gaan2鹼碱
Jyutpinggaan2
Yalegáan
Definition
Alkali or base; substances with a pH greater than 7.
neutralfoodother
How it's used
Beyond chemistry, this character is essential for describing traditional food preparation, such as adding 鹼水 to dough for noodles or zongzi to achieve a specific chewy texture and yellow hue. It is rarely used in casual conversation outside of scientific contexts or cooking instructions. When referring to the general concept of alkalinity, it is almost always paired with 酸 to form the compound 酸鹼.
Examples
This cleaner contains alkali, so you should wear gloves when using it.
Do you know how acids and bases react when mixed together?
Related words
Common mistake
Do not confuse this with 鹹, which means salty. While they share a similar phonetic component, 鹼 refers to chemical alkalinity, whereas 鹹 describes a taste profile.
Grammar color guide
Noun
Verb
Adjective
Adverb
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Classifier
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Connector
Grammar guides
- In 30 secondsThe whole language at a glance. No tenses, no plurals, six tones, sentence particles. Read this before you dive into any specific topic.
- ParticlesSentence particles add tone, emotion, and nuance. Learn the most common particles in Cantonese and how to use them.
- Possession (嘅)How to say my, your, and his, and how to link a describing word to a noun, all with the little word 嘅 (ge3).
