翻 (fān): to turn over, to flip over, to overturn
翻 (fān) is a Chinese character meaning “to turn over.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 番 (phonetic) and 羽 (semantic). It ranks #1026 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 翻 wings. Its radical form 羽 (feather) appears in many related characters such as 羽 (yǔ, feather), 耀 (yào, brilliant), 翁 (wēng, elderly man).
Definitions
- to turn over
- to flip over
- to overturn
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 翻 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 翻
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 推翻verb | tuī fān | to overthrow |
| 翻过 | fān guò | to turn over |
| 翻身verb | fān shēn | to turn over (when lying) |
| 闹翻verb | nào fān | to have a falling out |
| 翻开verb | fān kāi | to open up |
| 翻转verb | fān zhuǎn | to roll |
| 翻滚verb | fān gǔn | to roll |
| 打翻verb | dǎ fān | to overturn |
| 翻新verb | fān xīn | to revamp |
| 天翻地覆phrase | tiān fān dì fù | sky and the earth turning upside down (idiom) |
| 翻修verb | fān xiū | to rebuild (house or road) |
| 翻天覆地phrase | fān tiān fù dì | sky and the earth turning upside down (idiom) |
| 翻脸verb | fān liǎn | to fall out with sb |
| 掀翻verb | xiān fān | to turn sth over |
| 后空翻noun | hòu kōng fān | backward somersault |
翻 appears in 100 compound words: 75 as the first character, 20 as the last, and 5 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 翻 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (16)
lit. overturning seas and rivers (idiom); fig. overwhelming; earth-shattering
to overturn empty convention, and display originality (idiom); new and different ideas
to pass over mountains and ridges; to trek over mountains; to make a long and difficult journey
to be fickle; to shift one's grounds constantly; to play politics; to be tricky
lit. overturning seas and rivers (idiom); fig. overwhelming; earth-shattering
to be fickle; to shift one's grounds constantly; to play politics; to be tricky
Showing 12 of 16 idioms containing 翻.
Example Sentences
请把书翻到第三页，我们开始学习新课。
Qǐng bǎ shū fān dào dì sān yè, wǒmen kāishǐ xuéxí xīn kè.
Please turn to page three of the book; let's start learning the new lesson.
台股金蛇年这7档规模翻倍增 吸金力道猛
tái gǔ jīn shé nián zhè 7 dàng guī mó fān bèi zēng xī jīn lì dào měng
The scale of these 7 gears in the Year of the Golden Snake of Taiwan stocks has doubled, and the gold absorption is fierce
制药设备热起来 皇将开年营收就翻倍成长
zhì yào shè bèi rè qǐ lái huáng jiāng kāi nián yíng shōu jiù fān bèi chéng cháng
Pharmaceutical equipment is heating up, and the revenue of the emperor will double at the beginning of the year
广东流行歌诞生前我们听甚么?中大教授翻查史料还原时代曲面貌
guǎng dōng liú háng gē dàn shēng qián wǒ men tīng shèn má ? zhōng dà jiào shòu fān chá shǐ liào hái yuán shí dài qū miàn mào
What did we listen to before the birth of Cantonese pop songs? CUHK professors check historical materials to restore the appearance of the times
大型翻车现场!印度大学买中国机器狗充自研,被抓...
dà xíng fān chē xiàn chǎng ! yìn dù dà xué mǎi zhōng guó jī qì gǒu chōng zì yán , bèi zhuā . . .
Large-scale overturn scene! Indian universities to buy Chinese robotic dogs for self-research, was caught...
我的新年“特供”丨订单翻倍!小碗梨成春节假期“新宠..
wǒ de xīn nián tè gōng 丨 dìng shàn fān bèi ! xiǎo wǎn lí chéng chūn jié jiǎ qī xīn chǒng . .
My New Year's Special Offer丨Orders Double! Small Bowl Pears Become the New Favorite of the Spring Festival Holiday...
我叔叔让我担任翻译。
Wǒ shūshu ràng wǒ dānrèn fānyì.
My uncle had me act as a translator.
翻译是欧洲的语言。
Fānyì shì ōuzhōu de yǔyán.
Translation is the language of Europe.
你再出个句子让我翻译翻译，好吗？
Nǐ zài chū gè jùzi ràng wǒ fānyì fānyì, hǎo ma?
Can you give me another sentence to translate?
你可以把英文翻译成日语吗？
Nǐ kěyǐ bǎ Yīngwén fānyì chéng Rìyǔ ma?
Can you translate English into Japanese?
Character Family
羽 Radical Family — Characters sharing the feather radical
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 翻 (fān) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 翻 and 潘?
How many strokes does 翻 have?
What is the radical of 翻?
What are the components of 翻?
What are common words containing 翻?
What characters sound the same as 翻 (fān)?
Is 翻 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 翻 with real-time feedback
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