本 (běn): meaning and stroke order
本 (běn) means (bound form) root; stem, (bound form) origin; source, (bound form) one's own; this.
本
- Simplified
- 本
- Traditional
- 本 (same form)
- Pinyin
- běn
Audio preview uses your device’s Chinese voice. It is not a recording.
Stroke order of 本
本
- běn (bound form) root; stem; (bound form) origin; source
- 5 strokes
Stroke by stroke
Practise the whole word
Write each character in its box. A hint appears after a few wrong strokes.
Meaning of 本
-
běn
- (bound form) root; stem
- (bound form) origin; source
- (bound form) one's own; this
- (bound form) this; the current (year etc)
- (bound form) original
- (bound form) inherent
- originally; initially
- capital; principal
- classifier for books, periodicals, files etc
Radical and structure
- 本
- Radical 木 (Kangxi radical 75) · 5 strokes · built from 木 and 一
Radicals and stroke counts: Unicode Unihan database. Structure: the shapes a character is written with (BabelStone IDS), not necessarily parts that carry meaning or sound.
Words with 本
- 本事 běn shì source material; original story
- 本人 běn rén I; me; myself; oneself; yourself; himself; herself; the person concerned
- 本来 běn lái original; originally
- 书本 shū běn book (chiefly used to refer to a plurality of books or books in general)
- 本身 běn shēn itself; in itself
- 本着 běn zhe based on...; in conformance with..
- 根本 gēn běn fundamental; basic
- 本领 běn lǐng skill; ability
- 账本 zhàng běn account book
- 笔记本 bǐ jì běn notebook (stationery) (CL:本[ben3]); (computing) laptop; notebook (abbr. for 筆記本電腦|笔记本电脑[bi3 ji4 ben3 dian4 nao3])
- 成本 chéng běn (manufacturing, production etc) costs
- 原本 yuán běn originally; original
本 in our stories
Preview version — Chinese review in progress.
-
杰克想买一本中文书，可是他不知道书店在哪儿。
Jiékè xiǎng mǎi yì běn Zhōngwén shū kěshì tā bù zhīdao shūdiàn zài nǎr
Jack wants to buy a Chinese book, but he doesn't know where the bookshop is.
From the story How do I get to the bookshop? HSK 2
-
她生日那天，快递送来一个大包裹，里面是一本相册，从她们十岁到二十岁的照片都在里面。
tā shēngrì nà tiān kuàidì sònglái yí gè dà bāoguǒ lǐmiàn shì yì běn xiàngcè cóng tāmen shí suì dào èrshí suì de zhàopiàn dōu zài lǐmiàn
On her birthday a big parcel arrived: an album with their photos from age ten to twenty.
From the story Twelve hours apart HSK 4
-
学校图书馆最近出了一件怪事：每个星期一早上，还书箱里都会多出一本旧书，书里夹着一朵干花。
xuéxiào túshūguǎn zuìjìn chū le yí jiàn guàishì měi gè xīngqīyī zǎoshang huánshūxiāng lǐ dōu huì duō chū yì běn jiù shū shū lǐ jiā zhe yì duǒ gān huā
Something odd had been happening at the university library: every Monday morning there was an extra old book in the return box, with a dried flower pressed inside.
From the story Flowers in the book return HSK 5
Stories using 本
- How do I get to the bookshop? HSK 2
- Twelve hours apart HSK 4
- Flowers in the book return HSK 5
- Words written in rice water HSK 7–9 · Level 7
- Jingwei fills the sea HSK 7–9 · Level 8
- The flies that solved the case HSK 7–9 · Level 9
Dictionary data: CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Stroke data: Hanzi Writer data, derived from Make Me a Hanzi (Arphic Public License). Animation: Hanzi Writer (MIT licence). Radicals and stroke counts: Unicode Unihan (Unicode License v3).