ZHIZHI 知止 · LEARN CHINESE DAILY

to divide / minute / cent

fēn
4 strokes · 八 (divide) + 刀 (knife) · HSK 1

Where 分 comes from

分 = 八 (which itself means 'to split, divide') over 刀 (knife). A knife cutting something into parts — to DIVIDE. Everything 分 means flows from cutting into pieces.

分 in Chinese culture

分 (fēn) is division made into a character. As TIME: a minute is a 'division' of the hour — 三点十分 = 3:10 ('3 o'clock, 10 minutes'). As MONEY: a 分 is a cent, 1/100 of a yuan. As a verb: 分 = to divide/share (分书 = divide the books). And 十分 ('ten parts') means 'completely / very' — 十分好 = very good. From one knife-cut: minutes, cents, sharing, and 'very'.

Example

十分 shífēn — very (lit. 'ten parts')

现在三点十分。
Xiànzài sān diǎn shí fēn.
It's 3:10 now.

How to remember it

A knife (刀) splitting (八) something apart — to DIVIDE; a minute; a cent.

十分 ('ten parts') means 'completely / very': 十分好 = very good. The same 分 is a minute of time and a cent of money — all 'divisions' of a whole.

Same sound, different tones

1st fēn
to divide / minute
2nd fén
grave
3rd fěn
powder
4th fèn
a portion

Words unlocked by 分

十分 shífēn
very / completely
几分 jǐ fēn
how many minutes
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