本年 (běn nián) — this year | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Written/formal synonym for 'this year', mostly in business or report-style prose. More formal than 今年; use it in titles like 本年度 or 本年收入.

noun

this year

本年。
běn nián De yíng shōu bǐ qù nián zēng zhǎng le bǎi fēn zhī shí.
This year's revenue increased by ten percent compared to last year.
本年。
běn nián Dù cái wù bào biǎo yǐ jīng tí jiāo le.
This year's financial statements have been submitted.
本年。
běn nián De mù biāo shì wán chéng suǒ yǒu xiàng mù.
The goal for this year is to complete all projects.

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.

本 means this, and 年 means year; together they refer to this year.

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

本 adds a stroke at the bottom of a tree shape to mark the roots, giving the sense of foundation or original.

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

禾禾héwheat; grain

Sound part声符shēngfú

人

人rén年nián

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

年 pairs 禾 (grain) with 人, which gives the sound. Its original meaning was harvest, and it later came to mean a year.