半

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half; semi-; incomplete; (after a number) and a half

Sound it out + =

Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

Ideographic compound (会意字)

A cow 牛 splitting 丷 wood in half

Components 丷牛

half · Heisig RSH #980

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

The most common words first — learning a character in context makes it stick.

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
一半	yī bàn	half
半天	bàn tiān	half of the day; a long time; quite a while; midair; CL:個\|个[ge4]
半年	bàn nián	half a year
半大不小	bàn dà bù xiǎo	teenage; in one's teens; adolescent
半大小子	bàn dà xiǎo zǐ	teenage boy; adolescent boy
头半天儿	tóu bàn tiān r	erhua variant of 頭半天\|头半天[tou2 ban4 tian1]
一时半会儿	yī shí bàn huì r	a short time; a little while
半山区	bàn shān qū	mid-levels (in Hong Kong)
半人马	bàn rén mǎ	centaur (mythology)
一半天	yī bàn tiān	in a day or two; soon
头半天	tóu bàn tiān	morning; first half of the day
一时半会	yī shí bàn huì	a short time; a little while
半自动	bàn zì dòng	semiautomatic
半开门儿	bàn kāi mén r	erhua variant of 半開門\|半开门[ban4 kai1 men2]
上半天	shàng bàn tiān	morning
半分儿	bàn fēn r	erhua variant of 半分[ban4 fen1]
半通不通	bàn tōng bù tōng	to not fully understand (idiom)
下半天	xià bàn tiān	afternoon
前半天儿	qián bàn tiān r	erhua variant of 前半天[qian2 ban4 tian1]
半路出家	bàn lù chū jiā	(lit.) to enter monastic life at a mature age (idiom); (fig.) to change one's career; to t…

These characters use 半 as their sound component — compare how they read.

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
半 sound part	bàn	half; semi-, incomplete
判	pàn	to judge; to discriminate; to conclude
伴	bàn	companion, comrade, partner; to accompany
胖	pàng	fat, plump, obese; a fat person
叛	pàn	rebel; rebellion; rebellious
拌	bàn	to mix
绊	bàn	a loop of thread; shackles, fetters; to stumble, to trip
衅	xìn	to quarrel, to dispute; a blood sacrifice
泮	pàn	Zhou dynasty school; to disperse, to fall apart
袢	pàn	robe