Meaning of 板
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- board
- plank
- plate
- shutter
- table tennis bat
- clappers (music)
- accented beat in Chinese music
- hard
Measure word: 塊|块
- used in 老闆|老板[lao3 ban3]
- to catch sight of in a doorway (old)
How to use 板
板 (bǎn) means a flat board or plank and appears in many everyday words like 黑板 (hēibǎn, blackboard) and 地板 (dìbǎn, floor). It is also the second half of 老板 (lǎobǎn, boss). Example: 老师在黑板上写字。(Lǎoshī zài hēibǎn shang xiě zì.) The teacher writes on the blackboard.
板 is made of 木 (wood) on the left and 反 (fǎn) on the right. Think of a piece of wood flattened out and turned over and over until it becomes a flat board, and note that 反 also hints at the sound bǎn.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 板 (bǎn) with 版 (bǎn, edition or printing plate), which has 片 on the left instead of 木. Use 板 for physical boards and 版 for things like 版本 (bǎnběn, version) or 出版 (chūbǎn, to publish).
板 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.
板 bǎn · board · 8 strokes
- 1
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- 8
Related words
Words that share a character with 板.
| 黑板 | hēibǎn | blackboard |
| 老板 | lǎobǎn | boss; proprietor |
| 地板 | dìbǎn | floor |
| 木板 | mùbǎn | slab; board |
| 板块 | bǎnkuài | slab; (geology) tectonic plate |
| 叫板 | jiàobǎn | to signal the musicians (in Chinese opera, by prolonging a spoken word before attacking a |
| 拍板 | pāibǎn | wooden clappers (percussion instrument); to beat time with clappers (for a singer) |
| 甲板 | jiǎbǎn | deck (of a ship or boat) |
| 老板娘 | lǎobǎnniáng | female proprietor; lady boss |
| 天花板 | tiānhuābǎn | ceiling (of a room); (fig.) upper limit; (slang) the very best (in a given field) |
| 滑板 | huábǎn | skateboard |
| 石板 | shíbǎn | slab; flagstone |
Questions about 板
What does 板 mean?
板 (bǎn) means "board; plank" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 板?
板 is made of 1 character: 板 (8 strokes). That is 8 strokes in total.
Is 板 an HSK word?
Yes. 板 is on the HSK 3 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
Why does 老板 mean boss if 板 means board?
In 老板 (lǎobǎn), 板 stands in for the traditional character 闆, which was used for this word. Simplified Chinese writes it as 老板, so the meaning boss has nothing to do with wooden boards.
Can 板 describe a person or attitude?
Yes, 板 can mean hard or stiff. For example, 板着脸 (bǎnzhe liǎn) means to keep a stern, straight face.