DICTIONARY
The Chinese word genben - 根本 - gēnběn
(basic in Chinese)
Phonetic transcription (Hanyu Pinyin)
gēnběn
Listen to pronunciation
(Mandarin = standard Chinese without accent)
You're listening to the natural voice of a native speaker of Mandarin Chinese.
English translations
basic, root, at all, simply, thoroughly,
radical, entirely, completely, radically
Chinese characters:
For obtaining stroke order animations, visit the links to the individual characters below.
The traditional Chinese characters of gēnběn are identical with the modern (simplified) characters displayed above.
Chinese Pinyin example sentence with 根本 ( genben / gēnběn ) ⓘWriting in Pinyin
Before using this Pinyin example sentence, consider that Chinese characters should always be your first choice in written communication.
If you cannot use Chinese characters, it is preferable to use the Pinyin with tones. Only use the Pinyin without tones if there's no other option (e.g. writing a text message from/to a mobile phone that doesn't support special characters such as ā, í, ǒ, ù).
Before using this Pinyin example sentence, consider that Chinese characters should always be your first choice in written communication.
If you cannot use Chinese characters, it is preferable to use the Pinyin with tones. Only use the Pinyin without tones if there's no other option (e.g. writing a text message from/to a mobile phone that doesn't support special characters such as ā, í, ǒ, ù).
Wo genben bu zhidao zhe jian shi.
Wǒ gēnběn bù zhīdao zhè jiàn shì.– English translation: I knew nothing at all about this.
Tags and additional information
(Meaning of individual characters, character components etc.)
root | original
根本 ( genben / gēnběn ) belongs to the 1000 most common composed words in Chinese language (rank 660)
根本 ( genben / gēnběn ) belongs to the 1000 most common composed words in Chinese language (rank 660)
Report missing or erroneous translation of genben in English
Contact us! We always appreciate good suggestions and helpful criticism.
Learn the 1000 most common Chinese characters with the new Han Trainer Top 1000 Edition vocabulary trainer.
Come here often? Use our new Short URL https://dnry.ch 
Look up another word:
All content is protected under German and international copyright laws. imprint and contact data | privacy policy | cookie settings
Version 5.65 / Last updated: 2026-11-08