Dictionary › 本

本

běn

HSK 1 Character

What 本 means

1. bound formroot; stem
2. bound formorigin; source
3. bound formone's own; this
4. bound formthis; the current (year etc)
5. bound formoriginal
6. bound forminherent
7. originally; initially
8. capital; principal
9. classifier for books, periodicals, files etc

Example sentences

• 拿本书读！
  Take a book and read it.
• 是一本书。
  It is a book.
• 看这本书。
  Read this book.
• 这本书小。
  This book is small.
• 这是日本。
  Here is Japan.
• 基本上吧。
  Basically.

Words starting with 本

• 本来běn láioriginal; originally; at first
• 本科běn kēundergraduate course; undergraduate (attributive)
• 本质běn zhìessence; nature; innate character
• 本领běn lǐngskill; ability; capability
• 本身běn shēnitself; in itself; per se
• 本人běn rénI; me; myself; oneself; yourself; himself; herself; the person concerned
• 本事běn shìsource material; original story
• 本能běn nénginstinct
• 本着běn zhebased on...; in conformance with..; taking as one's main principle
• 本钱běn qiáncapital; (fig.) asset; advantage; the means (to do sth)
• 本报běn bàothis newspaper
• 本文běn wénthis text; article; the main body of a book
• 本地běn dìlocal; this locality
• 本科生běn kē shēngundergraduate student
• 本子běn zibook; notebook; Japanese-style self-published comic (esp. an erotic one), aka "dōjinshi"
• 本土běn tǔone's native country; native; local
• 本国běn guóone's own country
• 本性běn xìngnatural instincts; nature; inherent quality
• 本月běn yuèthis month; the current month
• 本市běn shìthis city; our city
• 本期běn qīthe current period; this term (usually in finance)
• 本届běn jiècurrent; this year
• 本色běn sèinherent qualities; natural qualities; distinctive character
• 本就běn jiùby nature; fundamentally; inherently

Words containing 本

• 日本Rì běnJapan
• 根本gēn běnfundamental; basic; root
• 基本jī běnbasic; fundamental; main
• 笔记本bǐ jì běnnotebook (stationery); (computing) laptop; notebook (abbr. for 笔记本电脑
• 成本chéng běn(manufacturing, production etc) costs
• 版本bǎn běnversion; edition; release
• 资本zī běncapital (economics)
• 剧本jù běnscript; screenplay; scenario; libretto
• 标本biāo běnspecimen; sample; the root cause and symptoms of a disease
• 日本人Rì běn rénJapanese person
• 基本上jī běn shangbasically; on the whole
• 原本yuán běnoriginally; the original; original copy; original version
• 课本kè běntextbook
• 文本wén běna text (article, script, contract etc); version of a text…
• 资本主义zī běn zhǔ yìcapitalism
• 书本shū běnbook (chiefly used to refer to a plurality of books or books in general)
• 资本家zī běn jiācapitalist
• 一本正经yī běn zhèng jīng(idiom) in deadly earnest; deadpan
• 译本yì běntranslation (translated version of a text)
• 日记本rì jì běndiary (book)
• 样本yàng běnsample; specimen
• 脚本jiǎo běnscript; screenplay; scenario; libretto; (computing) script
• 基本功jī běn gōngbasic skills; fundamentals
• 大本营dà běn yíngheadquarters; base camp

Characters that look like 本

Easy to confuse on sight. Compare them side by side once and the pair stops costing you.

• 木mù(bound form) tree; (bound form) wood; unresponsive; numb; wooden
• 车chēcar; vehicle; machine
• 水shuǐwater; (after a name) ... River; to swim (used mostly in 会水
• 尽jìnto use up; to exhaust; to end
• 丰fēngluxuriant; buxom; variant of 丰
• 禾hé(bound form) grain plant; cereal crop

Sounds the same

Read běn, tone for tone, but written differently.

• 苯benzene; benzol (chemistry)
• 畚a basket or pan used for earth, manure etc
• 楍old variant of 本