棚 (péng): shed; shack

Measure Word

一个棚 gè

Meanings

1 shed; shack
2 canopy; awning
3 makeshift shelter

Characters

棚

péng

shed; shack; canopy

Examples

农民在田边搭了一个棚。

Nóngmín zài tiánbiān dā le yīgè péng.

The farmer put up a shed next to the field.

大棚里种着蔬菜。

Dàpéng lǐ zhòng zhe shūcài.

Vegetables are grown in the greenhouse.

他们在棚子下面避雨。

Tāmen zài péngzi xiàmiàn bì yǔ.

They took shelter from the rain under the canopy.

Tips

usage

棚 often appears in compounds: 大棚 (dàpéng, greenhouse), 棚户区 (pénghùqū, shantytown), 摄影棚 (shèyǐngpéng, film studio/soundstage), 凉棚 (liángpéng, sunshade/awning).

Components

radical

木 mù

tree; wood

Left tree radical — the indexing element. Sheds and canopies were classically built from wood poles and beams, so the radical states the material plainly. Puts 棚 in the wood-shelter family with 楼 (multi-storey building), 桁 (purlin), 栅 (fence), 架 (rack).

phonetic

朋 péng

friend; pair (here phonetic+semantic)

Right 朋 supplies the sound — péng matches the parent reading with no drift. 朋 originally depicted two strings of cowrie shells paired side by side, the seed for 'friend, pair.' The doubled image suits 棚 nicely: a shed is a structure of paired posts and beams, two parallel uprights joined by a roof — companion timbers leaning together to make a shelter.