畔 (pàn) is a Chinese character meaning “bank (of a river or lake)”. It is written from 田 (field; farmland) and 半 (half), side by side, and takes 10 strokes.
Build the character for “bank; side”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
田 + 半
Left–right structure
Structure from: 说文解字: 畔，田界也。从田半聲（现代字形对照 hanzi-writer-data 核验：左「田」5 笔 + 右「半」5 笔 = 10 笔）
Memory aid
Walk halfway (半) along a field (田) and you reach its edge — the bank, the side.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
10 strokes
In real words
- 河畔hé pànriverside; river bank畔 = pàn
- 湖畔hú pànlakeside; lakeshore畔 = pàn
Go deeper
All readings
bank; side
bank (of a river or lake); side; edge; boundary between fields
江、河、湖等的边上；旁边。本义是田地的边界。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 河畔hé pànriverside; river bank畔 = pàn
- 湖畔hú pànlakeside; lakeshore畔 = pàn
Sound component
半 family onset shift
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 畔 mean?
畔 (pàn) means bank (of a river or lake); side; edge; boundary between fields.
How do you pronounce 畔?
It is pronounced pàn.
What parts is 畔 made of?
田 (field; farmland) and 半 (half), side by side. The recorded source is: 说文解字: 畔，田界也。从田半聲（现代字形对照 hanzi-writer-data 核验：左「田」5 笔 + 右「半」5 笔 = 10 笔）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 畔 have?
10. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 畔?
田. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.
What words use 畔?
Common ones are 河畔 and 湖畔. The reading of 畔 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.