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根本

gēnběn

1. noun foundation; the most essential part

   教育是国家发展的根本。

   Jiàoyù shì guójiā fāzhǎn de gēnběn.

   Education is the foundation of a nation's development.

2. adjective fundamental; root (mostly attributive)

   我们要找出问题的根本原因。

   Wǒmen yào zhǎochū wèntí de gēnběn yuányīn.

   We need to find the root cause of the problem.

3. adverb at all; simply (mostly used in the negative)

   我根本不认识他。

   Wǒ gēnběn bù rènshi tā.

   I don't know him at all.

The full ChinesePath dictionary entry for 根本 includes audio for every reading and example sentence, more example sentences, collocations, synonyms and links to the course units where it is taught.