肯 (kěn) · to be willing to; to agree to; to consent

Meanings

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

Characters

肯

kěn

willing; to be ready to

Examples

HSK 4

她肯定不肯答应。

Tā kěndìng bùkěn dāying.

She definitely won't agree to it.

HSK 4

只要你肯努力，就一定能成功。

Zhǐyào nǐ kěn nǔlì, jiù yídìng néng chénggōng.

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

HSK 5

面对困难，他从来不肯轻易放弃。

Miànduì kùnnan, tā cónglái bùkěn qīngyì fàngqì.

Facing difficulties, he has never been willing to give up easily.

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'.