HSK 1 · Measure Words

本 běn “measure word for books” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 本 means

  1. measure word for books
  2. (bound form) root
  3. stem
  4. (bound form) origin
  5. source
More meanings from CC-CEDICT
  • (bound form) one’s own
  • this
  • (bound form) this
  • the current (year etc)
  • (bound form) original
  • (bound form) inherent

How to say 本

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale本běn3rd tone, dipping

本 in a sentence

  1. 这是本汉语书。

    Zhè shì běn Hànyǔ shū.

    This is a Chinese language book.

    Sentence #3377903 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 我有本字典。

    Wǒ yǒu běn zìdiǎn.

    I have a dictionary.

    Sentence #6203798 from Tatoeba

  3. 他在书店买了本英文书。

    Tā zài shūdiàn mǎi le běn Yīngwén shū.

    He bought an English book at a bookshop.

    Sentence #1021003 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 本 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 本 (běn) with each of its parts in a different colour
本běnroot; stem
  • 木tree · mù
  • 一one · yī

Memory aidA tree 木 with a mark 一 on its roots: root, origin.

How to write 本

本 5 strokes

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

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

Words related to 本

Words with 本

本子běnzi · book课本kèběn · textbook笔记本bǐjìběn · notebook本来běnlái · original根本gēnběn · (not) at all本科běnkē · undergraduate course本领běnlǐng · skill本质běnzhì · essence基本jīběn · basic本钱běnqián · capital

More words: Measure Words & Counters

个gè · general measure word些xiē · some块kuài · yuan (currency)岁suì · year(s) of age一点儿yìdiǎnr · a little

FAQs

本 (běn) means “measure word for books” or “(bound form) root”. It is an HSK 1 word, so it is one of the words learners meet early.
Say it běn: běn with a 3rd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 本 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type ben with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 本 from the suggestions. Typing ben into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
本 is an HSK 1 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.