办 (bàn): to handle

Meanings

1 to handle
2 to do
3 to manage

Characters

办

bàn

to handle; to manage; to do

Simplified from 辦 — originally depicted using force (力) to divide something

Examples

这件事怎么办？

Zhè jiàn shì zěnme bàn?

What should we do about this?

我要去办一些事。

Wǒ yào qù bàn yīxiē shì.

I need to go handle some things.

没办法。

Méi bànfǎ.

There's no way. / Nothing can be done.

Tips

usage

怎么办？ meaning 'What should we do?' is one of the most common Chinese phrases.

Components

radical

力 lì

strength; effort; arm with muscle

Central 力 is the strength radical and the entry's filing point — a picture of a flexed arm or a plough. It carries the do-something-with-effort core of the meaning, surrounded by the two flanking dots that mark the work being done.

ideograph

八 bā

eight; split-apart marker (used here as paired dots)

The two flanking strokes are a stylised pair of dots (sometimes glossed as 八) flanking the central 力. They mark the splitting or distributing of effort to both sides — the simplified replacement for the traditional 辦's flanking 辛 punishment elements.