咸鹹 xián — salty
xián (second tone, rising)xian2
Traditional: 鹹
salty
HSK 4· HSK 1–4 (classic)adjective
Meanings
salty
Tasting of salt — the flavour opposite 甜, and one of the handful of taste words Chinese treats as a basic adjective: 太咸了, 有点儿咸. The character 咸 originally meant "all", unrelated to taste; simplification gave it the job the more complex 鹹 used to do.
adjective
Example sentences
- 这个菜太咸了，我不想吃。這個菜太鹹了，我不想吃。Zhège (fourth tone, falling) cài (fourth tone, falling) tài (fourth tone, falling) xián (second tone, rising) le, (neutral tone) wǒ (third tone, dipping) bù (fourth tone, falling) xiǎng (third tone, dipping) chī. (first tone, high and level)···
This dish is too salty — I don’t want to eat it.
- 妈妈做的菜不咸也不甜，很好吃。媽媽做的菜不鹹也不甜，很好吃。Māma (first tone, high and level) zuò (fourth tone, falling) de (neutral tone) cài (fourth tone, falling) bù (fourth tone, falling) xián (second tone, rising) yě (third tone, dipping) bù (fourth tone, falling) tián, (second tone, rising) hěn (third tone, dipping) hǎochī. (third tone, dipping)···
The food mom makes isn’t salty or sweet — it’s delicious.