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健康 (jiàn kāng) — healthy

Definition

The general word for 'healthy' — used for people, lifestyle, and environment. 健壮 and 硬朗 describe a person's strong, robust body specifically.

adjective
healthy

Examples

  • ，健康。
    Tā jīng cháng duàn liàn, suǒ yǐ shēn tǐ hěn jiàn kāng.
    He exercises often, so he is very healthy.
  • 健康。
    Wǒ men yào bǎo chí jiàn kāng de yǐn shí xí guàn.
    We need to maintain healthy eating habits.
  • 健康。
    Zhè ge chéng shì de huán jìng hěn jiàn kāng.
    The environment of this city is very healthy.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

健jiànstrong/sound
康kānghealthy

健 means strong or sound, and 康 means healthy; together they describe good health.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亻Written in full as人rénperson
Sound part声符shēngfú
建
建jiàn健jiàn
Same sound today

The left part 亻 depicts a person, and the right part 建 gives the sound.

Open 健 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

康 pairs 庚 (threshing tools) with 米 (rice), showing rice being processed into chaff.

Open 康 →
Appears in
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