憾 hàn regret
regret; remorse
How to remember 憾: 忄 heart + 感 feel = regret. The old man's heart still aches, and he can feel the weight of the letter he never sent his brother, full of regret.
Component breakdown
憾 = 忄 heart + 感 feel
- 忄 heart
- 感 feel
- 咸 salty
- 戊 fifth
- 𠮛 piled up
- 心 heart
- 咸 salty
The old man's heart still aches, and he can feel the weight of the letter he never sent his brother, full of regret.
How it is used
- 憾 is bound and almost exclusively found in 遗憾 (yíhàn), "regret, a pity", used to express disappointment about something that couldn't be changed.
- 很遗憾，我不能参加 (hěn yíhàn, wǒ bù néng cānjiā) - I'm sorry to say I can't attend - a polite, slightly formal way to decline or express regret.
- 遗憾 differs from 后悔 (hòuhuǐ): 后悔 is regret over your OWN past choice or action (I regret what I did), while 遗憾 is regret/disappointment about an outcome or situation, often outside your control.