| 本来 |
běn lái |
original / originally / at first / it goes without saying / of course |
| 本 |
běn |
(bound form) root; stem / (bound form) origin; source / (bound form) one's own; this / (bound form) this; the current (year etc) / (bound form) original / (bound form) inherent / originally; initially / capital; principal / classifier for books, periodicals, files etc |
| 来 |
lái |
to come / (used as a substitute for a more specific verb) / hither (directional complement for motion toward the speaker, as in 回来) / ever since (as in 自古以来) / for the past (amount of time) / (prefix) the coming ...; the next ... (as in 来世) / (between two verbs) in order to / (after a round number) approximately / (used after 得 to indicate possibility, as in 谈得来, or after 不 to indicate impossibility, as in 吃不来) |