饭

飯

fàn

反 + 饣

HSK 3.0Level 1

Definitions

fàn (noun) cooked rice; meal

fàn (noun) food

Etymology

Simplified form of 飯. Phonosemantic compound. 饣 represents the meaning and 反 represents the sound.

Semantic: 饣 Phonetic: 反

About

饭 is the simplified form of the traditional character 飯, a phono-semantic compound. The left component 饣 (the simplified 'food' radical from 食) indicates the meaning of food and eating. The right component 反 is a phonetic marker, providing the character's pronunciation. The core meaning is cooked rice, a staple grain in East Asian diets. Over time, the character has broadened to refer to any prepared meal, as well as the act of dining, so that it can denote both a specific bowl of rice and the concept of a meal.

Etymology Hide

Bronze Late Spring and Autumn (~500 BC)

Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)

Clerical Qin dynasty (221-206 BC)

Clerical Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)

Traditional Modern

Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

妈妈在做饭。

Māmā zài zuò fàn.

Mom is cooking.

我们吃晚饭吧。

Wǒmen chī wǎnfàn ba.

Let's have dinner.

这碗饭真好吃。

Zhè wǎn fàn zhēn hǎochī.

This bowl of rice is really delicious.

我们每天在家吃晚饭。

Wǒmen měi tiān zài jiā chī wǎnfàn.

We eat dinner at home every day.

他刚吃完饭就去工作了。

Tā gāng chī wán fàn jiù qù gōngzuò le.

He went to work right after finishing his meal.

我请你到饭馆吃午饭。

Wǒ qǐng nǐ dào fànguǎn chī wǔfàn.

I invite you to have lunch at the restaurant.

今天的早饭有面包和鸡蛋。

Jīntiān de zǎofàn yǒu miànbāo hé jīdàn.

Today's breakfast includes bread and eggs.

如果饭不够，我们可以再煮一点。

Rúguǒ fàn bú gòu, wǒmen kěyǐ zài zhǔ yīdiǎn.

If the rice isn't enough, we can cook a little more.

Related Characters

Component: 反

Component: 饣

饭