Character: 欢 (huān) pleased

欢 (huān) means pleased, the character is visualized as a party popper next to a person cheering

A party popper and a person cheering

Pinyin huān
Meaning pleased; joy; happiness
Radical 欠 繁體字 歡
writing pattern of 欢 (huān) pleased 又
人

writing patterns, not components

Chinese character simplifiedcategory: simplified

Chinese character left right structurestructure: left right

6stroke count

HSK 1

Chinese character 欢 (huān) pleased stroke order

Breakdown

Originally a phono-semantic compound character, 欢 (huān) “pleased” consists of 又 (yòu) “again” and 欠 (qiàn) “yawn.” 又 (yòu) is a simplified substitute of the traditional phonetic component, while the radical 欠 (qiàn) represents a person cheering. 💡

huān
欢
pleased		 yòu
又
again		 yǒu
友
friend		 duì
对
correct
qiàn
欠
yawn		 cì
次
times		 gē
歌
song

💡 欠 (qiàn) is a pictograph that looks like a person opening their mouth. It means “yawn” as a character, but it is related to breathing or cheering as a component.

Used as a morpheme/word

欢 (huān) cannot stand alone as a word in modern Chinese; instead, it is often used as a morpheme related to pleasure or satisfaction.

Wordlist

  • HSK 1: 喜欢 (xǐhuan) to like
  • HSK 3: 欢迎 (huānyíng) welcome
  • HSK 6: 欢乐 (huānlè) joyous
  • HSK 6: 联欢 (liánhuān) to have a get-together
  • Intermediate: 欢喜 (huānxǐ) happy

How to pronounce

This character sounds like “who wand” spoken in one syllable, but the wh is pronounced like the Scottish ch, as in “loch,” and the d is omitted.

1st Pinyin Yale IPA
Initial h- h [x]
Final -uan wan [ʊan]

Chinese character practice sheet

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