奔 (bēn): to rush; to hurry; to run fast

Meanings

1 to rush; to hurry; to run fast
2 to head for; to go straight towards

Characters

奔

bēn

to rush; run fast (single character)

Examples

他奔向终点。

Tā bēn xiàng zhōngdiǎn.

He rushed toward the finish line.

孩子们在草地上奔跑。

Háizimen zài cǎodì shàng bēnpǎo.

The children are running on the grass.

Tips

usage

奔跑 (bēnpǎo) = to run. 奔驰 (bēnchí) = to gallop (also Mercedes-Benz). When pronounced bèn, it means 'to head for': 奔着目标去 (heading toward a goal).

Components

radical

大 dà

big; person with arms outstretched

Top 大 — pictograph of a person standing front-on with arms spread wide. The indexing radical here, supplying the figure that does the running. The image of a person flung forward, arms outstretched, is exactly the running posture 奔 names: not a jog but a full-tilt sprint.

semantic

卉 huì

plants; flowers

Bottom 卉 — three blades of grass clustered together, originally drawn as feet moving through vegetation. Under the running figure above it gives the compound ideograph reading: a person tearing through tall grass at a sprint. The grassy-ground sense supplies the speed and urgency that distinguish 奔 from ordinary 走 walking.