Like / as if (如…般)

Structure 如 + image + 般 / 一般 + （+ verb/adjective）

如…般 (rú… bān) and its variant 如…一般 form a literary simile: "like…", "as…". The image sits between 如 and 般: 时光如流水般逝去 = "time slips away like flowing water". It is the cultured counterpart of …似的 (HSK 5): same "seems like / as if" sense, but 如…般 belongs to poetic prose, literary description and lyrics, whereas 似的 is colloquial. 般 (bān, "manner, kind") closes the comparison and may be followed by a verb or adjective expressing the shared trait.

Examples

时shí光guāng如rú流liú水shuǐ般bān逝shì去qù。
Time slips away like flowing water.
她tā的de歌gē声shēng如rú清qīng泉quán一yī般bān，沁qìn人rén心xīn脾pí。
Her singing, like a clear spring, soothes the heart.
消xiāo息xī如rú惊jīng雷léi般bān传chuán遍biàn全quán城chéng。
The news spread across the whole city like a thunderclap.
往wǎng事shì如rú烟yān一yī般bān，渐jiàn渐jiàn模mó糊hú。
The past, like smoke, grows hazier little by little.

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