How is 本 pronounced?

本 is pronounced “běn” in pinyin.

What HSK level is 本?

本 belongs to HSK 1 in the HSK 3.0 vocabulary.

How do you write 本?

Follow the stroke-order animation above; 本 is written using standard stroke order. Practice it in the writing trainer.

HSK 1pronounmeasure word

本

běn

本 (běn) means “root; stem; origin; source; this; the current; original; inherent; originally; classifier for books, periodicals, files etc”. It is an HSK 1 Chinese character in the HSK 3.0 vocabulary.

Stroke order

Practice writing

Example

一本书。

Yī běn shū.

One book.

Words containing 本

本来běn láioriginal; originally; at first; it goes without saying; of course 笔记本bǐ jì běnnotebook (stationery); notebook (computing)本科běn kēundergraduate course; undergraduate (attributive)本领běn lǐngskill; ability; capability 版本bǎn běnversion; edition; release 本质běn zhìessence; nature; innate character; intrinsic quality 本能běn nénginstinct 本钱běn qiáncapital; (fig.) asset; advantage; the means (to do sth)本人běn rénI; me; myself; oneself; yourself; himself; herself; the person concerned 本身běn shēnitself; in itself; per se 本事běn shìsource material; original story 标本biāo běnspecimen; sample; the root cause and symptoms of a disease

More HSK 1 vocabulary

HSK 1 →

爱àito love; to be fond of; to like; affection; to be inclined (to do sth); to tend to (happen)的deof; ~'s (possessive particle); (used after an attribute); (used to form a nominal expression); (used at the end of a declarative sentence for emphasis); also pr. [dì] or [di] in poetry and songs 八bāeight; 8 爸爸bà ba(coll.) father; dad 了le(completed action marker); (modal particle indicating change of state, situation now); (modal particle intensifying preceding clause)我wǒI; me; my 杯子bēi zicup; glass 是shìto be (followed by substantives only); correct; right; true; (respectful acknowledgement of a command) very well; (adverb for emphatic assertion)你好nǐ hǎohello 北京běi jīngBeijing, capital of the People's Republic of China 你nǐyou (informal, as opposed to courteous 您)在zàito exist; to be alive; (of sb or sth) to be (located) at; (used before a verb to indicate an action in progress)

Frequently asked questions

What does 本 mean?: 本 (běn) means “root; stem; origin; source; this; the current; original; inherent; originally; classifier for books, periodicals, files etc”. It is an HSK 1 word.
How is 本 pronounced?: 本 is pronounced “běn” in pinyin.
What HSK level is 本?: 本 belongs to HSK 1 in the HSK 3.0 vocabulary.
How do you write 本?: Follow the stroke-order animation above; 本 is written using standard stroke order. Practice it in the writing trainer.

Updated: 2026-05-27