Dictionary › 敢

敢

gǎn

Old HSK 3 HSK 3.0 character level 4 Character

敢 (gǎn) means "to dare". It is an HSK 3.0 level 4 word, and was HSK 3 in the old six-level list.

What 敢 means

1. to dare
2. daring
3. (polite) may I venture

How 敢 is used in grammar

敢 is a grammar word. Each link goes to its own section: what it does in that pattern, the structure, three example sentences with pinyin, and the mistake to avoid.

• Modal Verbs: 敢 (dare) & 需要 (need) (HSK 3)
• 敢: dare to (HSK 4)

The official HSK 3.0 grammar outline lists it at level 4, verbs (能愿动词).

Example sentences

• 你敢。
  Don't you dare.
• 你敢！
  How dare you!
• 不敢当。
  I don't deserve it.
• 勇敢点！
  Have courage!
• 他很勇敢。
  He is very brave.
• 您非常勇敢。
  You are very brave.

Words starting with 敢

• 敢于gǎn yúto have the courage to do sth; to dare to; bold in
• 敢情gǎn qingactually; as it turns out; indeed
• 敢死队gǎn sǐ duìsuicide squad; kamikaze unit
• 敢为gǎn wéito dare to do
• 敢言gǎn yánto be bold enough to speak out
• 敢达Gǎn dáGundam, Japanese animation franchise
• 敢不从命gǎn bù cóng mìngto not dare to disobey an order (idiom)
• 敢作敢为gǎn zuò gǎn wéi(idiom) to stop at nothing; to dare to do anything
• 敢做敢当gǎn zuò gǎn dāngdaring to act and courageous enough to take responsibility for it…
• 敢打敢冲gǎn dǎ gǎn chōngcourageous and daring
• 敢为人先gǎn wéi rén xiānto dare to be first; to pioneer (idiom)
• 敢怒而不敢言gǎn nù ér bù gǎn yánangry, but not daring to speak out (idiom); obliged to remain silent about one's…
• 敢作敢当gǎn zuò gǎn dāngvariant of 敢做敢当

Words containing 敢

• 勇敢yǒng gǎnbrave; courageous
• 不敢当bù gǎn dānglit. I dare not (accept the honor); fig. I don't deserve your praise; you flatter me
• 竟敢jìng gǎnto have the impertinence; to have the cheek to
• 胆敢dǎn gǎnto dare (negative connotation); to have the audacity to (do sth)
• 果敢guǒ gǎncourageous; resolute and daring
• 岂敢qǐ gǎnhow could one dare?; I don't deserve such praise
• 石敢当shí gǎn dāngstone tablet erected to ward off evil spirits
• 不敢自专bù gǎn zì zhuānnot daring to act for oneself (idiom)
• 不敢恭维bù gǎn gōng wei(idiom) less than impressed; underwhelmed
• 愧不敢当kuì bù gǎn dānglit. I'm ashamed and dare not (accept the honor); fig. I do not deserve your praise.…
• 不敢高攀bù gǎn gāo pānlit. not dare to pull oneself up high (humble term); I cannot presume on your attention
• 不敢苟同bù gǎn gǒu tóngto beg to differ (idiom)
• 未敢苟同wèi gǎn gǒu tóngcan't agree with
• 不敢越雷池一步bù gǎn yuè Léi chí yī bùdare not go one step beyond the prescribed limit
• 舍得一身剐，敢把皇帝拉下马shě de yī shēn guǎ , gǎn bǎ huáng dì lā xià mǎone who does not fear the death of thousand cuts will dare to unhorse the emperor…

Characters that look like 敢

Easy to confuse on sight. Compare them side by side once and the pair stops costing you.

• 致zhì(bound form) fine; delicate; exquisite
• 敦dūnkindhearted; place name
• 敏mǐn(bound form) quick; nimble; agile; (bound form) quick-witted; smart
• 敌dí(bound form) enemy; (bound form) to be a match for; to rival; (bound form) to resist…
• 欺qīto take unfair advantage of; to deceive; to cheat
• 敕chìimperial orders

Sounds the same

Read gǎn, tone for tone, but written differently.

• 感to feel; to move; to touch
• 赶to overtake; to catch up with; to hurry; to rush; to try to catch (the bus etc)
• 杆stick; pole; lever
• 秆stalks of grain
• 擀to roll (dough etc)
• 橄used in 橄榄
• 澉place name; wash
• 鳡yellowcheek (Elopichthys bambusa)

Where 敢 is taught

In the GraphChinese course it is part of Stance Adverbs & Evaluative Words (HSK 3), HSK 3 Characters · Set 20 (HSK 3), each one a topic in the dependency graph of HSK 1–6 that opens only once its prerequisites are solid.

Go deeper

• Every HSK 3 word, with the rest of its level.
• How characters are built from components.
• How to learn Chinese characters.
• The four tones and the neutral tone, to read gǎn correctly.
• Look up another word in the free dictionary.