Kanji Kaisen

漢字Kanji · in Human Body & People

肝: liver, pluck

Also: nerve, chutzpah

JLPT N17 strokesSecondary schoolYour ink: 白 Not met

月 carries the meaning · 干 gives the sound

7 strokes

Two readings, and the words that use each

カンkan · on'yomi · in compounds

  • 肝臓かんぞうliver
  • 肝心かんじん
  • 肝炎かんえんhepatitis
  • 肝要かんようextremely important; essential; vital
  • 肝硬変かんこうへんcirrhosis (of the liver)

きもkimo · kun'yomi · on its own

  • 肝きもliver; innards

Words: JMdict, EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Learn it 4 steps
Print sheet Present
成り立ち

Where it comes from

Memory story · made up to help you remember

“It looks like the moon, but it's actually muscle! When you see this "moon" on the left side of a character, don't think of the night sky—think of your own body.”
More in the 月 meat story
繋がり
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered
月

Also built on meat (月)

All 63
干

Also built on dry (干)

All 9

肝 takes the 干 family's reading, カン (kan).

Also read カン

51 kanji share this on'yomiAll 51

Easy to confuse

The difference, side by side
肝 liver · 干
vs肢 limb · 支
肝 has 干 where 肢 has 支.
In ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · gān

Same form: 肝 is written the same way in mainland China (simplified) and in Taiwan and Hong Kong (traditional).

Simplified
肝 mainland China, Singapore
Traditional
肝 Taiwan, Hong Kong

Pinyin gān most common reading

Forms and pinyin: Unicode Unihan database (Unicode License v3). Pinyin lists the most common reading, not every reading.

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