gāng
noun HSK 7-9 #8,430

Meanings

  1. 1 steel

Examples

Gāngtiě
steel; iron and steel
Gāngqín
piano
Gāngbǐ
fountain pen

Tips

memory
(metal) + (ridge) — 钢琴 literally means 'steel instrument'

Components

radical
jīn
metal; gold
is the left-side simplified metal radical ( in standalone form). It indexes in the metals-and-alloys family alongside (silver), (copper), (iron), (aluminium). The radical signals: this is a smelted material, not a raw element.
phonetic
gāng
ridge; hill
(gāng) on the right supplies the sound exactly — same initial, same rime, same tone. Same phonetic powers (just-now / hard), (main rope), (post). The faint flavour of hardness from the -family aligns nicely with (steel) — the hardest of common metals.

Stroke Order

gāng