肝炎
gānyán
The English word hepatitis is 肝炎 (gānyán) in Mandarin.
肝炎 is used to refer to the medical condition of liver inflammation. You can specify the type of hepatitis by adding the type before the word, such as 乙型肝炎 (yǐ xíng gānyán) for Hepatitis B.
Meaning: liver inflammation (noun)
What does it mean word for word?
The word 肝炎 is composed of 肝 (gān), meaning 'liver' and 炎 (yán), meaning 'inflammation'.
How do you pronounce it?
gānyán
Did you know?
- In modern Chinese internet slang, the verb 肝 (gān) is used to describe staying up all night to study or grind in a video game, referring to the strain put on the liver.
- The word 肝 is used in the common idiom 肝胆相照 (gāndǎn xiāngzhào), which describes friends who are so loyal they show each other their livers and gallbladders.
- In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the 肝 (liver) is believed to govern the flow of 气 (qi) and is closely linked to the emotion of anger.
Examples in context
- 她得了肝炎，难怪越來越瘦了。She got hepatitis no wonder she is losing so much weight.The sentence is useful for showing how to express that someone has 肝炎 and describing the resulting weight loss.Tatoeba #4632996 by LeeSooHa, translation #4632995 by LeeSooHa
- 医生，我被诊断出患有肝炎。Doctor, I have been diagnosed with hepatitis.
- 他因為患有肝炎而住院了。Tā yīnwèi huànyǒu gānyán ér zhùyuàn le.He was hospitalized because he has hepatitis.
- 醫生說這種肝炎可以治癒。Yīshēng shuō zhè zhǒng gānyán kěyǐ zhìyù.The doctor said this type of hepatitis can be cured.
Example conversation
Two friends are talking about health results.
- 雨婷 Yuting浩然，你的检查报告出来了吗？hàorán, nǐ de jiǎnchá bàogào chūláile ma?Haoran, have your test results come back?
- 浩然 Haoran出来了，医生说我有肝炎。chūláile, yīshēng shuō wǒ yǒu gānyán.They have, the doctor said I have hepatitis.
- 雨婷 Yuting真的很糟糕，你现在感觉怎么样？zhēn de hěn zāogāo, nǐ xiànzài gǎnjué zěnmeyàng?That's really bad, how are you feeling now?
- 浩然 Haoran我最近觉得很累，没多少精神。wǒ zuìjìn juéde hěn lèi, méi duōshǎo jīngshén.I've been feeling very tired lately and lack energy.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “hepatitis” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
