饭

飯
fàn
noun HSK 1 #1,515

Meanings

  1. 1 cooked rice
  2. 2 meal

Characters

饣 (food) + 反 (fǎn) phonetic - the food you keep coming back to.

Examples

HSK 1
Nǐ chīfàn le ma?
Have you eaten?
HSK 1
Wǒmen qù chīfàn ba.
Let's go eat.
HSK 1
Jīntiān shéi zuòfàn?
Who's cooking today?

Tips

culture
你吃饭了吗? (Have you eaten?) is a traditional Chinese greeting, showing concern for the other person's well-being. It does not necessarily require a literal answer.
usage
饭 can mean either cooked rice specifically or a meal in general. 吃饭 means to eat (a meal), 做饭 means to cook, 早饭 / 午饭 / 晚饭 = breakfast / lunch / dinner.

Components

radical
饣 shí
food; eat (radical form)
Food radical on the left - the simplified side-form of 食 (eat, food). Marks 饭 firmly in the eating / cooked-grain family: 饭 is by default cooked rice, then any meal. Same radical in 饺 (dumpling), 饼 (cake), 饿 (hungry), 馆 (eatery), 馒 (steamed bun).
phonetic
反 fǎn
reverse; flip
Right side 反 supplies the sound directly: fǎn → fàn with only a tone shift. Same phonetic anchors 板 (bǎn), 返 (fǎn), 贩 (fàn), 版 (bǎn) - the 反 cluster covers both b- and f- readings, a known labial split.

Stroke Order

饭 fàn