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to feel / feeling

gǎn
13 strokes · 咸 (all, sound) + 心 (heart) — everything pressing on the heart · HSK 2

Where 感 comes from

感 sets 咸 ('all', also the sound) over the heart 心: everything reaching the heart at once — to be moved, to feel. The heart radical does its usual quiet work: wherever 心 sits underneath, emotions are happening.

感 in Chinese culture

感 feels everything: 感谢 (thanks — formal gratitude), 感冒 (catch a cold — 'feel the miasma', medicine's poetry), 感觉 (feeling/sense), 感动 (moved to emotion). 有感觉 ('has feeling') is how young Chinese describe romantic chemistry; 没感觉 is the gentle rejection. From colds to crushes to thank-you speeches, 感 is the heart registering the world.

Example

感觉 gǎnjué — feeling / to feel

我感觉今天很好。
Wǒ gǎnjué jīntiān hěn hǎo.
I feel great today.

How to remember it

All 咸 of it landing on the heart 心 — to FEEL.

感冒 'feeling the bad air' — catching a cold preserves miasma-era medicine in two characters.

Same sound, different tones

1st gān
dry
3rd gǎn
to feel
4th gàn
to do

Words unlocked by 感

感觉 gǎnjué
feeling
感谢 gǎnxiè
to thank
感冒 gǎnmào
to catch a cold
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