Meanings

1 bland; tasteless; light (flavor)
2 light (color); pale
3 indifferent; lukewarm

Characters

淡

dàn

bland; light; pale

Combines 氵 (water) with 炎 (flame) - water over fire, diluting and weakening the intensity.

Examples

HSK 4

这个汤太淡了，加点盐。

Zhège tāng tài dàn le, jiā diǎn yán.

This soup is too bland, add some salt.

HSK 5

她化了淡妆。

Tā huà le dànzhuāng.

She put on light makeup.

HSK 5

他对这件事很淡然。

Tā duì zhè jiàn shì hěn dànrán.

He is indifferent about this matter.

Tips

usage

淡 is the opposite of 浓. 淡茶 (weak tea) vs 浓茶 (strong tea). 淡色 (light color) vs 深色 (dark color).

Components

radical

氵 shuǐ

water (radical form of 水)

Three-drops water on the left anchors 淡 in the water family. The original sense is 'watered down' - diluted, weak in flavour. From there it spread to pale colours and lukewarm feelings. The radical indexes 淡 with 浓 strong, 清 clear, 泡 steep, 涂 spread thin - all liquid-quality chars.

phonetic

炎 yán

flame

炎 supplies the sound - yán drifting to dàn, an irregular but well-attested shift. The picture of two fires stacked is the exact opposite of the meaning, sometimes used as a memory hook: water dousing fire = bland and pale. Same phonetic in 谈 chat, 痰 phlegm.