Meaning of 上班
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- to go to work
- to be on duty
- to start work
- to go to the office
How to use 上班
上班 is the everyday verb for going to work or being at work, and it pairs with 下班 (xiàbān), to get off work. It often follows a time or a way of travel. Example: 我每天坐地铁上班。(Wǒ měitiān zuò dìtiě shàngbān.) I take the subway to work every day.
上 (shàng) means up or to go onto, and 班 (bān) means a shift or work group. To 上班 is to step up onto your shift, like climbing aboard the day's work.
Common mistake: Learners often add an object, as in 上班公司, but 上班 already contains its object 班. Say 在公司上班 (zài gōngsī shàngbān), to work at a company. Also keep 上 in the fourth tone here, not the neutral tone it has in 晚上 (wǎnshang).
上班 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
上 shàng · up · 3 strokes
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班 bān · team · 10 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 上班.
| 马上 | mǎshàng | at once; right away |
| 晚上 | wǎnshang | evening; night |
| 身上 | shēnshang | on the body; at hand |
| 早上 | zǎoshang | early morning |
| 上次 | shàng cì | last time |
| 路上 | lùshang | on the road; on the way; en route |
| 上车 | shàng chē | to get on or into (a bus, train, car etc) |
| 地上 | dìshang | on the ground; on the floor |
| 楼上 | lóu shàng | upstairs; (Internet slang) previous poster in a forum thread |
| 车上 | chē shang | |
| 上学 | shàngxué | to go to school; to attend school |
| 下班 | xiàbān | to finish work; to get off work; next service (train, bus etc) |
Questions about 上班
What does 上班 mean?
上班 (shàngbān) means "to go to work; to be on duty".
How do you write 上班?
上班 is made of 2 characters: 上 (3 strokes), 班 (10 strokes). That is 13 strokes in total.
Is 上班 an HSK word?
Yes. 上班 is on the HSK 1 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How do I say I have work today or I am off today with 上班?
Say 我今天上班 (wǒ jīntiān shàngbān) for I work today. Say 我今天不上班 (wǒ jīntiān bú shàngbān) for I am off today. No extra verb like 有 is needed.
Can 上班 be split, like other verb plus object words?
Yes. It is a separable word, so you can put things between 上 and 班, as in 上了一天班 (shàng le yì tiān bān), worked for a whole day. This also means it does not take a direct object after it.