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根本

gēn běn

Old HSK 5 HSK 3.0 level 5 2-character word Measure word 个

根本 (gēn běn) means "fundamental". It is an HSK 3.0 level 5 word, and was HSK 5 in the old six-level list.

What 根本 means

1. fundamental
2. basic
3. root
4. simply
5. absolutely (not)
6. (not) at all

The characters in 根本

• 根gēnroot; basis; classifier for long slender objects, e.g. cigarettes, guitar strings
• 本běn(bound form) root; stem; (bound form) origin; source; (bound form) one's own; this

Example sentences

• 我根本不累。
  I'm not at all tired.
• 我根本不信。
  I don't believe it at all.
• 它根本不是梦。
  It's not a dream at all.
• 他根本不相信我。
  He doesn't believe me at all.
• 根本不想听我说。
  You don't want to listen to me at all.
• 你根本没有注意。
  You're not even paying attention.

Words starting with 根本

• 根本法gēn běn fǎfundamental law; body of basic laws

Where 根本 is taught

In the GraphChinese course it is part of Essence, Fundamentals & Logic (HSK 5), each one a topic in the dependency graph of HSK 1–6 that opens only once its prerequisites are solid.

Go deeper

• Every HSK 5 word, with the rest of its level.
• The four tones and the neutral tone, to read gēn běn correctly.
• Look up another word in the free dictionary.