本来 běnlái▶ ban đầu

Stroke order

本来 is written in 12 strokes across 2 characters.

• 本 — 5 strokes
• 来 — 7 strokes

Senses

1. original
2. originally
3. at first
4. it goes without saying
5. of course

Example sentences

• 我本来想去，后来没去。Wǒ běnlái xiǎng qù, hòulái méi qù.I originally wanted to go, but then I did not.
• 这本来是他的书。Zhè běnlái shì tā de shū.This was originally his book.

Related words

• 从来Luôn luôn
• 原来Nguyên bản; ban đầu
• 将来tương lai
• 来自Đến từ; xuất phát từ
• 来不及Không đủ thời gian
• 来得及Kịp thời

本来 is pronounced běnlái and means “ban đầu”. It belongs to the HSK 4 vocabulary, one of the six bands of the Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi, China’s official Chinese proficiency exam. Recognising 本来 on a page and producing it in conversation are different skills, and only the second holds up when someone is waiting for an answer — so LexiTrail brings it back just as your memory of it starts to fade, not on a fixed weekly rota.