殘
Character learning workspace

cán · to injure, to ruin, to spoil

Master the form, understand its parts, and learn how it behaves in real Chinese.

Watch · inspect · write

Learn every stroke in 殘

Replay the complete order, pause on difficult movements, inspect one stroke at a time, then write it yourself with live correction.

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Stroke graphics: Make Me a Hanzi / Arphic Public License
Step-by-step explorer

See how 殘 is constructed

Switch between the accumulated form and the isolated movement of each stroke.

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Character anatomy

Understand the reusable parts

The decomposition shows how the visual pieces fit together, not necessarily the character’s historical origin.

Writing notes

Shape and proportion

12Total strokes

Count each continuous pen movement once, including turns and hooks.

Left-rightCharacter structure

Keep the left side compact and leave enough room for the right side.

歹Key radical

Use the highlighted radical in the animation as a visual anchor for remembering the form.

Print and practise

Download a 殘 writing sheet

Get a ready-to-use A4 sheet immediately, or open the full builder to change its grid and guidance.

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Includes the stroke sequence, progressive tracing, and blank writing squares. Generated locally in your browser.

Vocabulary in context

Common words with 殘

Open a word for its full breakdown, or listen before reading the meaning.

No common curriculum words are indexed for this character yet.

Read and listen

Example sentences

Notice where 殘 sits in each complete thought.

Fáng jiàn lǐ miàn de jiā jù dōu hěn cán jiù le.房間裏面的家具都很殘舊了。

All the furniture in the room was all worn out.

Source: Tatoeba #393217 · CC BY 2.0 FR
Yìn dù ní xī yā yǒu xū duō cán liú rì běn bīng.印度尼西亞有許多殘留日本兵。

There were many Japanese holdouts in Indonesia.

Source: Tatoeba #13109245 · CC BY 2.0 FR
Yì míng kōng jiě cóng fēi jī cán hái zhōng bèi jiù chū lái le.一名空姐從飛機殘骸中被救出來了。

A stewardess was rescued from the wreck.

Source: Tatoeba #801462 · CC BY 2.0 FR
Kě lián de rén mín rèn píng cán bào de dú cái zhě chǔ zhì.可憐的人民任憑殘暴的獨裁者處置。

The poor people were at the mercy of the cruel dictator.

Source: Tatoeba #830343 · CC BY 2.0 FR
Xiāng zǐ cán pò.箱子殘破。

The box is broken.

Source: Tatoeba #5920112 · CC BY 2.0 FR
Wǒ mén huì bǎ yí bùfen chóu dé de kuǎn xiàng yòng lái bāng zhù cán jí ér tóng.我們會把一部分籌得的款項用來幫助殘疾兒童。

A portion of the proceeds will go to benefit children with disabilities.

Source: Tatoeba #729475 · CC BY 2.0 FR
Turn reference into recall

How to study 殘 in context

  1. Say cán, then recall the core meaning: to injure, to ruin, to spoil.
  2. Write all 12 strokes while keeping the left-right balanced.
  3. Read the complete sentence aloud once, then cover the translation and explain how 殘 works in that context.

Definitions and traditional forms are compiled from Make Me a Hanzi, HSK curriculum data, and CC-CEDICT. Sourced example sentences link to Tatoeba; editorial examples are labeled separately. Review data sources and licenses.