| |
| 烂 [2025/08/12 21:27] – created xiaoer | 烂 [Unknown date] (current) – removed - external edit (Unknown date) 127.0.0.1 |
|---|
| ====== làn: 烂 - Rotten, Bad, Lousy, Mushy ====== | |
| ===== Quick Summary ===== | |
| * **Keywords:** lan, 烂, Chinese for bad, Chinese for rotten, Chinese for lousy, learn Chinese lan, what does lan mean in Chinese, rotten fruit Chinese, terrible person Chinese, mushy food Chinese | |
| * **Summary:** Learn the versatile Chinese character **烂 (làn)**, a word every learner needs to know. While its core meaning is "rotten" or "spoiled," like a piece of fruit, its most common use in modern Mandarin is as a powerful slang term for "bad," "lousy," or "terrible." From criticizing a bad movie (**烂**片) to describing a person as a scumbag (**烂**人), or even complimenting a chef on tender, "mushy" meat, this page will break down the many practical and cultural uses of **烂 (làn)**. | |
| ===== Core Meaning ===== | |
| * **Pinyin (with tone marks):** làn | |
| * **Part of Speech:** Adjective, Verb | |
| * **HSK Level:** HSK 4 | |
| * **Concise Definition:** To be rotten, spoiled, or mushy; or figuratively, to be terrible, lousy, or bad. | |
| * **In a Nutshell:** Imagine a piece of fruit that has been sitting out for too long. It's soft, falling apart, and spoiled—that's the physical essence of **烂 (làn)**. Chinese speakers take this powerful image of decay and apply it to almost anything of poor quality. A movie isn't just "not good" (不好), it's **烂** (lousy, a stinker). Someone's skill isn't just "poor" (差), it's **烂** (awful, terrible). It's a visceral, informal, and very common way to express strong negative judgment. But remember its surprising positive twist: when describing food cooked for a long time, **烂** means "tender" and "fall-off-the-bone soft," which is a high compliment! | |
| ===== Character Breakdown ===== | |
| * **烂 (làn):** This is a phono-semantic compound character, meaning it combines a component for meaning and a component for sound. | |
| * **Radical: 火 (huǒ) - Fire.** The "fire" radical at the bottom suggests a process of intense transformation, decomposition, or cooking. Fire breaks things down, which is central to the meaning of **烂**. | |
| * **Phonetic Component: 兰 (lán) - Orchid.** This part of the character primarily provides the pronunciation. | |
| * The character brilliantly combines these parts: the idea of "fire" (火) breaking something down with the sound "lán" creates **烂 (làn)**, a word that evokes something being decomposed, cooked down, or rotten. | |
| ===== Cultural Context and Significance ===== | |
| * **烂** is a gut-level word. In Chinese culture, where direct criticism can often be avoided in favor of harmony, using **烂** is a very clear and unambiguous signal of strong disapproval. Calling a film a **烂片 (làn piàn)** isn't just a mild opinion; it's a declaration that the film is fundamentally garbage. It bypasses politeness for a raw, honest (and often informal) critique. | |
| * Compared to the English word "bad," **烂** is far more expressive and visceral. A better cultural equivalent would be informal words like "crappy," "lousy," or the verb "sucks." For example: | |
| * "This movie is bad." -> 这部电影不好。(Zhè bù diànyǐng bù hǎo.) - //A simple statement of fact.// | |
| * "This movie is crappy / This movie sucks." -> 这部电影很**烂**。(Zhè bù diànyǐng hěn làn.) - //An emotional judgment of quality.// | |
| * The term doesn't tie into ancient philosophy but reflects the directness and expressiveness of modern, colloquial Chinese. It's a powerful tool in everyday conversation for expressing frustration, disappointment, or contempt in a way that "不好" (bù hǎo - not good) or "差" (chà - poor) simply cannot capture. | |
| ===== Practical Usage in Modern China ===== | |
| **Describing Food (The Two-Sided Coin)** | |
| * **Negative:** When food has gone bad, you use **烂**. For example, `苹果烂了 (píngguǒ làn le)` means "The apple is rotten." | |
| * **Positive:** When food is cooked to a perfect tenderness, you also use **烂**. For example, `牛肉炖得很烂 (niúròu dùn de hěn làn)` means "The beef is stewed until it's very tender." This is a compliment! Context is everything. | |
| **Criticizing Quality (The Most Common Use)** | |
| * This is the most frequent use of **烂** in daily life. It's used to describe anything of extremely poor quality. | |
| * **烂片 (làn piàn):** A bad/lousy movie ("rotten film"). | |
| * **烂书 (làn shū):** A terrible book. | |
| * **烂主意 (làn zhǔyi):** A lousy idea. | |
| * **技术很烂 (jìshù hěn làn):** (Someone's) skill is terrible. | |
| **Describing People and Situations** | |
| * **烂人 (làn rén):** A "rotten person"—a very strong insult for someone considered a scumbag, jerk, or morally corrupt individual. Use with caution. | |
| * **烂摊子 (làn tānzi):** A "rotten stall/spread"—a common phrase for a mess, a disaster, or a chaotic situation that someone has to clean up (often left by someone else). | |
| * **烂醉如泥 (làn zuì rú ní):** A "chengyu" (idiom) meaning "dead drunk" (lit. "as drunk and mushy as mud"). | |
| ===== Example Sentences ===== | |
| * **Example 1:** | |
| * 这个苹果**烂**了，快扔掉吧。 | |
| * Pinyin: Zhège píngguǒ **làn** le, kuài rēngdiào ba. | |
| * English: This apple is rotten, throw it away quickly. | |
| * Analysis: This is the most literal meaning of **烂**: spoiled or decayed food. | |
| * **Example 2:** | |
| * 我妈妈做的红烧肉特别**烂**，入口即化。 | |
| * Pinyin: Wǒ māma zuò de hóngshāo ròu tèbié **làn**, rù kǒu jí huà. | |
| * English: The braised pork my mom makes is especially tender, it melts in your mouth. | |
| * Analysis: This shows the positive culinary meaning of **烂**. Here, it's a high compliment to the chef. | |
| * **Example 3:** | |
| * 我承认，我的中文发音很**烂**。 | |
| * Pinyin: Wǒ chéngrèn, wǒ de Zhōngwén fāyīn hěn **làn**. | |
| * English: I admit, my Chinese pronunciation is terrible. | |
| * Analysis: A very common, informal way to describe a skill as being poor. It's self-deprecating and stronger than saying `不好 (bù hǎo)`. | |
| * **Example 4:** | |
| * 别浪费钱了，那是一部**烂**片。 | |
| * Pinyin: Bié làngfèi qián le, nà shì yī bù **làn** piàn. | |
| * English: Don't waste your money, that's a lousy movie (a stinker). | |
| * Analysis: `烂片 (làn piàn)` is a standard term used by critics and everyday people to refer to a very bad film. | |
| * **Example 5:** | |
| * 他是个十足的**烂**人，总是欺骗别人的感情。 | |
| * Pinyin: Tā shì ge shízú de **làn** rén, zǒngshì qīpiàn biérén de gǎnqíng. | |
| * English: He's a complete scumbag, always toying with other people's emotions. | |
| * Analysis: `烂人 (làn rén)` is a very strong and serious insult. It describes a person's moral character, not just their actions. | |
| * **Example 6:** | |
| * 这是我听过最**烂**的借口！ | |
| * Pinyin: Zhè shì wǒ tīngguò zuì **làn** de jièkǒu! | |
| * English: This is the lousiest excuse I've ever heard! | |
| * Analysis: **烂** is used here to emphasize utter contempt for the quality of the excuse. | |
| * **Example 7:** | |
| * 前任经理辞职了，给我们留下一个**烂**摊子。 | |
| * Pinyin: Qiánrèn jīnglǐ cízhí le, gěi wǒmen liúxià yī ge **làn** tānzi. | |
| * English: The former manager resigned, leaving a complete mess for us to deal with. | |
| * Analysis: `烂摊子 (làn tānzi)` is a fixed expression for a chaotic situation or a "mess" that needs to be cleaned up. | |
| * **Example 8:** | |
| * 他昨天晚上喝得**烂**醉如泥。 | |
| * Pinyin: Tā zuótiān wǎnshang hē de **làn** zuì rú ní. | |
| * English: He was dead drunk last night. | |
| * Analysis: This uses the idiom `烂醉如泥` to describe being extremely intoxicated, to the point of being "mushy like mud." | |
| * **Example 9:** | |
| * 这件 T 恤我已经穿**烂**了，但是舍不得扔。 | |
| * Pinyin: Zhè jiàn T-xù wǒ yǐjīng chuān **làn** le, dànshì shěbude rēng. | |
| * English: I've already worn this T-shirt out, but I can't bear to throw it away. | |
| * Analysis: Here, **烂** means worn-out or tattered from overuse. | |
| * **Example 10:** | |
| * 为了考试，我把这些词都背得滚瓜**烂**熟了。 | |
| * Pinyin: Wèile kǎoshì, wǒ bǎ zhèxiē cí dōu bèi de gǔnguā**làn**shú le. | |
| * English: For the exam, I memorized all these words perfectly (until I knew them inside and out). | |
| * Analysis: A great example of a positive idiom using **烂**. `滚瓜烂熟 (gǔnguālàshú)` means to know something so well it's second nature, like a melon so ripe and "mushy" it rolls easily. | |
| ===== Nuances and Common Mistakes ===== | |
| * **Mistake 1: Confusing 烂 (làn) with 不好 (bù hǎo).** | |
| * `不好` just means "not good." It's a mild, objective statement. A restaurant can be `不好` because you didn't like the service. | |
| * `烂` means "terrible, lousy, crappy." It's a strong, subjective, and informal judgment of quality. That same restaurant is `烂` because the food was inedible and the kitchen was filthy. | |
| * **Incorrect:** `这个苹果有点儿烂。` (This apple is a little bit rotten.) While grammatically okay, people would more likely say `这个苹果有点儿坏了 (huài le)`. **烂** implies a more advanced state of decay. | |
| * **Mistake 2: Forgetting the positive food context.** | |
| * A beginner hearing a friend say `这锅牛肉很烂 (zhè guō niúròu hěn làn)` might mistakenly think they are saying the beef is spoiled. Remember, in a cooking context, **烂** is almost always a compliment meaning "perfectly tender." | |
| * **Mistake 3: Overusing it in formal situations.** | |
| * While extremely common, **烂** is colloquial. In a formal business presentation or academic paper, you would use more neutral words like `差 (chà)` (poor), `质量低 (zhìliàng dī)` (low quality), or `有待提高 (yǒudài tígāo)` (needs improvement) instead of saying a competitor's product is **烂**. | |
| ===== Related Terms and Concepts ===== | |
| * [[坏]] (huài) - Bad, broken, spoiled. A general-purpose word for "bad." When describing food, `坏了` and `烂了` are often interchangeable. For objects, `坏了` means "broken." | |
| * [[差]] (chà) - Poor (in quality), lacking, inferior. More formal and less emotional than **烂**. Often used to describe performance, like `成绩很差` (grades are poor). | |
| * [[破]] (pò) - Broken, torn, worn-out. Used for physical objects. A shirt can be both `破` (torn) and `烂` (worn-out). | |
| * [[糟糕]] (zāogāo) - Terrible, what a mess! Describes a bad situation or outcome. You would shout `糟糕！` (Oh no!/Crap!) when you realize you forgot your keys, but you would describe a bad movie as `很烂`. | |
| * [[腐烂]] (fǔlàn) - To rot, decay, decompose. This is a more formal, almost scientific, term for the literal meaning of **烂**. You'd see it in a biology textbook. | |
| * [[烂摊子]] (làn tānzi) - A mess, a shambles. A set phrase using **烂** to describe a chaotic situation left for someone else to fix. | |
| * [[滚瓜烂熟]] (gǔnguālàshú) - An idiom meaning to know something perfectly by heart. One of the most common positive uses of **烂**. | |
| * [[破罐子破摔]] (pò guànzi pò shuāi) - Lit. "a cracked pot is smashed anyway." An idiom describing a defeatist attitude of giving up completely because things are already bad. It shares the "broken/rotten" theme with **烂**. | |