Pinyin Syllable
Chinese characters pronounced ben
Learn common Chinese characters pronounced ben, including 本 běn, 奔 bēn / bèn, 笨 bèn. Compare tones, meanings, traditional forms, words, and example sentences.
How to Pronounce This Syllable
ben joins the initial b to the final en in one motion — say it as a single Mandarin beat with the tone over it, not as English letters in a row.
Initial b
Start the syllable on the initial b, then run straight into the final en — keep them joined instead of sounding out separate English letters.
Final en
Keep the ending light and nasal.
Study Tip
Start with the most common characters (本 běn, 奔 bēn / bèn, 笨 bèn) and lock in their tones. 3 common characters share the sound ben, so lean on words to tell the rest apart.
Learn by Tone
ben turns up here with 3 different tones; a change of tone usually means a different character, so the groups below are split by tone.
1st tone
Taking the 1st tone here: 奔 (1 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
3rd tone
Taking the 3rd tone here: 本 (1 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
4th tone
Taking the 4th tone here: 笨 (1 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.
Common Words With This Sound
Seeing ben inside whole words makes it clear which character is meant — here are common ones.
Characters
3 common characters in this group.