奔

bēn / bèn
verb #8,229

Meanings

  1. 1 to rush; to hurry; to run fast

Examples

HSK 3
孩子们在草地上奔跑。
Háizimen zài cǎodì shàng bēnpǎo.
The children are running on the grass.
HSK 6
Tā bēn xiàng zhōngdiǎn.
He rushed toward the finish line.

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.

Stroke Order

奔 bēn