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班 (はん, han) Japanese meaning: group | Kotomora
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つ
の
班はん
に
分わ
け
た
。
We divided the class into five groups.
He is the leader of the cleaning team.
Usage patterns 〈 数かず 〉 班はん に 分わ ける to divide (people) into ... groups
We divided the class into four groups.
班はん に 分わ かれる to be divided/split into groups
The students split into several groups to do the work.
班はん で 〈 動どう 詞し 〉 to do (something) as a group/team
We carried out the survey as a group.
Related words グループ is a casual loanword for any kind of group, while 班 implies a formally organized unit assigned by a school, workplace, or military.
チーム stresses teamwork toward a shared goal (as in sports or projects), while 班 focuses on the organizational division of people into a numbered unit.
組 is the everyday word for a class or small group (especially in schools), while 班 sounds slightly more formal and is common in workplaces or military contexts.
Word family· 19 squad leader; group leader; team leader
head; leader; prime minister
relief squad; rescue party
one group; one squad · Group 1; Squad 1 · the whole group; the entire squad
Written forms 班はん Usage 87%
Standard kanji spelling for group, team, or squad.
はん Usage 13%
Etymology The kanji 班 originally means 'to distribute' or 'group,' and the reading はん is the Sino-Japanese on'yomi. The voiced variant ぱん as a suffix is a common rendaku phenomenon.
preliminary introduction (Zen) · yangban (Korean ruling class)
Show 8 more yangban; traditional Korean ruling class
head position; chief; leader
group member; squad member; team member
ranking; order of precedence
farmland allotment; allotted rice fields
work party; work crew; task force
photography team; press photographers
team of reporters; news crew