泛 fàn — broad; vast; float; pan-; float; general
微风吹过，湖面泛起一圈圈波纹。Wēi fēng chuī guò, hú miàn fàn qǐ yì quān quān bō wén.A breeze blew, and ripples spread across the lake.
Common words: 广泛 (guǎng fàn)、泛滥 (fàn làn)、宽泛 (kuān fàn)
Meaning Index
Chinese characters meaning "float"
Learn Chinese characters with the meaning "float", including 泛 (fàn), 泛 (fàn). Study pinyin, English meanings, traditional forms, common words, and examples.
How to Study This Meaning Group
The English word "float" covers 2 different Chinese characters — 泛 (fàn), 泛 (fàn) — and each is its own word with its own feel. These 2 characters happen to share the reading fàn, so lean on the words and written forms to tell them apart. The example sentences further down show how 泛 and the others are actually used, so you learn them in context rather than as a single translation.
- 泛 fànbroad; vast; float; pan-; float; generalUseful words: 广泛, 泛滥
- 泛 fànbroad; vast; float; pan-; float; generalUseful words: 广泛, 泛滥
Common words for these 2 "float" characters
Anchor each of these 2 characters in a word you can picture — start with 泛 (fàn) — so "float" turns into concrete usage instead of a one-to-one translation.
See each character in a sentence
Each character below is shown in a short example sentence with pinyin and an English translation — the quickest way to feel the difference between the 2 ways to say "float".
泛 fàn — broad; vast; float; pan-; float; general
微风吹过，湖面泛起一圈圈波纹。Wēi fēng chuī guò, hú miàn fàn qǐ yì quān quān bō wén.A breeze blew, and ripples spread across the lake.
Common words: 广泛 (guǎng fàn)、泛滥 (fàn làn)、宽泛 (kuān fàn)
All 2 characters
Open 泛、泛 or any character below to hear it read aloud and see it used in an example sentence.