饭馆 (fàn guǎn) — restaurant | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A small, casual restaurant. 饭店 is more common in northern Chinese and can also mean 'hotel'; 餐厅 is the more formal, written word.

noun

restaurant

Measure word · 家

Examples

饭馆。
Wǒ xǐ huan qù nà jiā fàn guǎn chī fàn.
I like to go to that restaurant to eat.
饭馆。
Zhè jiā fàn guǎn de cài hěn hǎo chī.
The dishes at this restaurant are very tasty.
饭馆。
Wǒ men zài yì jiā xiǎo fàn guǎn chī fàn.
We eat at a small restaurant.

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" means meal, and "馆" means hall or establishment, so together they name a place 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.

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 館; 馆 is its simplified writing.

飠官館

Meaning part形符xíngfú

飠Written in full as食shí

Sound part声符shēngfú

官

官guān館guǎn

Same sound today

The traditional form 館 is made of 食, written as 飠 on the left, and 官 on the right; 官 provides the sound. The simplified 馆 is a later shorthand.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 2 HSK 2.0 Level 1 Dining & Restaurants

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