chuan (穿) — to pierce, to bore through, to wear, to put on in Chinese

chuān

to pierce · to bore through · to wear · to put on

HSK 1 笔画 9 部首穴 (cave) 声调第1声 (level) all chuan readings →

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笔顺 bǐshùn · Stroke order

部首 radical (穴) 部件 component (rest of character) 书写 your drawing

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字源zìyuánEtymology & Structure

字源洞见 zìyuán dòngjiàn · Etymological Insight

穿 = 穴 over 牙, a cave-mouth set above a tooth. 牙 (yá, molar) is the semantic element, the gnawing edge that bores a hole; 穴 (xué, cave/cavity) supplies the sound and frames the result as an opening cut clean through. The Shuōwén reads the whole as "to bore through," 通也, a tooth working an opening into solid ground.

Hold the picture literally: a tooth set under the roof of a cave, grinding until it breaks the far side. That is the core sense, to pierce, to make a hole that goes all the way through. The small-seal form already shows the cave radical capping a clearly drawn 牙, the two stacked exactly as they sit today, with 穴 squared at the top and the tooth-strokes splayed beneath.

From "bore through a wall" the verb extended along two lines. One follows the hole through space: to pass through, to cross, to thread, as a needle passes through cloth or a road passes through a mountain. The other threads the body through an opening: to slip an arm through a sleeve, a leg through a trouser-hole, which is how 穿 became the everyday word for putting on and wearing clothes. The clothing sense and the piercing sense are one motion, something passing through an aperture.

Japanese keeps 穿 (sen) in the bookish 穿孔 (senkō, "to perforate") and 穿鑿 (sensaku, "to bore into, to pry"), holding the original drilling sense, while Mandarin let the clothing meaning grow into the most common use of all.

穿戴chuāndàiClothing the Body

引申义 yǐnshēnyì · Extended Sense

To put on clothing is, in Chinese, to thread the body through an opening, the same motion as a needle through cloth. 穿 covers anything the body passes into: shirts, trousers, shoes, socks. It pairs against 戴 (dài), which covers what hangs on or wraps around without threading through, hats, glasses, watches, gloves. Learn the split early: you 穿 a coat but 戴 a scarf.

穿衣chuān yīto put on clothes; to dress

VO 动宾 dòngbīn

穿 (to thread through) + 衣 (yī, clothing). A verb-object pair, the plainest way to say "get dressed." 衣 is the general word for what covers the upper body, so 穿衣 frames dressing as passing the body into a garment.

天冷了，多穿衣服。

Tiān lěng le, duō chuān yīfu.

It's cold now, wear more clothes.

孩子还不会自己穿衣。

Háizi hái bù huì zìjǐ chuān yī.

The child can't dress himself yet.

辨析 biànxī · 穿 vs. 戴穿 is for what the body threads into (clothes, shoes); 戴 (dài) is for what you hang on or wrap on (hat, glasses, scarf, ring).

穿着chuānzhuóattire; what one wears

N 名词 míngcí

穿 (to wear) + 着 (zhuó, to attach/to wear). Read with 着 as zhuó, this is a noun for someone's manner of dress, the overall look. Distinct from the verb-plus-aspect 穿着 (chuānzhe, "wearing"), where 着 is the toneless particle zhe.

他的穿着很简单，但很得体。

Tā de chuānzhuó hěn jiǎndān, dàn hěn détǐ.

His attire is simple but tasteful.

她穿着一件红色的大衣。

Tā chuānzhe yī jiàn hóngsè de dàyī.

She is wearing a red coat.

辨析 biànxī · 着 zhuó vs. zhe Same two characters, two readings: 穿着 (zhuó) is the noun "attire"; 穿着 (zhe) is verb plus the ongoing-aspect particle, "is wearing."

穿上chuān shàngto put on (and have it on)

V+C 动补 dòngbǔ

穿 (to thread on) + 上 (shàng, up/onto, here a result complement). The complement 上 marks the garment as now in place. 穿上 stresses the completed act of getting it on, against bare 穿 which can describe the habit of wearing.

快穿上鞋，我们要出门了。

Kuài chuān shàng xié, wǒmen yào chūmén le.

Hurry, put your shoes on, we're leaving.

辨析 biànxī · 穿上 vs. 脱下穿上 puts a garment on; its opposite is 脱下 (tuō xià), to take it off. 穿 and 脱 are the wear/remove pair for threaded clothing.

穿透chuāntòuPassing Through, Boring, Seeing Through

穿过chuānguòto pass through; to cross

V+C 动补 dòngbǔ

穿 (to pass through) + 过 (guò, across, a directional complement). The verb of moving through and out the other side, a crowd, a forest, a tunnel. 过 marks the full traverse, in one side and out the far side.

我们穿过森林，到了河边。

Wǒmen chuānguò sēnlín, dào le hé biān.

We crossed through the forest and reached the riverbank.

阳光穿过窗帘照进来。

Yángguāng chuānguò chuānglián zhào jìnlái.

Sunlight streams in through the curtains.

辨析 biànxī · 穿过 vs. 通过穿过 stresses the physical act of going through a space; 通过 (tōngguò) can be physical but also means "by means of" or "to pass (an exam, a vote)."

看穿kànchuānto see through; to figure out

V+C 动补 dòngbǔ

看 (kàn, to look) + 穿 (to pierce, as a result complement). The gaze bores all the way through the surface, you see through a lie, a disguise, a scheme. 穿 here is the original drilling sense turned to the mind: the look penetrates and reaches the truth behind.

他一眼就看穿了对方的计谋。

Tā yī yǎn jiù kànchuān le duìfāng de jìmóu.

He saw through the other side's scheme at a glance.

别装了，我早就看穿你了。

Bié zhuāng le, wǒ zǎo jiù kànchuān nǐ le.

Stop pretending, I saw through you long ago.

穿透chuāntòuto penetrate; to pierce through

V 动词 dòngcí

穿 (to bore through) + 透 (tòu, thoroughly/through). Two synonyms stacked for force, used for light, sound, water, or radiation breaking all the way through a barrier. The technical word in physics and medicine for penetration.

这种声音能穿透厚厚的墙壁。

Zhè zhǒng shēngyīn néng chuāntòu hòuhòu de qiángbì.

This kind of sound can penetrate thick walls.

成语chéngyǔIdioms & Set Phrases

滴水穿石dī shuǐ chuān shídripping water bores through stone: persistence winsThe image of a single drip, repeated for years, drilling a hole in rock. The standard idiom for patient, steady effort overcoming a hard obstacle.

水滴石穿shuǐ dī shí chuānwater drips and the stone is bored through: small force, long timeThe same image reordered, traced to the Han text Hàn Shū. Stresses the result, the worn-through stone, as proof that small efforts accumulate.

望眼欲穿wàng yǎn yù chuāngazing till the eyes would bore through: aching with anticipationEyes straining at the road so hard they might pierce the distance. Describes longing for someone's return or news that will not come.

穿针引线chuān zhēn yǐn xiànthread the needle and lead the thread: to act as go-betweenLiterally the seamstress's first move. Figuratively, to broker a connection between two parties, matchmaking a deal, a marriage, a meeting.

记忆法 jìyìfǎ · Master Retention Image

Picture the roof of a low cave (穴, the cap of the character) and a single molar (牙, the splayed strokes beneath) set against it, grinding. Hour after hour the tooth works the stone until daylight breaks through the far side, a clean hole bored all the way out. That is 穿 in one frame: a tooth under a cave-mouth, drilling an opening that goes through.

Run the compounds back through that hole. 穿过 (chuānguò) is your body walking through the bored opening and out the other side, through a forest or a tunnel. 看穿 (kànchuān) is your gaze doing the boring, the look drilling through a lie until the truth shows on the far side. 滴水穿石 (dī shuǐ chuān shí) is the same hole, drilled this time by nothing but a patient drip of water.

Now turn the hole into a sleeve. When you dress, your arm is the thing passing through the opening, which is why 穿衣 (chuān yī) and 穿上 (chuān shàng) use the very same character as the drilling tooth. Whether it is an arm into a coat or a needle into cloth, 穿 is always one motion: something threading clean through an aperture.