肯 (kěn): to be willing to; to agree to;…

Meanings

1 to be willing to; to agree to; to consent

Characters

肯

kěn

willing; to be ready to

Examples

他不肯告诉我。

Tā bùkěn gàosu wǒ.

He won't tell me (is unwilling to).

你肯帮我吗？

Nǐ kěn bāng wǒ ma?

Are you willing to help me?

她肯定不肯答应。

Tā kěndìng bùkěn dāying.

She definitely won't agree to it.

只要你肯努力，就一定能成功。

Zhǐyào nǐ kěn nǔlì, jiù yīdìng néng chénggōng.

As long as you're willing to work hard, you'll surely succeed.

Tips

usage

肯 expresses willingness, often used in negative: 不肯 = unwilling/refuses to. It implies a conscious choice, not just ability. Compare: 不肯 (refuses to) vs 不能 (can't) vs 不会 (won't/doesn't know how to).

Components

radical

⺼ ròu

meat (radical form)

Meat radical (visually identical to 月 moon but historically the flesh form). Originally 肯 depicted meat firmly attached to bone — the indexing meat radical here marks the body/flesh sense, even though the modern meaning has drifted to 'be willing'. Same radical drives 肝 liver, 肠 intestine, 脸 face.

semantic

止 zhǐ

to stop; foot

Top element — historically a foot-print pictograph meaning 'foot' or 'to halt'. In 肯 the original sense was 'meat clinging to bone', and 止 here stylises an upper bone or joint. Modern 肯 means 'willing/to consent', a meaning shift from 'flesh that sticks' to 'commitment that sticks'.