还還 hái, huán — (huán) to give back, to return something, to repay; (hái) still, yet; even more; also, in addition
2 readings — the first is the most common.
Traditional: 還
(huán) to give back, to return something, to repay; (hái) still, yet; even more; also, in addition
Pinyin
- hái (second tone, rising)most common
- huán (second tone, rising)
(huán) to give back, to return something, to repay; (hái) still, yet; even more; also, in addition
Character breakdown
Ideographic description
⿺辶不The sequence reads left to right and describes how the parts are arranged.
- 辶meaning partno entry yetThe walking radical: the original sense is coming back the way one went.
- 不shape partA simplification shorthand for 睘 qióng, the phonetic of the traditional 還. It is not the negative 不 here.
Mnemonic
Walking 辶 with a shorthand element inside — going back along the road. That is huán, to give a thing back: 还书, 还钱. The commoner reading hái is a worn-down extension of the same idea, "still going": 他还在睡觉 he is still asleep, 我还要一杯 I want another one, 还有 and there is also. One character, two readings, and the sentence tells you which.
A memory aid written by HSK Guide editors. It is not an etymology and does not describe the historical origin of the character.
Words containing 还
Radical 辵 — other characters
- 过過guò (fourth tone, falling) guo (neutral tone)to cross, to pass by, to go through; to spend (time); to exceed; (unstressed guo) the experiential aspect marker
- 进進jìn (fourth tone, falling)to enter, to go in, to come in; to advance, to make progress; to take in, to import
- 送sòng (fourth tone, falling)to see somebody off, to accompany; to deliver, to send; to give as a present