本
běn
The spine in your hand: 本
The picture A stack of pages bound into a block with a spine. Your thumb rests on that spine. 本 counts sheets bound into a block with a spine; 张 counts a single unbound sheet lying flat.
Where the picture shows up in 本
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two blocks from the shop
我买了两本书。
wǒ mǎi le liǎng běn shū
I bought two books.
Standing two thick books spine-out on the shop counter.
A loose sheet is not 本 but 张.
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a block you lend out
这本词典借我用一下。
zhè běn cídiǎn jiè wǒ yòng yíxià
Lend me this dictionary for a second.
Handing over a fat dictionary with your hand wrapped round its spine.
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a block you flip through
我在飞机上看了一本杂志。
wǒ zài fēijī shang kàn le yì běn zázhì
I read a magazine on the plane.
Thumbing a magazine open on your knees in a cramped seat.
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a block almost used up
这本笔记本快用完了。
zhè běn bǐjìběn kuài yòng wán le
This notebook is nearly full.
A notebook seen edge-on, the front all used up and only a few sheets left at the back.
All of it in one picture
The two on the counter are blocks with spines, the dictionary you lend is a block, the magazine on your knees is a block, and the notebook running out is a block. 本 never asks whether you read it or write in it. It asks only whether enough sheets have been bound together to give you a spine to hold. So wherever 本 turns up, it brings with it a thickness you can push your thumb through.