(fàn): (bound form) general, non-specific, extensive

(fàn) is a Chinese character meaning “(bound form) general.” Classified as HSK Level 5 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of (semantic) and (phonetic). It ranks #1319 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, water. Its radical form (water) appears in many related characters such as (shuǐ, water), (hàn, Han ethnic group), (, steam).

Native pronunciation

Definitions

  1. (bound form) general
  2. non-specific
  3. extensive

Etymology & Origin

pictophoneticwater

Decomposition: ⿰氵乏 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7

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

Words & Compounds

HSK Vocabulary with

WordPinyinMeaningHSK
广adjectiveguǎng fànwide5

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
fàn lànto overflow
fàn měiPan American
kuān fànwide-ranging
fàn zhōuto go boating
fàn qǐto appear
fàn fàn ér tánto speak in general terms
fàn zhǐto make a general reference
fàn làn chéng zāilit. to flood (idiom)
kōng fànvague and general
fàn yīn(music) an overtone
fàn zì rán shén lùnpandeism, theological theory that God created the Universe and became one with it
fàn dìng fāng chénguniversal differential equation
fàn mín zhǔ pàipan-Democratic alliance (Hong Kong)
fàn dài shùuniversal algebra
chāo fàn shén lùnpanentheism, theological theory of God as equal to the Universe while transcending it
42
Total compounds
69
As first character
17
As last character
14
As middle character

appears in 42 compound words: 69 as the first character, 17 as the last, and 14 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 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

广guǎng
0.704167,214 co-occurrences
làn
0.6138,196 co-occurrences
yòng
0.44982,795 co-occurrences
gēng
0.40722,536 co-occurrences
zhōu
0.4042,442 co-occurrences
yīng
0.40213,307 co-occurrences
bèi
0.39946,956 co-occurrences
zhù
0.39212,648 co-occurrences
hán
0.3924,032 co-occurrences
使shǐ
0.38931,875 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (5)

fànfàn'értánHSK 5+

to talk in generalities

phrase
fànfànzhījiāoHSK 5+

nodding acquaintance; acquaintance that one is not on intimate terms with

noun
fànlànchéngzāiHSK 7+

to flood and cause disaster; to run rampant; to run wild; to run amok

phrase
fànmínzhǔpàiHSK 5+

pro-democracy camp; pan-democrats

noun
fú jiā fàn zháiHSK 6+

lit. to live on a boat; to drift from place to place (idiom)

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

站在桥上望去,水缓缓向东流去。

zhàn zài qiáo shǎng wàng qù , fàn shuǐ huǎn huǎn xiàng dōng liú qù .

Standing on the bridge, the water flows gently eastward.

UdnnewsindexMar 2026

中东局势变化对铨营运无影响 先进制程与矽光子研发分析需...

zhōng dōng jú shì biàn huà duì fàn 铨 yíng yùn wú yǐng xiǎng xiān jìn zhì chéng yǔ 矽 guāng zǐ yán fā fēn xī xū . . .

Changes in the situation in the Middle East have no impact on Panquan's operations, and advanced processes and silicon photonics R&D analysis need...

WorldjournalFeb 2026

美国宇集团30年税务规划经验 可谘询

měi guó fàn yǔ jí tuán 3 0 nián shuì wù guī huá jīng yàn kě 谘 xún

30 years of tax planning experience of Pan Universe Group can be consulted

商業周刊Feb 2026

...破千亿大关!投资AI,买0052布局更广?

. . . pò qiān yì dà guān ! tóu zī A I , mǎi 0 0 5 2 bù jú gēng guǎng fàn ?

... Break the 100 billion mark! Invest in AI, buy 0052 with a wider layout?

東森新聞Feb 2026

饭店一晚6000 大厅却躺死蟑螂 浴巾黄又湿

fàn diàn yī wǎn 6 0 0 0 dà tīng què tǎng sǐ 蟑 螂 yù jīn fàn huáng yòu shī

The hotel is 6,000 a night, but the lobby is lying dead, and the bath towel is yellow and wet

百度新闻Feb 2026

美股盘前,白银概念股走强,美白银涨4.6%

měi gǔ pán qián , bái yín gài niàn gǔ zǒu qiáng , fàn měi bái yín zhǎng 4 . 6

Before the U.S. stock market, silver concept stocks strengthened, and Pan American silver rose 4.6%

Tatoeba

斯宾诺莎是神论者。

Sībīnnuòshā shì fànshénlùn zhě.

Spinoza was a pantheist.

Tatoeba

英语是目前在世界上使用最广的语言。

Yīngyǔ shì mùqián zàishì jiè shàng shǐyòng zuì guǎngfàn de yǔyán.

English is by far the most widely-spoken language in the world.

Tatoeba

广的安全措施实施了。

Guǎngfàn de ānquáncuòshī shíshī le.

Broad safety measures were put into effect.

Tatoeba

我的爱好不但广而且有用。

Wǒ de àihào bù dàn guǎngfàn érqiě yǒuyòng.

My hobbies are not only wide-ranging but also useful.

Character Family

Homophones — Characters pronounced fàn

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 泛 (fàn) mean in Chinese?
泛 (fàn) primarily means "(bound form) general." It is classified as HSK Level 5, making it an advanced character. It ranks #1319 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 泛 have?
泛 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 泛?
The radical associated with 泛 is 氵 (water). This radical appears in many characters related to water.
What are the components of 泛?
泛 is composed of: 氵 (semantic), 乏 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰氵乏 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 泛?
Common words with 泛 include: 广泛 (guǎng fàn, "wide"); 泛滥 (fàn làn, "to overflow"); 泛美 (fàn měi, "Pan American"); 宽泛 (kuān fàn, "wide-ranging"); 泛舟 (fàn zhōu, "to go boating"). There are over 42 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 泛 (fàn)?
Several characters share the pronunciation fàn: 番 (time, foreign), 翻 (to turn over), 凡 (ordinary), 烦 (to feel vexed), and 6 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 泛 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 泛 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear native 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.