How to Write 感 (gǎn) — Meaning “to feel / sense / emotion”

Imagine your heart (心) is full of all (咸) kinds of feelings in a single moment. This helps link the top part meaning 'all' with the bottom meaning 'heart' to remember that 感 is about feeling everything.

Write the top part 咸 first, with the left stroke of 戈 crossing correctly, then add the bottom 心. Be careful to make the bottom 心 wide enough to support the top, and don't forget the dot in the middle of 心.

㥯 is an ancient, rare character that looks similar but has no modern use, while 恿 (yǒng) means 'courage' or 'to urge' and uses a different bottom part (力, strength). 感 always relates to feeling or gratitude.

感 appears in everyday words like 感觉 (gǎnjué, feeling/sense), 感谢 (gǎnxiè, to thank/gratitude), and 感冒 (gǎnmào, common cold). It's very polite to say 感谢 when expressing thanks, especially in formal or written Chinese.

Common words containing 感 include: 感觉 (gǎn jué) — feeling / sense / to feel; 感谢 (gǎn xiè) — to thank / gratitude; 感冒 (gǎn mào) — common cold / to catch a cold.