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干净 (gān jìng) — clean; neat

Definition

The everyday word for 'clean and tidy' — rooms, clothes, hands. 整洁 is a more formal synonym often used in writing about neat spaces; 净 (HSK6) appears mainly in compounds or means 'net/only'.

adjective
cleanneat

Examples

  • 干净。
    Nǐ de yī fu zhēn gān jìng.
    Your clothes are really clean.
  • 干净。
    Wǒ bǎ bēi zi xǐ gān jìng le.
    I washed the cup clean.
  • 干净。
    Zhè ge fáng jiān yòu gān jìng yòu zhěng qí.
    This room is both clean and tidy.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

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

干gāndry
净jìngclean

干 points to dry and 净 to clean; together they describe something neat and free of dirt.

Characters in this word

The simplified 干 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (饼干, 干杯) it is 乾; in others (干, 干活儿) (干扰) it is 幹 or 干.

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 乾; 干 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
乙乙yǐ
Sound part声符shēngfú
倝
倝gàn乾gān
Same sound today
Open 干 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 净 →

Grammar

Appears in
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