苯 (běn): benzene, benzol (chemistry)

苯 (běn) is a Chinese character meaning “benzene.” Outside the HSK 3.0 syllabus (CLEC 2022), it is composed of 艹 (semantic) and 本 (phonetic). It ranks #2961 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 苯 is a compound character. Its radical form 艹 (grass) appears in many related characters such as 蒸 (zhēng, to steam), 草 (cǎo, grass), 花 (huā, flower).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. benzene
  2. benzol (chemistry)

Etymology & Origin

苯

pictophoneticThis character is a compound form.

Decomposition: ⿱艹本 (layout: top-bottom)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

Practice writing 苯 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
甲苯nounjiǎ běntoluene C6H5CH3
苯环nounběn huánbenzene ring (chemistry)
苯酚běn fēnphenol C6H5OH
苯甲酸nounběn jiǎ suānbenzoic acid C6H5COOH
聚苯乙烯nounjù běn yǐ xīpolystyrene
苯基nounběn jīphenyl group
苯胺běn àn(chemistry) aniline (C6H5NH2)
苯乙烯nounběn yǐ xī(chemistry) styrene
苯环利定běn huán lì dìngphencyclidine (PCP)
多氯联苯nounduō lǜ lián běnpolychlorinated biphenyl (PCB)
二甲苯nounèr jiǎ běnxylene
三硝基甲苯sān xiāo jī jiǎ běntrinitrotoluene (TNT)
苯那辛nounběn nà xīnbenactyzine
过氧化苯甲酰guò yǎng huà běn jiǎ xiānbenzoil peroxide
对羟基苯甲酸酯duì qiǎng jī běn jiǎ suān zhǐparaben (chemistry)
42
Total compounds
43
As first character
21
As last character
36
As middle character

苯 appears in 42 compound words: 43 as the first character, 21 as the last, and 36 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.

Idioms & Chengyu (2)

多氯联苯duōlǜliánběn

polychlorinated biphenyl, polychlorobiphenyl, PCB

noun
聚苯乙烯jùběnyǐxī

polystyrene

noun

Example Sentences

中国新闻网·生活Sep 2026

国外也有为猪尾巴涂上无毒但极苦的苯甲地那铵的做法,从味觉层面降低咬尾的欲望。

guó wài yě yǒu wéi zhū wěi bā tú shàng wú dú dàn jí kǔ de běn jiǎ dì nà 铵 de zuò fǎ , cóng wèi jué céng miàn jiàng dī yǎo wěi de yù wàng .

In some countries, pig tails are also coated with benzyldimethylammonium chloride, which is non-toxic but extremely bitter, to reduce the urge to bite their tails by affecting their sense of taste.

少数派Aug 2026

视频指出,如果手机壳散发刺鼻异味,往往意味着其苯含量可能超标数百倍。

shì pín zhǐ chū , rú guǒ shǒu jī qiào sàn fā cì bí yì wèi , wǎng wǎng yì wèi zhe qí běn hán liàng kě néng chāo biāo shǔ bǎi bèi .

The video points out that if a phone case emits a pungent odor, it often means its benzene content may exceed the standard by hundreds of times.

奇客SolidotAug 2026

每只深海热泉动物体内平均发现了 3.42 个塑料碎片,最常见的是聚苯乙烯。

měi zhī shēn hǎi rè quán dòng wù tǐ nèi píng jūn fā xiàn le 3 . 4 2 gè sù liào suì piàn , zuì cháng jiàn de shì jù běn yǐ xī .

An average of 3.42 plastic fragments were found in each deep-sea hydrothermal vent organism, with polystyrene being the most common.

中国新闻网·生活Jun 2026

油烟中的有害物质,如苯并芘、丙烯醛等,存在诱发肺癌的风险。

yóu yān zhōng de yǒu hài wù zhì , rú běn bìng 芘 , bǐng xī quán děng , cún zài yòu fā fèi ái de fēng xiǎn .

Harmful substances in cooking fumes, such as benzo[a]pyrene and acrolein, pose a risk of causing lung cancer.

少数派May 2026

不过,化学染色剂中往往都含有对苯二胺,它是一种皮肤的过敏原。

bù guò , huà xué rǎn sè jì zhōng wǎng wǎng dōu hán yǒu duì běn èr àn , tā shì yī zhǒng pí fū de guò mǐn yuán .

However, chemical hair dyes often contain p-phenylenediamine, which is a skin allergen.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 艹 component

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 苯 (běn) mean in Chinese?
苯 (běn) primarily means "benzene." It is not part of the HSK 3.0 syllabus. It ranks #2961 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 苯 have?
苯 is written with 8 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.
What is the radical of 苯?
The radical associated with 苯 is 艹 (grass). This radical appears in many characters related to grass.
What are the components of 苯?
苯 is composed of: 艹 (semantic), 本 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿱艹本 with a top-bottom layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 苯?
Common words with 苯 include: 甲苯 (jiǎ běn, "toluene C6H5CH3"); 苯环 (běn huán, "benzene ring (chemistry)"); 苯酚 (běn fēn, "phenol C6H5OH"); 苯甲酸 (běn jiǎ suān, "benzoic acid C6H5COOH"); 聚苯乙烯 (jù běn yǐ xī, "polystyrene"). There are over 42 compound words containing this character.
Is 苯 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 苯 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 苯 with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

Character data sourced from Unihan (Unicode Consortium), SUBTLEX-CH frequency corpus (Cai & Brysbaert, 2010), and Make Me a Hanzi (stroke data). Collocation strength measured via NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information). Verified by the HanziFeed linguistics team.

HSK classification follows the HSK 3.0 Standard (Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, 2022 revision). Idiom data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Data last verified: March 2026.