家常饭 (jiā cháng fàn) — home-style food; simple meal

Definition

家常饭 is everyday home cooking — simple, familiar, not fancy restaurant food. Contrasts with restaurant dishes or elaborate meals, emphasizing comfort and ordinariness.

noun
home-style foodsimple meal

Examples

  • 家常饭。
    Mā ma zuò de jiā cháng fàn hái shì nà me hǎo chī.
    Mom's home-style cooking is still so delicious.
  • 家常饭，。
    Zhè cì chū chāi chī de dōu shì jiā cháng fàn, gǎn jué hěn tā shi.
    On this business trip I only ate simple meals, which felt very grounding.
  • 家常饭。
    Tā qǐng dà jiā qù tā jiā chī yí dùn jiā cháng fàn.
    He invited everyone to his home for a home-style meal.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

家常home-everyday
家jiāhome常chángeveryday
偏正Modifier + head
饭fànfood

家 gives 'home' and 常 gives 'everyday'; 饭 gives 'food', so 'home-everyday food'.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
宀宀miánroof
Sound part声符shēngfú
𢑓
𢑓𢑓家jiā
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The early drawing of 家 showed a roof 宀 over a male-pig sign 𢑓 that gave the pronunciation; the lower part later changed shape.

Open 家 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
巾巾jīncloth
Sound part声符shēngfú
尚
尚shàng常cháng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

常 pairs 巾, a cloth, with 尚 as a sound part; the form originally referred to a lower garment.

Open 常 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 飯; 饭 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
食食shífood
Sound part声符shēngfú
反
反fǎn飯fàn
Same sound today

The traditional form 飯 combines 食 (food) with 反 for the sound; the simplified 饭 is a shorthand, so its parts are not the historical form.

Open 饭 →

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