甘愿 (gān yuàn) — to be willing to (emphasizing genuine acceptanc…

Definition

甘愿 is an emphatic 'willing to (accept hardship)' — stronger than 愿意: it signals genuine, often reluctant acceptance rather than simple willingness.

auxiliary verb

to be willing to (emphasizing genuine acceptance, even of hardship)

，甘愿。
Wèi le jiā rén, tā gān yuàn fàng qì zì jǐ de mèng xiǎng.
For his family, he was willing to give up his own dreams.
。
Shuí dōu bù gān yuàn zài zhè zhǒng dì fāng shēng huó xià qù.
No one is willing to live in a place like this.
甘愿。
Wǒ gān yuàn chéng dān zhè ge zé rèn.
I am willing to take on this responsibility.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

联合liánhéCoordinate

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

甘 conveys willing acceptance and 愿 conveys desire or willingness.

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

甘 originally drew an open mouth with something sweet inside it. This gives the sense of sweet or pleasant.

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

原心愿

Meaning part形符xíngfú

心心xīnheart

Sound part声符shēngfú

原

Same sound today

愿 places 心 (heart) below 原, which supplies the sound yuán; the 心 part marks the sense of heart or feeling.

Appears in