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本能 (běn néng) — (noun) instinct; (adverb) instinctively

Definition

本能 is a fixed, innate drive shared by a species (e.g. survival instinct) — more biological and fixed than 直觉 (gut feeling from experience) or 下意识 (below-awareness, often momentary).

noun
instinct
adverb
instinctively
Easily confused

Examples

  • 本能。
    Měi gè rén dōu yǒu shēng cún de běn néng.
    Everyone has a survival instinct.
  • 本能。
    Tā běn néng dì duǒ kāi le.
    He instinctively dodged.
  • 本能。
    Zhè zhǒng běn néng bāng zhù rén lèi huó le xià lái.
    This instinct helped humans survive.

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.

本běnoriginal/root
能néngability

"本" means original/root and "能" means ability; together they refer to inborn ability.

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.

Open 本 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

能 is an old picture of a bear, showing two paws and a face with an open mouth.

Open 能 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6HSK 2.0 Level 6Abstract ConceptsBiology

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