Chinese word

掺

Pronunciation

Pinyinchān

Meaning

  • verbmix in

Example

他在茶里掺了很多糖。tā zài chá lǐ chān le hěn duō táng

He mixed a lot of sugar into the tea.

Illustration for 掺 (mix in)

More examples

她嫌汤太淡，在汤里掺了些盐。tā xián tāng tài dàn zài tāng lǐ càn le xiē yán

She thought the soup was too bland, so she mixed in some salt.

Core concept

A smaller amount enters a larger mixture and changes the whole's taste or character.

Common phrases

  • 掺杂质càn zá zhì

    mix in impurities

  • 掺盐càn yán

    mix in salt

  • 掺化学物质càn huà xué wù zhì

    mix in chemicals

Similar words

混合hùn hé: Joins two or more substances by mixing them together into one.
混入hùn rù: Puts another substance into something and mixes it with what is already there.
掺杂càn zá: Adds unwanted or impure material that makes a product less pure or lower in quality.
掺假càn jiǎ: Mixes fake or inferior material into a product to pass it off as genuine.

Definition in Chinese

把一种物质混入另一种物质中，通常指少量混入以改变整体性质或味道。bǎ yì zhǒng wù zhì hùn rù lìng yì zhǒng wù zhì zhōng tōng cháng zhǐ shǎo liàng hùn rù yǐ gǎi biàn zhéng tǐ xìng zhì huò wèi dào

Word origin

掺 (càn, "mix in") is a semantic-phonetic character built from 手 (shǒu, "hand") + 参 (cān, "participate"), with 手 appearing in its shortened hand form and 参 mainly supplying the sound.

Usage tips

  • In food and product talk, this verb can describe normal blending or unwanted adulteration, so context shows whether the mixture is ordinary or improper.

Other meanings

  • addverb

Opposites

Related words

  • 掺杂càn záadulterateverb
  • 掺入càn rùmix inverb
  • 掺和chān huomix togetherverb

Word lists with this word