Meaning
roots or stems of plants; origin; source; this; the current; root
Chinese: 根本、书本或本来。
Hear the Four Tones
The same syllable “ben” becomes a different word in each tone. 本 is the 3rd tone. Tap any tone to hear a native voice and see its pitch shape.
Stroke Order
Tap Animate to watch the strokes in order, or Practice to trace it yourself.
Common Words
- 本子běn zibook; notebook; Japanese-style self-published comic (esp. an erotic one), aka "dōjinshi"; edition
- 课本kè běntextbook
- 笔记本bǐ jì běnnotebook (stationery) (; (computing) laptop; notebook
- 根本gēn běnfundamental; basic; root; simply
- 本来běn láioriginal; originally; at first; it goes without saying
Example Sentence
我借了三本书。Wǒ jiè le sān běn shū.I borrowed three books.
我WǒI借jièto borrow了le(completed action)三sānthree本běn(bound form) root书shūbook。
Go deeper
Where this character comes from
A tree (木) with a short stroke marking its base — pointing at the roots. It means ‘root / origin / basis’.
A way to remember it
A mark at the foot of the tree — down at the root.