HSK 3 · Time

半 bàn “half” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 半 means

  1. half
  2. semi-
  3. incomplete
  4. (after a number) and a half

How to say 半

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale半bàn4th tone, falling

半 in a sentence

  1. 我想买半个蛋糕。

    Wǒ xiǎng mǎi bàn ge dàngāo.

    I’d like to buy half a cake.

    Sentence #5863296 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 你必须在两点半之前完成它。

    Nǐ bìxū zài liǎng diǎn bàn zhīqián wánchéng tā.

    You must finish it before half past two.

    Sentence #10982825 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 您要整份还是半份？

    Nín yào zhěng fèn háishi bàn fèn?

    Would you like a full portion or a half portion?

    Sentence #2218929 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 半 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 半 (bàn) with each of its parts in a different colour
半bànhalf
  • 丷eight form of 八 · bā
  • 牛cow · niú

Memory aidAn ox 牛 split 丷 down the middle: half.

How to write 半

半 5 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

半 (bàn) stroke order chart: each stroke of the character in the order you write it
Stroke order chart for 半 (bàn). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 半

Words with 半

一半yībàn · half半天bàntiān · half a day半途而废bàntú'érfèi · to give up halfway

More words: Time

已经yǐjīng · already正在zhèngzài · in the process of还hái · still就jiù · then春chūn · spring season当然dāngrán · of course冬dōng · winter刚才gāngcái · just now

FAQs

半 (bàn) means “half” or “semi-”. It is an HSK 3 word.
Say it bàn: bàn with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 半 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type ban with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 半 from the suggestions. Typing ban into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
半 is an HSK 3 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.