班
class; team; shift
HSK level
- Pinyin
- bān
- Part of speech
- noun
- Level
- HSK 3
- Strokes
- 10
- Register
- neutral
- Measure word
- 个 / 趟
- In episodes
- 1
Stroke order for 班
班 is written with 10 strokes. The animation replays automatically.
What does 班 mean?
班 (bān) is a high-frequency noun with three connected senses.
First, 'class' — a group of students who study together: 我们班有三十个学生 ('our class has 30 students'). Second, 'work shift' — used most often in the compounds 上班 (go to work) and 下班 (get off work): 我每天九点上班. Third, a 'scheduled run' of transport — 班机 ('scheduled flight'), 加班 ('extra train / extra shift').
The same character covers all three because the underlying idea is a fixed, scheduled group or assignment. English speakers should note that 班 is rarely used alone in conversation; it's almost always part of a compound. Counting classes uses 班 itself as a number-suffix: 一班 ('Class 1'), 三班 ('Class 3') — common on school doors and timetables.
Note: Neutral. Common in school, work, and travel contexts. Note that 班 alone rarely stands as a sentence subject — it usually appears in compounds (上班, 下班, 班级) or with a measure phrase (一班 = 'Class 1').
Memory hook: Think of a 班 as a 'batch' (similar sound) of people scheduled together — a school class, a work shift, or a flight number.
Hear 班 in real episodes
班 appears in 1 Fluentide podcast episode at natural native speed. Each sentence plays at the easiest difficulty it exists in — switch it to hear the same moment at your level, with full pinyin and English throughout.
还有一个学生说：我们一个班，有三十五个人。
Another student said: our class has thirty-five people.
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Example sentences
我们班有二十个学生。
Wǒmen bān yǒu èrshí gè xuésheng.
Our class has twenty students.
neutral
他每天八点上班。
Tā měi tiān bā diǎn shàngbān.
He goes to work at eight every day.
spoken
今天我要加班，晚一点回家。
Jīntiān wǒ yào jiābān, wǎn yìdiǎn huí jiā.
I have to work overtime today, I'll be home a bit late.
spoken
下一班飞机是几点？
Xià yī bān fēijī shì jǐ diǎn?
What time is the next flight?
neutral
Common phrases with 班
Synonyms
班级 is the more formal, written word for 'class' as an organizational unit, common in school administration. 班 is the everyday spoken form: 我们班 ('our class').
组 means 'group' or 'team' — usually smaller and more ad-hoc than a 班. A study group is 学习小组; a school class is 班.
Don't confuse 班 with
Frequently asked questions
Related words from the same episodes
Acquire it by listening
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