How to Write 半 (bàn) — Meaning “half”

Imagine the top two dots are two halves of a pie, and the vertical line of the bottom 十 is a knife cutting through the middle. This picture of a cut pie helps you remember that 半 means 'half'.

Write 半 with 5 strokes: first the left dot, then the right falling stroke (together forming 丷), then a horizontal line, then a vertical line through the middle, and finally a longer horizontal line at the bottom. A common mistake is to make the top dots too big—keep them small and centered above the cross.

半 has two dots on top (丷), while 千 (qiān, meaning 'thousand') has a single sloping stroke (丿) on top. 卄 (niàn, meaning 'twenty') looks like two stacked crosses (十+十) or a grid, whereas 半 only has one cross (十) at the bottom.

半 commonly means 'half' in time and quantity, e.g., 一半 (one half), 半天 (half a day or a long time), and 半年 (half a year). It is also used in telling time—for example, 三点半 means 'half past three'—and appears in idioms like 半途而废 (to give up halfway).

Common words containing 半 include: 一半 (yí bàn) — one half; 半天 (bàn tiān) — half a day; a long time; 半年 (bàn nián) — half a year.