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Mythic Mandarin

本来 (běn lái): meaning and stroke order

本来 (běn lái) means original, originally, at first, it goes without saying, of course.

本来

Simplified
本来
Traditional
本來
Pinyin
běn lái

Stroke order of 本来

本

  • běn (bound form) root; stem; (bound form) origin; source
  • 5 strokes

Stroke by stroke

来

  • lái to come; (used as a substitute for a more specific verb)
  • 7 strokes
  • Traditional form: 來

Stroke by stroke

Meaning of 本来

  1. běn lái Traditional 本來
    • original
    • originally
    • at first
    • it goes without saying
    • of course

Radicals of the characters

本
Radical 木 (Kangxi radical 75) · 5 strokes · built from 木 and 一
来
Radical 木 (Kangxi radical 75) · 7 strokes · built from 未 and 丷

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.

本来 in our stories

Preview version — Chinese review in progress.

  • 可是她更清楚，有些选择本来就没有完美的答案，只有你能不能接受的答案。

    kěshì tā gèng qīngchu yǒuxiē xuǎnzé běnlái jiù méiyǒu wánměi de dá'àn zhǐyǒu nǐ néng bù néng jiēshòu de dá'àn

    But she understood even better that some choices simply have no perfect answer, only answers you can or can't live with.

    From the story No perfect answer HSK 6

  • 有人替介子推抱不平，他却淡淡地说：“我做那件事，本来就不是为了做官。”说完，便背着老母亲去了绵山隐居。

    yǒurén tì Jiè Zǐtuī bào bùpíng tā què dàndàn de shuō wǒ zuò nà jiàn shì běnlái jiù bú shì wèile zuò guān shuōwán biàn bēi zhe lǎo mǔqīn qù le Mián Shān yǐnjū

    Someone protested the injustice on his behalf, but he said calmly, "I never did that to become an official." Then he carried his old mother on his back to live as a recluse on Mount Mian.

    From the story Cold Food Day and Qingming HSK 7–9 · Level 7

  • 端午节到了，许仙给妻子倒了一杯酒。白素贞怀着孩子，本来不想喝，又怕丈夫起疑心，只好喝了下去。

    Duānwǔjié dào le Xǔ Xiān gěi qīzi dào le yì bēi jiǔ Bái Sùzhēn huái zhe háizi běnlái bù xiǎng hē yòu pà zhàngfu qǐ yíxīn zhǐhǎo hē le xiàqu

    The Dragon Boat Festival came and Xu Xian poured his wife a cup of wine. Bai Suzhen, who was pregnant, didn't want to drink it, but afraid of arousing her husband's suspicion, she drank it down.

    From the story The Legend of the White Snake HSK 7–9 · Level 9

Stories using 本来

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).