番

2 readings · tap one to hear it

(bound form) foreign (non-Chinese); barbarian; classifier for processes or actions that take time and effort; (classifier) a kind; a sort; (classifier) (used after the verb 翻[fan1] to indicate how many times a quantity doubles, as in 翻一番[fan1 yi1 fan1] "to double")

Make a writing worksheet

HSK 3.0: Level 6
Old HSK: Level 6
Strokes: 12
Radical: 田 +7
Structure: Top–bottom 上下
Traditional: 番
Common rank: #1,466
Unicode: U+756A

Sound it out + = · + =

Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

How 番 is formed

Ideographic compound (会意字)

Sowing seeds 米 on the farm 田

Components 米田 ? unknown part

How to remember it

try · Heisig RSH #1418

droppings + 田 rice field — as a component also called: fertilizer

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

Words with 番

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

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
番红花	fān hóng huā	saffron (Crocus sativus)
西番雅书	Xī fān yǎ shū	Book of Zephaniah
三番五次	sān fān wǔ cì	over and over again (idiom)
三番两次	sān fān liǎng cì	repeatedly (idiom)
黑海番鸭	hēi hǎi fān yā	(bird species of China) black scoter (Melanitta americana)
几次三番	jǐ cì sān fān	lit. twice then three times (idiom); fig. repeatedly; over and over again
斑脸海番鸭	bān liǎn hǎi fān yā	(bird species of China) Stejneger's scoter (Melanitta stejnegeri)
翻一番	fān yī fān	to increase by 100%; to double
生番	shēng fān	barbarian; aboriginal savage
里番	lǐ fān	erotic anime; pornographic animation (loanword modeled on Japanese 裏番組 ura bangumi, "progr…
番木瓜	fān mù guā	papaya
丢番图方程	Diū fān tú fāng chéng	(math.) Diophantine equation
吐鲁番市	Tǔ lǔ fān Shì	Turpan, prefecture-level city in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region 新疆維吾爾自治區\|新疆维吾尔自治区[Xin1 …
番号	fān hào	number of military unit
连番	lián fān	repeatedly
番菜	fān cài	(old) Western-style food; foreign food
番客	fān kè	(old) foreigner; alien; (dialect) overseas Chinese
番界	fān jiè	territory occupied by aborigines in Taiwan (old)
吐鲁番盆地	Tǔ lǔ fān Pén dì	the Turpan Depression in Xinjiang
番刀	fān dāo	type of machete used by Taiwan aborigines, worn at the waist in an open-sided scabbard

Sound family

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

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
番 sound part	fān	to take turns, to repeat; to sow; a turn
翻	fān	to upset, to capsize, to flip over
潘	pān	a river that flows into the Han; surname
蟠	pán	to occupy; to coil; curled up, coiled
蕃	bō	abundant, flourishing; barbarians, foreigners
幡	fān	pennant, banner, streamer, flag
鄱	pó	a county and lake in Jiangxi province
皤	pó	white, grey; corpulent
蹯	fán	paw