ENESFRDE中文

Characters, words, pinyin or English

咸 xián salty

salty; salted

How to remember 咸: 戊 fifth + 𠮛 piled up = salty. On his fifth try the new cook finds the salt still piled up at the bottom of the pot, and the soup is far too salty.

  • 2,525. most frequent character
  • HSK 4
  • 9 strokes
  • Radical 口

Component breakdown

咸 = 戊 fifth + 𠮛 piled up

  • 戊 fifth
  • 𠮛 piled up
The Gushi story

On his fifth try the new cook finds the salt still piled up at the bottom of the pot, and the soup is far too salty.

How it came to be

A pole weapon held over a mouth: everyone brought under one blade, which is why the old sense is all together. The salt arrived later, when another character was folded into it.

How it is used

  • The taste adjective 'salty' - 这个菜太咸了 (zhège cài tài xián le) this dish is too salty.
  • Describes the flavor; the substance salt is 盐 (yán). Pairs with 淡 (dàn, bland/not salty enough).
  • One of the five tastes in 酸甜苦辣咸; in some regions 咸 also colloquially covers savory in general.

Characters built with 咸

Example sentences

  • 一般来说，东北菜比较咸。 Yībānláishuō, Dōngběi cài bǐjiào xián.Generally speaking, Dongbei cuisine is rather salty.