完 (wán) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

完

wán[wan2]Tone 2

to finish / complete

HSK 2

Guru Deep Dive

English · to finish / complete

Cached lesson

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Topology:Top-bottom

Strokes:7

Writing Balance Rule: The roof-like crown (宀) at the top must be balanced and centered directly over the legs (元) below, giving the character a stable, roofed structure.

1. Meaning

to finish, to complete, to be over

wholeentireused up / exhausted

VerbNeutral#action#completion#status

Sample Usage

作业写完了吗？
zuòyè xiě wán le ma?
Have you finished writing your homework?
钱花完了。
qián huā wán le.
The money is completely spent.

2. Sound

/[wan³⁵]/Tone: 35

完

wánwan2

´(35)

=wán

Initial Consonant

Type: Labio-Velar Glide (Zero Initial)

Sounds like: w glide like 'w' in 'water'

Unaspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: Round lips tightly before gliding into vowel.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Lips rounded loosely, back of tongue raised toward soft palate for semi-vowel glide.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -a vowel group

Sounds like: -an rhymes with 'on' in British 'swan' or 'un' in 'bun' followed by n

Mouth Shape Guide: Pronounce as standalone vowel 'ahn'.

Common Learner Trap: Keep vowel quality steady across all 4 tone contours.

Tone

T2 (35)

3 → 5 (35)

2nd Tone (Mid-Rising)

Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 2 rises from middle pitch to high pitch, matching an upward questioning intonation in English.

👂

Listening trap: Do not confuse the final nasal ending '-an' with '-ang'. Make sure the tongue tip touches the alveolar ridge for 'n' rather than dropping the back of the tongue for 'ng'.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: Tone 2 is a rising pitch starting from mid and climbing to high, just like asking 'What?' in English disbelief. Make a rising hand gesture upward.

3. Writing

Topology: Top-bottom · Strokes: 7 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The roof-like crown (宀) at the top must be balanced and centered directly over the legs (元) below, giving the character a stable, roofed structure.

4. Components

Radical 宀 · Roof Radical (roof, shelter, building)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 宀 (indicates a covered or enclosed space where things are kept secure or completed)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 元 (original sound: yuán / wán)

A roof (宀) placed over a person or base (元) representing everything being safely kept under one roof, fully complete.

宀 roof / shelter
元 first / origin / element (provides the sound)

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

14· Phonetic Root: 元 (yuán)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Originally, 完 depicted a roof (宀) over a jade or treasure (or simplified from 元 as phonetic), signifying a complete, flawless treasure kept safe under a roof.

Semantic Evolution: From a specialized sense of keeping something intact and flawless under a roof to the general meaning of whole, intact, and finally to finishing an action.

The bronze inscriptions already show the roof element combined with a base structure indicating completeness.

6. Sinosphere

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: カン (kan) / Kun: まる.い (maru.i), まっ.たく (mat.taku)

🇰🇷

Hanja (Korean)

완

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

Under the **roof** (宀), the project manager says 'It is **complete** (完)' right down to the last **unit/element** (元).

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

院

yuàncourtyard, institutionAdd the mound/wall radical (阝) on the left for a courtyard.

远

yuǎnfar, distantAdd the movement radical (辶) for distance.

玩

wánto playAdd the king/jade radical (王) on the left for playing with precious items.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

玩(wán)

玩 has the jade/king radical (王) on the left because playing involves precious toys, whereas 完 has the roof radical (宀) on top.

元(yuán)

元 lacks the top roof (宀) and is used for currency or origins.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

我把这本书看[___]了。

Clue: wán

Common Learner Pitfall

Placing '完' before the verb instead of after it as a resultative complement (e.g., saying 完看 instead of 看完).

Memory Prompts

Recognition: When you see 完, what does it mean as a verb suffix or standalone action?

Production: How do you write the character meaning 'to finish' that combines a roof radical (宀) and 元?

完wánto finish / complete

Speed:

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