Chinese word dictionary

本来

běnlái · original; originally; at first; it goes without saying; of course

Practice word

Word information

Simplified本来

Traditional本來

Pinyinběnlái

Part of speech形、副

HSK 3.04

HSK 2.04

Character breakdown

Study each Hanzi separately, then return to the complete word so pronunciation, meaning, and movement stay connected.

本běn

root, origin, source; basis

来lái

to arrive, to come, to return; in the future, later on

How to learn 本来

Listen once without reading, repeat the pinyin with its tones, then write every character in sequence. Finally, recall the complete meaning instead of memorizing each character as an isolated translation.

When the word appears in a sentence, check whether its part of speech and meaning match the definition shown here. Chinese words can change nuance with context.

Related vocabulary

Words with the same characters

Compare how a familiar Hanzi changes meaning inside another word.

本子běnzi

book; notebook; Japanese-style self-published comic (esp. an erotic one), aka "dōjinshi"; CL:本[ben3]; edition

出来chūlái

to come out; to appear; to arise

过来guòlái

to come over; to manage; to handle; to be able to take care of

回来huílái

to return; to come back

进来jìnlái

to come in

起来qǐlái

to stand up; to get up; also pr. [qi3lai2]