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.”
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 gǔnguālànshú 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.