Meaning
lack; short
Chinese: 短的。
Hear the Four Tones
The same syllable “duan” becomes a different word in each tone. 短 is the 3rd tone. Tap any tone to hear a native voice and see its pitch shape.
Stroke Order
Tap Animate to watch the strokes in order, or Practice to trace it yourself.
Common Words
- 短信duǎn xìntext message; SMS
- 短期duǎn qīshort-term
- 短裤duǎn kùshort pants; shorts
- 短处duǎn chùshortcoming; defect; fault; one's weak points
- 缩短suō duǎnto shorten; to reduce; to curtail
Example Sentence
夏天的白天长，冬天的白天短。Xià tiān de bái tiān cháng, dōng tiān de bái tiān duǎn.In summer the days are long; in winter the days are short.
夏天Xià tiānsummer的deof白天bái tiāndaytime长chánglong，冬天dōng tiānwinter的deof白天bái tiāndaytime短duǎnshort。
Go deeper
Where this character comes from
An arrow (矢) plus 豆: small things were measured against an arrow, while long things were measured with a bow — so 矢 marks ‘short’.
A way to remember it
Measured by an arrow (矢), not a bow — short.
Easy to confuse with
- 长‘Long’: the opposite of 短 in length.