饭 (fàn) is a Chinese character meaning “cooked rice”. It is written from 饣 (food radical (simplified form of 食)) and 反 (reverse; opposite; to turn over), side by side, and takes 7 strokes.
Build the character for “cooked rice; meal”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
饣 + 反
Left–right structure
Structure from: IDS ⿰饣反，笔画核验 3+4=7（hanzi-writer-data）；《说文解字·食部》：飯，食也。从食反聲
Memory aid
The food radical 饣 on the left tells you this word is about eating. 反 on the right is not about meaning at all — it is here for its sound (fǎn → fàn). Food + the sound "fan" = the bowl of rice on the table.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
7 strokes
In real words
- 吃饭chī fànto eat; to have a meal饭 = fàn
- 米饭mǐ fàncooked rice饭 = fàn
- 做饭zuò fànto cook; to prepare a meal饭 = fàn
- 炒饭chǎo fànfried rice; to make fried rice饭 = fàn
- 煮饭zhǔ fànto cook rice; to cook a meal饭 = fàn
- 盛饭chéng fànto fill a bowl with rice饭 = fàn
- 饭店fàn diànrestaurant; hotel饭 = fànHSK 1
- 饭盒fàn hélunch box饭 = fàn
- 饭馆fàn guǎnrestaurant饭 = fàn
Go deeper
All readings
cooked rice; meal
cooked rice; a meal; food
煮熟的谷类食物，特指米饭；也指一日中的一顿食物。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 吃饭chī fànto eat; to have a meal饭 = fàn
- 米饭mǐ fàncooked rice饭 = fàn
- 做饭zuò fànto cook; to prepare a meal饭 = fàn
- 炒饭chǎo fànfried rice; to make fried rice饭 = fàn
- 煮饭zhǔ fànto cook rice; to cook a meal饭 = fàn
- 盛饭chéng fànto fill a bowl with rice饭 = fàn
- 饭店fàn diànrestaurant; hotel饭 = fànHSK 1
- 饭盒fàn hélunch box饭 = fàn
- 饭馆fàn guǎnrestaurant饭 = fàn
Sound component
反 family tone diff
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 饭 mean?
饭 (fàn) means cooked rice; a meal; food.
How do you pronounce 饭?
It is pronounced fàn.
What parts is 饭 made of?
饣 (food radical (simplified form of 食)) and 反 (reverse; opposite; to turn over), side by side. The recorded source is: IDS ⿰饣反，笔画核验 3+4=7（hanzi-writer-data）；《说文解字·食部》：飯，食也。从食反聲. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 饭 have?
7. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 饭?
饣. 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 饭?
Common ones are 吃饭 and 米饭. The reading of 饭 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.