Pinyin Syllable

Chinese characters pronounced fan

Learn common Chinese characters pronounced fan, including 反 fǎn, 范 fàn, 犯 fàn, 饭 fàn, 凡 fán. Compare tones, meanings, traditional forms, words…

How to Pronounce This Syllable

fan joins the initial f to the final an in one motion — say it as a single Mandarin beat with the tone over it, not as English letters in a row.

Initial f

Start the syllable on the initial f, then run straight into the final an — keep them joined instead of sounding out separate English letters.

Final an

Keep an short and open; do not turn it into ang.

Study Tip

Start with the most common characters (反 fǎn, 范 fàn, 犯 fàn, 饭 fàn, 凡 fán) and lock in their tones. 13 common characters share the sound fan, so lean on words to tell the rest apart.

Learn by Tone

fan turns up here with 4 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: 翻, 番, 帆 (3 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.

翻fānflit about; translate; turn over 番fān / pān(measure word for acts); deeds; foreign; (surname); place name 帆fānsail

2nd tone

Taking the 2nd tone here: 凡, 烦, 繁 (3 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.

凡fánordinary; every; all; whatever; worldly 烦fánfeel vexed; to bother 繁fáncomplicated; many; in great numbers

3rd tone

Taking the 3rd tone here: 反, 返 (2 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.

反fǎnwrong side out or up; anti-返fǎnto return (to)

4th tone

Taking the 4th tone here: 范, 犯, 饭… (5 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.

范fànpattern; model; example; (surname)犯fànto violate; to offend 饭fànfood; cuisine; cooked rice; meal 泛fànbroad; vast; float; pan-; float; general 贩fàndeal in; trade in; to peddle; to sell

Common Words With This Sound

Seeing fan inside whole words makes it clear which character is meant — here are common ones.

反应fǎn yìngto react; to respond; reaction; response 反对fǎn duìto oppose; to be against; to object to 反正fǎn zhènganyway; in any case; to come over from the enemy's side 范围fàn wéirange; scope; limit; extent 规范guī fànnorm; standard; specification; regulation 示范shì fànto demonstrate; to show how to do sth; demonstration; a model example 罪犯zuì fàncriminal 犯罪fàn zuìto commit a crime; crime; offense 侵犯qīn fànto infringe on; to encroach on; to violate; to assault 吃饭chī fànto have a meal; to eat; to make a living

Characters

13 common characters in this group.

Character#1 反 fǎnwrong side out or up; anti-Traditional: 反 Character#2 范 fànpattern; model; example; (surname)Traditional: 範 Character#3 犯 fànto violate; to offendTraditional: 犯 Character#4 饭 fànfood; cuisine; cooked rice; mealTraditional: 飯 Character#5 凡 fánordinary; every; all; whatever; worldlyTraditional: 凡 Character#6 翻 fānflit about; translate; turn overTraditional: 翻 Character#7 烦 fánfeel vexed; to botherTraditional: 煩 Character#8 繁 fáncomplicated; many; in great numbersTraditional: 緐 Character#9 泛 fànbroad; vast; float; pan-; float; generalTraditional: 泛 Character#10 返 fǎnto return (to)Traditional: 返 Character#11 番 fān / pān(measure word for acts); deeds; foreign; (surname); place nameTraditional: 番 Character#12 帆 fānsailTraditional: 帆 Character#13 贩 fàndeal in; trade in; to peddle; to sellTraditional: 販