曬成褐色 / 晒成褐色
shàichénghèsè
In Chinese, 'tan' can be expressed as 曬成褐色 / 晒成褐色 (shàichénghèsè) or 曬黑 / 晒黑.
Meaning: darkening of the skin (noun)
Ways to say it
| Chinese | Romanization (Wiktionary) |
|---|---|
| 曬成褐色 / 晒成褐色 | shàichénghèsè |
| 曬黑 / 晒黑 | shàihēi |
The term refers to the darkening of the skin. The standard verb for discussing the result of sun exposure on skin color is 曬黑 / 晒黑.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase 曬成褐色 / 晒成褐色 literally means 'to sun-dry into a brown color'.
Which one should you use?
While 曬成褐色 / 晒成褐色 describes the specific color change to brown, 曬黑 / 晒黑 is the much more common way to say one has 'gotten a tan' or 'turned dark' from the sun.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
Adding the particle 了 to 曬黑 / 晒黑 to form 曬黑了 creates the perfective aspect, indicating the tanning process has already occurred.
How do you pronounce it?
shàichénghèsè
Did you know?
- While English speakers often view a 'tan' as a sign of health or leisure, the term 曬黑 is historically associated with poverty and hard manual labor in the fields.
- The word 曬 used in 曬黑 is the same character used for drying laundry, salted fish, or medicinal herbs in the sun.
- The concept of 'tanning' as a desired beauty trend is often referred to as 古銅色 which means 'bronze color', rather than using the verb 曬黑.
Examples in context
- 他穿着茶色的西装。He is wearing a tan suit.
- 这幅画的背景是黄褐色的。The background of this painting is tan.
- 她的皮肤有些浅棕色。Her skin has a light tan color.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “tan” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
