暂 (zàn) — HSK 4 Recognition Character: Meaning, Radical & Stroke Order

zàn temporary 12 strokes · Radical 日 (sun) · HSK 4 recognition character (认读字)

👁 Recognition only: the official HSK 4 syllabus asks you to recognize 暂 when reading — handwriting it is not required (that applies to the 150 writing characters). The stroke animation below is optional but helps memory.

Pronunciation & meaning

Pronounced zàn.

temporary

Stroke Order & Practice

Click Animate to see the correct stroke order, then Practice to trace it yourself.

暂 — 12 strokes, numbered in writing order. 笔顺图（数字为下笔顺序）。

Decomposition

暂 breaks down into 2 components arranged as Top + Bottom. Recognizing the components makes the character easier to remember and write.

暂 =

斩 top to chop

日 bottom sun

Radical

The radical of 暂 is 日 — meaning sun. Radicals are the indexing components used in Chinese dictionaries; they often hint at a character's broad meaning category.

Other HSK 4 characters that share this radical: 普晨景暖暑.

How the character is built

暂 is a phono-semantic compound. The semantic component 日 (sun) carries the meaning, while the phonetic component 斩 originally indicated the sound.

HSK 4 Words Containing 暂

暂时 zànshí temporary; for the time being

他暂时住在朋友家。

Tā zànshí zhù zài péngyou jiā.

He is temporarily staying at a friend's place.

暂停 zàntíng to pause; temporar y suspension

比赛暂停了五分钟。

Bǐsài zàntíng le wǔ fēnzhōng.

The game was paused for five minutes.

Seen in the Real Exams / 真题例句

暂 appears in 16 questions across the 19 mock & official HSK 4 exams on this site. Real exam sentences using it:

会议还没结束呢，一会儿继续讨论，所以暂时还不知道结果会怎么样。

From Mock Exam 12 →

FAQ

What does 暂 mean in Chinese?

暂 (zàn) means temporary. It is one of the 441 characters HSK 4 requires you to recognize when reading (认读字).

How many strokes does 暂 have?

暂 is written in 12 strokes. Use the practice tool above to see the correct stroke order and trace it yourself.

What is the radical of 暂?

The radical of 暂 is 日 (sun). Other HSK 4 characters with the same radical include 普, 晨, 景, 暖, 暑.

What is the pinyin for 暂?

暂 is pronounced zàn.

What HSK 4 words use 暂?

In our HSK 4 vocabulary, 暂 appears in 2 words, including 暂时 (zànshí), 暂停 (zàntíng). See the full list above.