本 (běn): (bound form) root, stem, (bound form) origin, source, (bound form) one's own, this
本 (běn) is a Chinese character meaning “(bound form) root.” Classified as HSK Level 1 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 木 (structural) and 一 (structural). It ranks #92 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 本 a tree 木 with its roots highlighted. Its radical form 木 (tree) appears in many related characters such as 机 (jī, machine, opportunity), 条 (tiáo, strip), 来 (lái, to come).
Definitions
- (bound form) root
- stem
- (bound form) origin
- source
- (bound form) one's own
- this
Etymology & Origin
ideographicA tree 木 with its roots highlighted
Decomposition: ⿻木一 (layout: overlay)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 本 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 本
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 根本noun/adjective/adverb | gēn běn | fundamental | 5 |
| 本来adjective/adverb | běn lái | original | 4 |
| 基本adjective/adverb | jī běn | basic | 4 |
| 剧本noun | jù běn | script | 6 |
| 本地noun | běn dì | local | 5 |
| 本人pronoun | běn rén | I | 5 |
| 本身pronoun | běn shēn | itself | 6 |
| 原本adverb | yuán běn | originally | 6 |
| 基本上adverb | jī běn shang | basically | 4 |
| 笔记本noun | bǐ jì běn | notebook (stationery) | 3 |
| 版本noun | bǎn běn | version | 6 |
| 本能noun/adverb | běn néng | instinct | 6 |
| 本质noun | běn zhì | essence | 5 |
| 成本noun | chéng běn | (manufacturing, production etc) costs | 5 |
| 本土noun | běn tǔ | one's native country | 6 |
| 本子noun | běn zi | book | 2 |
| 本领noun | běn lǐng | skill | 5 |
| 资本noun | zī běn | capital (economics) | 6 |
| 课本noun | kè běn | textbook | 3 |
| 本科noun | běn kē | undergraduate course | 4 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 日本proper-noun | rì běn | Japan |
| 样本noun | yàng běn | sample |
| 本事noun | běn shì | source material |
| 本性noun | běn xìng | natural instincts |
| 本意noun | běn yì | original idea |
| 本杰明proper-noun | běn jié míng | Benjamin (person name) |
| 副本noun | fù běn | copy |
| 本色noun | běn sè | inherent qualities |
| 账本noun | zhàng běn | account book |
| 本市noun | běn shì | this city |
| 书本noun | shū běn | book (chiefly used to refer to a plurality of books or books in general) |
| 标本noun | biāo běn | specimen |
本 appears in 112 compound words: 48 as the first character, 47 as the last, and 4 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 本 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (24)
Alternative name for 特徵向量／特征向量 (tèzhēng xiàngliàng, “eigenvector”).
to get worse; to become aggravated; to intensify one's effort to do something wrong
mercy as the guiding principle (idiom); the Buddhist teaching that nothing is valid except compassion
Alternative name for 特徵向量／特征向量 (tèzhēng xiàngliàng, “eigenvector”).
Showing 12 of 24 idioms containing 本.
Example Sentences
这本书的内容很丰富，值得反复阅读。
Zhè běn shū de nèiróng hěn fēngfù, zhíde fǎnfù yuèdú.
The content of this book is very rich and worth reading repeatedly.
日本流感疫情持续高位,七成地区达“警报”级别
rì běn liú gǎn yì qíng chí xù gāo wèi , qī chéng dì qū dá jǐng bào jí bié
The influenza epidemic in Japan continues to be high, with 70% of the regions reaching the "alert" level
雷军晒本人AI拜年图并发文:今天初二,继续拜年,...
léi jūn shài běn rén bài nián tú bìng fā wén jīn tiān chū èr , jì xù bài nián , . . .
Lei Jun sun myself AI New Year's Day picture and text: today the second day, continue to pay tribute to the New Year,...
超标近2000倍 日本石川县一处地下水检出高浓度有..
chāo biāo jìn bèi rì běn shí chuān xiàn yī chǔ dì xià shuǐ jiǎn chū gāo nóng dù yǒu . .
Groundwater in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, found to contain high concentrations of... Exceeding standards by nearly 2,000 times.
西媒:“抛售日本”会否演变为“抛售美国”?
xī méi pāo shòu rì běn huì fǒu yǎn biàn wéi pāo shòu měi guó ?
Western Media: Could the "Sell-Off of Japan" Turn into a "Sell-Off of the U.S."?
日本一处地下水有机氟化合物超标约2000倍
rì běn yī chǔ dì xià shuǐ yǒu jī 氟 huā gě wù chāo biāo yāo bèi
Organic fluorine compounds in groundwater at a location in Japan exceed standards by approximately 2,000 times.
这本书我能借多久？
Zhè běn shū wǒ néng jiè duōjiǔ?
How long can I borrow this book?
我能看一眼那本杂志吗？
Wǒ néng kàn yīyǎn nèi běn zázhì ma?
Can I have a look at the magazine?
你是中国人还是日本人？
Nǐ shì Zhōngguórén háishi Rìběnrén?
Are you Chinese or Japanese?
你为什么来了日本？
Nǐ wèishénme lái le Rìběn?
Why did you come to Japan?
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 本 (běn) mean in Chinese?
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What characters sound the same as 本 (běn)?
Is 本 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 本 with real-time feedback
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