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饭店 (fàn diàn) — restaurant; hotel

Definition

饭店 means BOTH 'restaurant' and 'hotel' — its meaning depends on context (吃饭 vs 住). For a hotel, 酒店/宾馆 are clearer; for a restaurant, 饭馆 is more common.

noun
restauranthotel
Measure word · 家, 个

Examples

  • 饭店。
    Wǒ zài yí gè fàn diàn chī fàn.
    I eat at a restaurant.
  • 饭店。
    Wǒ men zhù zài yí gè fàn diàn.
    We stay in a hotel.
  • 饭店。
    Nà ge fàn diàn de cài hěn hǎo.
    That restaurant's food is good.

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.

饭fànmeal
店diànshop

"饭" means meal, and "店" means shop, so together they name a shop for meals.

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.

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 →

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
广广guǎnghouse built to depend on a cliff
Sound part声符shēngfú
占
占zhàn店diàn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

店 shows 广, a house built to depend on a cliff, and 占, which gives the sound.

Open 店 →
Appears in
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