伏 meaning and stroke order
To crouch, to crawl, to lie hidden, to conceal
How to write 伏, stroke by stroke
6 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
Meaning of 伏
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- to lean over
- to fall (go down)
- to hide (in ambush)
- to conceal oneself
- to lie low
- hottest days of summer
How 伏 is built
Ideographic (compound meaning) character. A person 亻 acting like a dog 犬.
Radical: 亻 (man), shared by 277 characters on this site.
How to remember 伏
A person 亻 next to a dog 犬: picture someone crouching low like a dog, belly to the ground, hiding and waiting. That low, hidden pose is 伏 (fú).
伏 usually appears in compounds about lying low or rising and falling, such as 埋伏 (máifú, to ambush), 潜伏 (qiánfú, to lie hidden) and 起伏 (qǐfú, to undulate). Example: 山路起伏不平。(Shānlù qǐfú bù píng.) The mountain road rises and falls unevenly.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 伏 with 状 (zhuàng), which also has 犬 but puts 丬 on the left instead of 亻. Also, the right side is 犬 with a dot, not 大, so do not drop the dot.
Common words with 伏
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 埋伏 | máifú | to ambush; to lie in wait for | HSK 7-9 |
| 起伏 | qǐfú | to move up and down; to undulate | HSK 7-9 |
| 此起彼伏 | cǐqǐ-bǐfú | up here, down there (idiom); to rise and fall in succession; no sooner one subsides, the n | HSK 7-9 |
| 伏特加 | fútèjiā | (loanword) vodka | |
| 潜伏 | qiánfú | to hide; to cover up | |
| 伏击 | fújī | ambush; to ambush | |
| 伏特 | fútè | (loanword) volt | |
| 伏地 | fúdì | to lie prostrate | |
| 危机四伏 | wēijīsìfú | danger lurks on every side (idiom) |
伏 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Characters that contain 伏
Learning 伏 makes these easier to recognize and write.
Questions about 伏
How many strokes are in 伏?
伏 is written with 6 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 伏 mean?
伏 (fú) means to crouch, to crawl, to lie hidden, to conceal. A common word with it is 埋伏 (máifú), meaning "to ambush; to lie in wait for".
How do you pronounce 伏?
伏 is pronounced fú, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 伏?
The radical of 伏 is 亻, which carries the idea of "man". Dictionaries list 伏 under this radical.
Is 伏 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 伏 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
Why does 伏 appear in the words for vodka and volt?
In 伏特加 (fútèjiā, vodka) and 伏特 (fútè, volt), 伏 is used only for its sound. It has nothing to do with crouching in these loanwords.
What does 伏 mean when talking about summer weather?
伏 can refer to the hottest period of summer, often called 三伏天 (sānfútiān), the three hottest stretches of the year. People say 入伏 (rùfú) when this period begins.