<p>As a noun, only '乾' means 'dried product' While 幹 as a noun means 'tree trunk'.  They are two different words </p>

<p>'乾' as an adjective means 'dry'</p>

<p>Both 乾 and 幹 were simplified to 干 in simplified Chinese</p>

<p>Sometimes when people translate simplified Chinese back to traditional Chinese 干 was wrongly translated as 幹 instead of 乾, or vice versa. For example 蘋果乾 --> 苹果干 -->蘋果幹(wrongly translate 干 as 幹 instead of 乾); 幹好工作 -->干好工作 --> 乾好工作 (wrongly translate 干 as 乾 instead of 幹)</p>

<p>Similarly </p>

<p>Both 發 and 髮 are simplified to 发</p>

<p>I had seen many instances of  紅髮 --> 红发 --> 紅發 (wrongly translate 发 as 發 instead of 髮)</p>

<p>Even Google Translate makes the <a href="https://translate.google.ca/#view=home&amp;op=translate&amp;sl=en&amp;tl=zh-TW&amp;text=red%20hair" rel="nofollow noreferrer">same mistake</a> 
<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/yqgVO.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/yqgVO.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-06-06T10:43:51.043Z
2020-06-06T10:57:13.513Z
2020-06-06T10:57:13.513Z
Tang Ho
<p>「乾」 (Baxter-Sagart OC: <strong>/*[k]ˤar/</strong>) is the original character meaning <em>dry</em>. Using 「幹」 for <em>dry</em> was sometimes found in history, but in Modern Chinese this should be considered a spelling mistake.</p>

<p>「幹」 is a corruption of 「榦」. 「榦」 is comprised of semantic 「木」 and phonetic 「倝」, indicating the meaning <em>tree trunk</em>, extended to mean <em>main body</em> > <em>main organisation, cadre, framework</em> > <em>to conduct, to do</em>. 「木」 was sometimes corrupted into 「干」 to give an additional sound hint, producing 「幹」, and this is the variant that the Taiwan and Hong Kong standards use.</p>

<hr>

<p><a href="http://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/yanbian?kaiOrder=59" rel="nofollow noreferrer">「干」 depicts a <em>two-pronged weapon</em></a>, but this meaning is no longer used. Most other meanings you find with this character are phonetic loans; it is now most commonly used for the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavenly_Stems" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><em>Heavenly Stems</em></a> (天干地支), unless you're learning Simplified Chinese.</p>

<p>「乾」 is sometimes pronounced <strong>qián</strong> (OC: <strong>/*[ɡ](r)ar/</strong>), meaning <em>sky, heaven</em>. This is a phonetic loan.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-06-06T10:25:49.140Z
2020-06-06T14:22:22.233Z
2020-06-06T14:22:22.233Z
dROOOze
<p>I know that dry is "乾燥", but according to Google Translate:</p>

<ul>
<li>dried apples = 蘋果乾</li>
<li>dried apricots = 杏乾</li>
<li>dried mangosteens = 山竹果乾</li>
<li>dried durians = 榴蓮幹</li>
<li>dried yeast = 幹酵母</li>
<li>dried chickpeas = 幹鷹嘴豆</li>
<li>dried cranberries = 蔓越莓幹</li>
</ul>

<p>What is the difference between 乾 and 幹?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-09-02T20:19:25.277Z
In this specific context, the 幹 should all be 乾. They made a mistake converting simplified to traditional I suppose.
dvx2718
<difference><characters>
What is the difference between 乾 and 幹?
# What is the difference between 乾 and 幹?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-06-06)

I know that dry is "乾燥", but according to Google Translate:

* dried apples = 蘋果乾
* dried apricots = 杏乾
* dried mangosteens = 山竹果乾
* dried durians = 榴蓮幹
* dried yeast = 幹酵母
* dried chickpeas = 幹鷹嘴豆
* dried cranberries = 蔓越莓幹

What is the difference between 乾 and 幹?

**Tags:** difference, characters

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: In this specific context, the 幹 should all be 乾. They made a mistake converting simplified to traditional I suppose.  

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2020-06-06. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

As a noun, only '乾' means 'dried product' While 幹 as a noun means 'tree trunk'. They are two different words

'乾' as an adjective means 'dry'

Both 乾 and 幹 were simplified to 干 in simplified Chinese

Sometimes when people translate simplified Chinese back to traditional Chinese 干 was wrongly translated as 幹 instead of 乾, or vice versa. For example 蘋果乾 --> 苹果干 -->蘋果幹(wrongly translate 干 as 幹 instead of 乾); 幹好工作 -->干好工作 --> 乾好工作 (wrongly translate 干 as 乾 instead of 幹)

Similarly

Both 發 and 髮 are simplified to 发

I had seen many instances of 紅髮 --> 红发 --> 紅發 (wrongly translate 发 as 發 instead of 髮)

Even Google Translate makes the [same mistake](https://translate.google.ca/#view=home&op=translate&sl=en&tl=zh-TW&text=red%20hair)
[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/yqgVO.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/yqgVO.png)


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### Answer by username_3 on 2020-06-06. Score: 4

「乾」 (Baxter-Sagart OC: **/\*[k]ˤar/**) is the original character meaning *dry*. Using 「幹」 for *dry* was sometimes found in history, but in Modern Chinese this should be considered a spelling mistake.

「幹」 is a corruption of 「榦」. 「榦」 is comprised of semantic 「木」 and phonetic 「倝」, indicating the meaning *tree trunk*, extended to mean *main body* > *main organisation, cadre, framework* > *to conduct, to do*. 「木」 was sometimes corrupted into 「干」 to give an additional sound hint, producing 「幹」, and this is the variant that the Taiwan and Hong Kong standards use.

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[「干」 depicts a *two-pronged weapon*](http://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/yanbian?kaiOrder=59), but this meaning is no longer used. Most other meanings you find with this character are phonetic loans; it is now most commonly used for the [*Heavenly Stems*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavenly_Stems) (天干地支), unless you're learning Simplified Chinese.

「乾」 is sometimes pronounced **qián** (OC: **/\*[ɡ](r)ar/**), meaning *sky, heaven*. This is a phonetic loan.


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