本金

běnjīn

noun #41,741

Meanings

1 principal (of a loan or investment)
2 capital sum

Characters

root; origin; original

Examples

每个月我要还本金和利息。

Měi gè yuè wǒ yào huán běnjīn hé lìxí.

Each month I have to repay both principal and interest.

投资有风险，可能连本金都收不回。

Tóuzī yǒu fēngxiǎn, kěnéng lián běnjīn dōu shōu bù huí.

Investing is risky — you might not even recover your principal.

Tips

usage

本金 ('principal') vs 利息 ('interest') is the fundamental loan vocabulary pair. 本金 literally means 'root money' — the original sum on which interest grows.

Stroke Order

本 běn

金 jīn