敢 gǎn — to dare, to have the courage to
gǎn (third tone, dipping)gan3
to dare, to have the courage to
HSK 4· HSK 1–4 (classic)verb
Meanings
to dare, to have the courage to
A modal verb, always in front of another: 敢说, 敢去, 敢不敢. Its negative, 不敢, is the everyday word for fear that stops an action rather than the raw feeling itself — 害怕 is the feeling, 不敢 is what it does to your hands.
verb
Example sentences
- 这只狗很大，孩子不敢过去。這隻狗很大，孩子不敢過去。Zhè (fourth tone, falling) zhī (first tone, high and level) gǒu (third tone, dipping) hěn (third tone, dipping) dà, (fourth tone, falling) háizi (second tone, rising) bù (fourth tone, falling) gǎn (third tone, dipping) guòqù. (fourth tone, falling)···
This dog is big — the child doesn’t dare go near it.
- 你敢不敢跟我们一起唱歌？你敢不敢跟我們一起唱歌？Nǐ (third tone, dipping) gǎn (third tone, dipping) bù (fourth tone, falling) gǎn (third tone, dipping) gēn (first tone, high and level) wǒmen (third tone, dipping) yìqǐ (fourth tone, falling) chànggē? (fourth tone, falling)···
Do you dare sing together with us?
Common mistakes
Not quite我不赶说实话。
Correct我不敢说实话。
敢 "to dare" and 赶 "to hurry, to catch" are perfect homophones — same pinyin, same tone — and only the radical tells them apart on the page. A pinyin input method offers both; picking the wrong one is a one-character typo with a very different meaning.