分
minute; point; cent; to divide
fēn
What does 分 mean?
分 (fēn) is a high-frequency unit word with three core senses. (1) Minutes — 三点十分 ('3:10'), 五分钟 ('five minutes'). (2) Points / score — 考了九十分 ('scored 90 points'). (3) Currency — the smallest unit of Chinese money, 100 分 = 1 块 (yuán); in daily life 分 is rarely paid in cash anymore but still appears in prices. It also serves as a unit of weight and length in old measures, and as a fraction (三分之一 sān fēn zhī yī, 'one-third'). Beyond units, 分 is the verb 'to divide, split, separate' — 分东西 ('divide things'), 分手 ('break up'), 分开 ('split apart'). The shared idea is partition: dividing time, money, scores, or relationships into pieces.
Note: 分 is also a verb meaning 'to divide / split' (分东西 'divide things up,' 分手 'break up'). The HSK 3 focus is the measure word / unit usage.
Character breakdown
to divide; minute; point; fraction
Memory hook: 八 ('eight,' two strokes going apart) on top of 刀 ('knife') — a knife splitting things into parts. 分 is what you get after you divide.
Example sentences
现在是七点二十分。
Xiànzài shì qī diǎn èrshí fēn.
It's 7:20 right now.
neutral
请等我五分钟。
Qǐng děng wǒ wǔ fēnzhōng.
Please wait five minutes for me.
polite
他这次考试考了九十五分。
Tā zhè cì kǎoshì kǎo le jiǔshíwǔ fēn.
He scored 95 on this exam.
neutral
我们把蛋糕分成八块。
Wǒmen bǎ dàngāo fēn chéng bā kuài.
Let's divide the cake into eight pieces.
spoken
他们去年分手了。
Tāmen qùnián fēnshǒu le.
They broke up last year.
spoken
Common phrases with 分
Hear it in real Fluentide episodes
分 appears in 1 podcast episode at natural native speed, with full Chinese script, pinyin, and line-by-line English translation.
Synonyms
分钟 is specifically 'minutes' as a duration (五分钟 'five minutes long'). 分 alone is used in clock times (五分 '5 past') and as the unit. For durations, native speakers prefer 分钟.
点 marks the hour (三点 '3 o'clock'); 分 marks the minutes within an hour (三点十分 '3:10'). They pair up but aren't interchangeable.
Don't confuse 分 with
份 is a measure word for portions / copies (一份报纸 'one copy of a newspaper'). 分 is the unit of minutes / points / cents. Same pinyin syllable, different tone and character.
粉 means 'powder; pink' (面粉 'flour,' 粉色 'pink'). Same pinyin family, different meaning and tone.
块 is the everyday word for the yuan (一块钱 'one yuan'). 分 is the cent (1 块 = 10 角 = 100 分). In modern life you'll see 块 and 毛 (=角) far more than 分.