Chinese word

坟

Pronunciation

Pinyinfén

Meaning

  • noungrave

Example

清明节我们去扫坟。qīng míng jié wǒ men qù sǎo fén

During the Qingming Festival, we go to sweep graves.

Illustration for 坟 (grave)

More examples

过节时很多人给坟上香。guò jié shí hěn duō rén gěi fén shàng xiāng

During festivals, many people burn incense at graves.

Core concept

A marked place where the dead are buried, seen as a physical spot that can belong to one person or an entire family.

Common phrases

  • 扫坟sǎo fén

    sweep a grave

  • 上坟shàng fén

    visit a grave

  • 修坟xiū fén

    repair a grave

Similar words

墓mù: A general burial site where a dead person's body or remains are placed.

Definition in Chinese

埋葬死者的地点，通常指土堆状或立有墓碑的单个墓穴，也可指家族或先人的墓地位置，常在口语中使用。mái zàng sí zhě de dì diǎn tōng cháng zhǐ tǔ duī zhuàng huò lì yǒu mù bēi de dān gè mù xué yě kě zhǐ jiā zú huò xiān rén de mù dì wèi zhì cháng zài kóu yǔ zhōng shǐ yòng

Word origin

坟 (fén, "grave") is a phonetic-semantic character whose earth radical points to a burial mound while its other part mainly supplies the sound.

Usage tips

  • In everyday family conversation, the word commonly occurs with verbs for visiting, tending, and cleaning a burial site, so these combinations are useful chunks for natural speech.

Other meanings

  • graveyardnoun

Related words

Word lists with this word