凳 (dèng): bench, stool

凳 (dèng) is a Chinese character meaning “bench.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 登 (phonetic) and 几 (semantic). It ranks #2550 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 凳 table. Its radical form 几 (table) appears in many related characters such as 几 (jǐ, how many), 凭 (píng, to lean against), 凡 (fán, ordinary).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. bench
  2. stool

Etymology & Origin

凳

pictophonetictable

Decomposition: ⿱登几 (layout: top-bottom)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
凳子noundèng zistool
板凳nounbǎn dèngwooden bench or stool
长凳nouncháng dèngpew
坐冷板凳verbzuò lěng bǎn dèngto hold an inconsequential job
老虎凳lǎo hǔ dèngtiger bench (torture method in which the victim sits with legs extended horizontally along a bench, upper legs held d...
三角凳sān jiǎo dèngthree-legged stool
条凳nountiáo dèngbench
桌椅板凳nounzhuō yǐ bǎn dèngchairs and tables
脚凳nounjiǎo dèngfootstool
春凳chūn dèng(old) wooden bench
椅凳yǐ dèngbench
杌凳nounwù dèngChinese-style low stool
矮凳nounǎi dènglow stool
兀凳wù dèngChinese-style low stool
14
Total compounds
7
As first character
93
As last character
0
As middle character

凳 appears in 14 compound words: 7 as the first character, 93 as the last, and 0 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 凳 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

板bǎn
0.5372,406 co-occurrences
坐zuò
0.478498 co-occurrences
桌zhuō
0.448128 co-occurrences
椅yǐ
0.41682 co-occurrences
冷lěng
0.391156 co-occurrences
跪guì
0.36916 co-occurrences
杆gān
0.36740 co-occurrences
矮ǎi
0.36130 co-occurrences
球qiú
0.361614 co-occurrences
栏lán
0.35930 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (2)

桌椅板凳zhuōyǐbǎndèngHSK 7+

tables, chairs and stools; furniture (in general)

noun
坐冷板凳zuò lěngbǎndèngHSK 7+

to hold an unimportant post and be neglected; to be sidelined; to be given the cold shoulder

verb

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

凳字的写法很特别,让我印象深刻。

dèng zì de xiě fǎ hěn tè bié , ràng wǒ yìn xiàng shēn kè .

The way the character for "stool" is written is quite unique and left a deep impression on me.

中国新闻网·文化Jul 2026

田间地头、街头巷尾、庙会集市,河南坠子艺人板凳一支、坠胡一拉,戏迷便循声而去。

tián jiān dì tóu , jiē tóu xiàng wěi , miào huì jí shì , hé nán zhuì zǐ yì rén bǎn dèng yī zhī , zhuì hú yī lā , xì mí biàn xún shēng ér qù .

Whether in the fields, on the streets, or at temple fairs and markets, all it takes is for a Henan Zhuizi performer to set up a stool and begin playing the zhuihu, and theater enthusiasts will follow the sound.

中国新闻网·生活Jun 2026

正念呼吸法:找一个安静的场地,拿出一些空闲的时间,盘腿坐,或坐在凳子上。

zhèng niàn hū xī fǎ : zhǎo yī gè ān jìng de chǎng dì , ná chū yī xiē kōng xián de shí jiān , pán tuǐ zuò , huò zuò zài dèng zǐ shàng .

Mindful Breathing: Find a quiet place, set aside some free time, and sit cross-legged or on a chair.

中国新闻网·生活May 2026

夏天到了,长时间吹冷空调、久坐凉板凳、睡凉席等,也要小心肌肉痉挛诱发一系列症状。

xià tiān dào le , cháng shí jiān chuī lěng kōng diào , jiǔ zuò liáng bǎn dèng , shuì liáng xí děng , yě yāo xiǎo xīn jī ròu 痉 挛 yòu fā yī xì liè zhèng zhuàng .

Summer is here, and you should be careful of muscle cramps—which can trigger a range of symptoms—when you spend long periods in air-conditioned rooms, sit on cold benches, or sleep on cool mats.

LtnApr 2026

PLG》卢峻翔板凳出发拿23分 领航猿逆转勇士例行赛封王获...

P L G Lú jùn xiáng bǎn dèng chū fā ná 2 3 fēn lǐng háng 猿 nì zhuǎn yǒng shì lì háng sài fēng wáng huò . . .

PLG: Lu Junxiang Comes Off the Bench to Score 23 Points as the Navigator Monkeys Comeback to Defeat the Warriors, Clinching the Regular Season Title and...

百度新闻Feb 2026

用金牌当屏保,宁忠岩不过是把冷板凳坐热

yòng jīn pái dāng bǐng bǎo , nìng zhōng yán bù guò shì bǎ lěng bǎn dèng zuò rè

By using his gold medal as a screen saver, Ning Zhongyan is merely warming up a cold bench

Tatoeba

为什么你把长凳漆成红色了?

Wèishénme nǐ bǎ chángdèng qī chéng hóngsè le?

Why did you paint the bench red?

Tatoeba

猫在凳子上还是凳子下?

Māo zài dèngzi shàng háishi dèngzi xià?

Is the cat on or under the chair?

Tatoeba

老人闭上双眼,在长凳上坐着。

Lǎorén bìshang shuāngyǎn, zài chángdèng shàng zuò zhe.

The old man sat on the bench with his eyes closed.

Tatoeba

他和他朋友坐在长凳上。

Tā hé tā péngyou zuò zài chángdèng shàng.

He and his friend sat on the bench.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 几 (table) component

几 Radical Family — Characters sharing the table radical

Homophones — Characters pronounced dèng

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 凳 (dèng) mean in Chinese?
凳 (dèng) primarily means "bench." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #2550 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 凳 and 澄?
凳 (dèng) and 澄 (chéng) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 几 vs 氵 (same 登 component).
How many strokes does 凳 have?
凳 is written with 14 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 凳?
The radical associated with 凳 is 几 (table). This radical appears in many characters related to table.
What are the components of 凳?
凳 is composed of: 登 (phonetic), 几 (semantic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿱登几 with a top-bottom layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 凳?
Common words with 凳 include: 凳子 (dèng zi, "stool"); 板凳 (bǎn dèng, "wooden bench or stool"); 长凳 (cháng dèng, "pew"); 坐冷板凳 (zuò lěng bǎn dèng, "to hold an inconsequential job"); 老虎凳 (lǎo hǔ dèng, "tiger bench (torture method in which the victim sits with legs extended horizontally along a bench, upper legs held d..."). There are over 14 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 凳 (dèng)?
Several characters share the pronunciation dèng: 邓 (surname Deng), 瞪 (to stare), 蹬 (to step on), 等 (to wait for), and 2 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 凳 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 凳 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 凳 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.