香 xiāng — fragrant; incense; (of food) savory; appetizing; sweet; scented
厨房里飘来一阵饭菜的香味。Chú fáng lǐ piāo lái yí zhèn fàn cài de xiāng wèi.The smell of food wafted from the kitchen.
Common words: 香蕉 (xiāng jiāo)、香肠 (xiāng cháng)、香水 (xiāng shuǐ)
Meaning Index
Chinese characters meaning "sweet"
Learn Chinese characters with the meaning "sweet", including 香 (xiāng), 甘 (gān), 甜 (tián). Study pinyin, English meanings, traditional forms, common words…
How to Study This Meaning Group
The English word "sweet" covers 3 different Chinese characters — 香 (xiāng), 甘 (gān), 甜 (tián) — and each is its own word with its own feel. These 3 characters do not share a sound — their readings span xiāng, gān, tián — so confirm the pinyin and tone for each one separately. The example sentences further down show how 香 and the others are actually used, so you learn them in context rather than as a single translation.
- 香 xiāngfragrant; incense; (of food) savory; appetizing; sweet; scentedUseful words: 香蕉, 香肠
- 甘 gān(surname); sweetUseful words: 甘心, 苦尽甘来
- 甜 tiánsweetUseful words: 酸甜苦辣, 甜蜜
Common words for these 3 "sweet" characters
Anchor each of these 3 characters in a word you can picture — start with 香 (xiāng) — so "sweet" turns into concrete usage instead of a one-to-one translation.
香蕉xiāng jiāobanana香肠xiāng chángsausage香水xiāng shuǐperfume; cologne甘心gān xīnto be willing to; to resign oneself to苦尽甘来kǔ jìn gān láibitterness finishes, sweetness begins (idiom); the hard times are over, the good times just beginning不甘bù gānunreconciled to; not resigned to; unwilling酸甜苦辣suān tián kǔ làlit. sour, sweet, bitter and spicy (idiom); fig. all kinds of flavors; the joys and sorrows of life甜蜜tián mìsweet; happy甜美tián měisweet; pleasant; happy
See each character in a sentence
Each character below is shown in a short example sentence with pinyin and an English translation — the quickest way to feel the difference between the 3 ways to say "sweet".
甘 gān — (surname); sweet
为了帮助别人，他甘愿付出。Wèi le bāng zhù bié ren, tā gān yuàn fù chū.He is willing to give in order to help others.
Common words: 甘心 (gān xīn)、苦尽甘来 (kǔ jìn gān lái)、不甘 (bù gān)
甜 tián — sweet
这种西瓜又大又甜，特别好吃。Zhè zhǒng xī guā yòu dà yòu tián, tè bié hǎo chī.This kind of watermelon is big and sweet, especially delicious.
Common words: 酸甜苦辣 (suān tián kǔ là)、甜蜜 (tián mì)、甜美 (tián měi)
All 3 characters
Open 香、甘、甜 or any character below to hear it read aloud and see it used in an example sentence.