俘 meaning and stroke order
Prisoner of war; take as prisoner
How to write 俘, stroke by stroke
9 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
- 7
- 8
- 9
Meaning of 俘
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- to take prisoner
- prisoner of war
How 俘 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Person.
亻 gives the meaning and 孚 hints at the sound.
Radical: 亻 (man), shared by 277 characters on this site.
How to remember 俘
俘 is built from 亻 (person) plus 孚 (fú), which gives the sound. Picture a person 亻 being taken and held, and the sound fú tells you how to say it.
俘 rarely stands alone in modern Chinese and mostly appears in words like 俘虏 (fúlǔ), 俘获 (fúhuò) and 战俘 (zhànfú). It belongs to news, history and war contexts. Example: 他们俘虏了三名敌军士兵。 (Tāmen fúlǔ le sān míng díjūn shìbīng.) They captured three enemy soldiers.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 俘 (fú) with 孵 (fū, to hatch), which shares the 孚 part but has a different tone and meaning. Also do not mix it up with 浮 (fú, to float), which has the same sound but the water radical 氵.
Common words with 俘
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
Questions about 俘
How many strokes are in 俘?
俘 is written with 9 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 俘 mean?
俘 (fú) means prisoner of war; take as prisoner. A common word with it is 俘虏 (fúlǔ), meaning "to take prisoner; a captive (usu. a prisoner of war)".
How do you pronounce 俘?
俘 is pronounced fú, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 俘?
The radical of 俘 is 亻, which carries the idea of "man". Dictionaries list 俘 under this radical.
Is 俘 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 俘 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
Can 俘虏 be used in a non-military sense?
Yes. 俘虏 can mean to win someone over, as in 她的笑容俘虏了很多人的心 (Her smile captured many people's hearts). 俘获 is used the same way, for example 俘获人心 (to win people's hearts).
Is 俘虏 a noun or a verb?
It can be both. As a verb it means to take prisoner, and as a noun it means a captive. 战俘 (zhànfú) is only a noun and specifically means prisoner of war.