饭 (fàn): meal, rice
饭 (fàn) is a Chinese character meaning “meal, rice.” Classified as HSK Level 1 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 饣 (semantic) and 反 (phonetic). It ranks #935 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 饭 food. Its radical form 饣 (eat) appears in many related characters such as 饿 (è, hungry), 馆 (guǎn, restaurant, hall), 食 (shí, to eat).
Definitions
- meal, rice
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 饭 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 饭
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 晚饭noun | wǎn fàn | evening meal | 1 |
| 午饭noun | wǔ fàn | lunch | 1 |
| 做饭 | zuò fàn | to prepare a meal | 1 |
| 早饭 | zǎo fàn | breakfast | 1 |
| 米饭noun | mǐ fàn | (cooked) rice | 1 |
| 饭馆noun | fàn guǎn | restaurant | 2 |
| 年夜饭noun | nián yè fàn | reunion dinner on Lunar New Year's Eve (Chinese New Year tradition) | 5 |
| 盒饭noun | hé fàn | meal in a partitioned box | 5 |
| 电饭锅noun | diàn fàn guō | electric rice cooker | 6 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 吃饭 | chī fàn | to have a meal |
| 饭店 | fàn diàn | restaurant |
| 饭碗 | fàn wǎn | rice bowl |
| 饭菜 | fàn cài | food |
| 开饭 | kāi fàn | to serve a meal |
| 饭桶 | fàn tǒng | rice tub (from which cooked rice or other food is served) |
| 中饭 | zhōng fàn | lunch |
| 煮饭 | zhǔ fàn | to cook |
| 饭厅 | fàn tīng | dining room |
| 饭桌 | fàn zhuō | dining table |
| 饭盒 | fàn hé | lunchbox |
| 剩饭 | shèng fàn | leftover food |
| 要饭 | yào fàn | to beg (for food or money) |
| 饭局 | fàn jú | dinner party |
| 炒饭 | chǎo fàn | fried rice |
饭 appears in 100 compound words: 27 as the first character, 63 as the last, and 10 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 饭 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (11)
no thought for tea or rice (idiom); melancholic and suffering; to have no appetite
wine sack, food bag (idiom); useless person, only fit for guzzling and boozing
lit. to offer three kinds of tea and six different dishes; to be extremely considerate towards guests (idiom)
Example Sentences
午饭时间到了，我们去食堂吃饭吧。
Wǔfàn shíjiān dào le, wǒmen qù shítáng chīfàn ba.
It's lunchtime; let's go to the cafeteria to eat.
食八宝饭误吞枣核 62岁翁肚大如孕妇
shí bā bǎo fàn wù tūn zǎo hé 6 2 suì wēng dù dà rú yùn fù
Eating eight treasure rice and mistakenly swallowing jujube kernels, the 62-year-old man's belly is as big as a pregnant woman
港男陈尸五星饭店 房内留心酸字条死因曝
gǎng nán chén shī wǔ xīng fàn diàn fáng nèi liú xīn suān zì tiáo sǐ yīn pù
Hong Kong man Chen Shi five-star hotel pay attention to the sour note in the room The cause of death was exposed
日本民众票选“CP值最高商务饭店”是它!日媒:给人一种安心感
rì běn mín zhòng piào xuǎn C P zhí zuì gāo shāng wù fàn diàn shì tā ! rì méi : gěi rén yī zhǒng ān xīn gǎn
It is the "business hotel with the highest CP value" voted by the Japanese people! Japanese media: It gives people a sense of security
视频丨空间站的年夜饭都有什么?听航天员报菜名收祝福
shì pín 丨 kōng jiān zhàn de nián yè fàn dū yǒu shén má ? yǐn háng tiān yuán bào cài míng shōu zhù fú
Video 丨What is the New Year's Eve dinner on the space station? I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to make it. I'm going to be able to make it.
对话上门做年夜饭的“95后”女生:回应春节当月收入..
duì huà shǎng mén zuò nián yè fàn de hòu nǚ shēng huí yīng chūn jié dāng yuè shōu rù . .
Conversation with a Post-95s Woman Who Cooks New Year's Eve Dinners at Clients' Homes: Responding to Her Monthly Income During the Spring Festival...
我们今晚出去吃饭，你说怎么样？
Wǒmen jīnwǎn chūqù chīfàn, nǐ shuō zěnmeyàng?
What do you say to dining out tonight?
你午饭想吃面包吗？
Nǐ wǔfàn xiǎng chī miànbāo ma?
Would you like some bread for lunch?
什么？现在才十一点？还有一个小时才吃饭呢。
Shénme? xiànzài cái shíyī diǎn? háiyǒu yī gè xiǎoshí cái chīfàn ne.
What? It's only eleven? We still have an hour to go before lunch.
在麦当劳吃早饭怎么样？
Zài Màidāngláo chī zǎofàn zěnmeyàng?
How's the breakfast at McDonald's?
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 饭 (fàn) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 饭 and 板?
How many strokes does 饭 have?
What is the radical of 饭?
What are the components of 饭?
What are common words containing 饭?
What characters sound the same as 饭 (fàn)?
Is 饭 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 饭 with real-time feedback
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