Where 然 comes from
fire
- Meaning part
- 灬 (“fire”)
- Sound part
- 肰 (“dog meat”)
How to write 然 (rán, “correct”)
然 (rán), an HSK 2 character, means “correct”, “right” and “so”. It pairs a meaning part, 灬 (“fire”), with a sound part, 肰 (“dog meat”). Among the HSK words it appears in 虽然 (“although”), 然后 (“then”) and 当然 (“only natural”). Japanese reads it zen, “sort of thing”, as a JLPT N3 kanji.
- Pinyin
- rán
- Strokes
- 12
- HSK
- 2
- Radical
- 灬 (“fire”)
Stroke by stroke
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
As a top-bottom character it splits into 肰 (“dog meat”), strokes 1–8; 灬 (“fire”, the radical), strokes 9–12, written the top first.
- top leftdown and left
- top leftrightwards → downwards → down and left
- Dotlefta dot
- leftdown and right
- centerrightwards
- topdownwards → down and left
- centerdown and right → rightwards
- top rightdown and right
- bottom leftdown and left
- bottom leftdown and right
- bottomdown and right
- bottom rightdown and right
Japanese and Chinese
The two models differ in shape, so our comparison does not claim an order; compare the numbered frames yourself (12 strokes in Japanese, 12 strokes in Chinese).
Trace it
Follow the numbers. Tracing help
Pinyin and meaning
| Pinyin | Meanings | Traditional | In words |
|---|---|---|---|
| rán second tone | correct; right; so; thus; like this | — | 虽然 然后 当然 突然 |
- HSK 2025 syllabus
- level 2
- 2021 standard
- level 2
- HSK 2.0
- in a level 3 word
- Words with it
- 278 in CC-CEDICT
Words with 然
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 虽然 雖然 | suīrán | although; even though… HSK 2 |
| 然后 然後 | ránhòu | then; after that HSK 3 |
| 当然 當然 | dāngrán | only natural; as it should be HSK 3 |
| 突然 | tūrán | sudden; abrupt HSK 3 |
| 自然 | zìrán | nature; natural HSK 4 |
| 大自然 | dàzìrán | nature (the natural world) HSK 4 |
| 然而 | rán’ér | however; but HSK 4 |
| 仍然 | réngrán | still; as before HSK 4 |
| 忽然 | hūrán | suddenly; all of a sudden HSK 4 |
| 既然 | jìrán | since; as HSK 4 |
HSK words first (CC-CEDICT).
Practice sheet
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Keep going
HSK 2, in list order: