本 (bun2 | ben3) : basis; original; copy

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本

bun2

ben3

[1] [n] basis; origin; source
[2] [adj] original; inherent; intrinsic
[3] [adv] originally; at first
[4] [pron] my/our; this; current
[5] [prep] based on; according to; on the authority of
[6] [n] copy; book; edition; script
[7] [classifier] copy (of book, magazine, dictionary, etc)
[8] [n] capital; principal; cost
[9] [n] root or stem (of a plant)

variant form: 夲

Default PoS:

Additional PoS:

Show all nouns that can use this classifier

Stroke count: 5

Level: 1

Radical: 木 (#75)

This character is used in both Cantonese and Mandarin/Standard written Chinese.

本

Don't confuse with:
木

This word has been viewed 1 times since 30th Oct 2012, was added by sheik on 18th Mar 2007 21:22 and last edited on 3rd Oct 2009 10:45

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本日 bun2 jat6 ben3 ri4 = today. [粵]今日國

日本人 jat6 bun2 jan4 ri4 ben3 ren2 = Japanese person

本地 bun2 dei6 ben3 di4 = local

本月 bun2 jyut6 ben3 yue4 = this month

本來 bun2 loi4 ben3 lai2 = formerly; at first; original

日本 jat6 bun2 ri4 ben3, lv4 ben3 = Japan

它本身 taa1 bun2 san1 ta1 ben3 shen1 = itself 國

冇本心 mou5 bun2 sam1 = to have no conscience 粵

本心 bun2 sam1 = conscience 粵

本人 bun2 jan4 ben3 ren2 = oneself; in person
See all 246 compounds (CantoDict reports 276 compounds in total, but some may be Common Formations)

Showing all 17 examples containing 本

他是否本地人？國
Is he a local?

佢係咪本地人嚟㗎？粵
Is he/she a local?

你而家喺日本粵
You're in Japan at the moment
[Lit. you now at Japan Std. Chinese: 你現在身處日本]

我從來都沒去過日本。國
I have never been to Japan.

我根本阻住唔到佢粵
I just wasn't able to stop him.
[Lit. I basically block-not-arrive him. The construction verb-m4-dou2 indicates an inability to complete the action. So, block-not-arrive is idiomatically "unable to block".]

佢存放咗幾本書喺我呢處。粵
He has left a number of books with me.

佢睇緊書，但係我睇唔到嗰本書嘅名。粵
He/She is reading a book, but I can't see what it's called.

挾住本書返學粵
He went to school with a book held under his arm.

本書㨴到最後一頁粵
Turn the book to the last page!

他本來想在沿海城市工作國
At first he intended to work in a coastal city.

他原本不想到這裡來國
He originally didn't want to come here.

基本上間屋布置好咗，剩番啲頭頭尾尾啫粵
The house is basically well-decorated. What remains to be done are just some odds and ends.

見到你頭先嘅樣，我諗你已經知道咗呢本唔係普通嘅筆記啦粵
Based on your expression just now, I guess you already know that this isn't an ordinary notebook.
[Lit. see-arrive you just-not (possessive particle) expression, I think you already know-already, this (counter) isn't ordinary (possessive particle) notebook.]

呢盤生意係蝕本生意嚟㗎粵
This venture... is loss-making.
[Lit. this [counter] business is loss-making business [explanatory particle]]

這本小說不怎麼樣。國
This novel isn't up to much.
[怎麼樣 can be used in the negative to mean "(not) well enough" or "(not) up to much". ]

呢兩件事根本就係藤㨢瓜瓜㨢藤分唔開㗎粵
These two matters are deeply entangled together. There is no way to separate them apart.

本港男子罹患新流感情況危殆
Hong Kong man suffering from H1N1 in critical condition

Legend
國 : This term is used in Mandarin/Standard written Chinese, not Cantonese.
粵 : This term is used in Cantonese, not Mandarin/Standard written Chinese.
No icon: This term is used in both Cantonese and Mandarin/Standard written Chinese.

Forum Code to link to this word:
[big][url=http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/characters/212/]本[/url][/big]
HTML Code to link to this word:
<a href="http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/characters/212/" class="chinesemed" target="_blank">本</a>
Decimal representation of this word: 本
Unicode code for this character: U+672c (off-site link)

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