分
fēn/fən⁵⁵/
In Chinese, to divide is expressed by 分 (fēn).
The verb 分 is used to describe both the physical act of dividing an object into parts and the social act of sharing or splitting resources, such as money or costs.
Meaning: separate into two or more parts (verb)
Which one should you use?
While 分 means to divide something into parts, 分开 is more commonly used to express the idea of separating things that were previously together or keeping things apart. For more formal contexts, you might use 划分 to mean divide or partition or 分割 to mean segment or partition.
How does it change in a sentence?
Additionally, when stating the number of parts something has been divided into, the measure word 份 is commonly used after the number.
How do you pronounce it?
The word is pronounced fēn (/fən⁵⁵/).
Did you know?
- To describe a romantic breakup, Chinese speakers use 分手, which literally means 'to divide hands'.
- In Chinese, 分 is also the word for 'minute' because a minute is a division of an hour.
- The character 分 is an ideogram that visually depicts the action of using a knife 刀 to split something into two parts 八.
Examples in context
- 把披薩分成三份。Divide the pizza in three.This sentence shows how to use 分 to express dividing something into parts.Tatoeba #1544234 by tsayng, translation #896141 by pauldhunt
- 請把披薩分成三份。Please divide the pizza into three parts.This sentence demonstrates a polite request using 分 to divide something into parts.Tatoeba #1544233 by tsayng, translation #1548133 by CM
- 这钱你和我分了吧。Let's divide this money between you and me.This sentence illustrates using 分 to express the social act of sharing or splitting money.Tatoeba #813546 by fucongcong, translation #59617 by CK
- 把蛋糕划分成均等的部分Divide the cake into equal portions
- 把句子分割成短语Divide the sentence into phrases
- 把钱平分Divide the money equally
- 把项目拆分为更小的任务Divide the project into smaller tasks
- 他们决定分手，各自走自己的路They decided to divide and go their separate ways
- 6 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Haoran and Jiayi are sharing a cake.
- 浩然 Haoran这个蛋糕怎么分？Zhège dàngāo zěnme fēn?How should we divide this cake?
- 佳怡 Jiayi我们把它分成四块吧。Wǒmen bǎ tā fēnchéng sì kuài ba.Let's divide it into four pieces.
- 浩然 Haoran好的，那我来分。Hǎode, nà wǒ lái fēn.Okay, I will divide it.
- 佳怡 Jiayi谢谢你，浩然。Xièxiè nǐ, Hàorán.Thank you, Haoran.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry 分, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries 分, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
