僕 meaning and stroke order
To fall forward; prostrate, prone; servant
How to write 僕, stroke by stroke
14 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
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Meaning of 僕
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- servant
How 僕 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Person.
亻 gives the meaning and 菐 hints at the sound.
Radical: 亻 (man), shared by 277 characters on this site.
How to remember 僕
僕 is a person 亻 on the left with 菐 on the right giving the sound pú. Picture a person bowing low beside a heavy load, ready to serve, and you have a servant.
僕 is the traditional form, and simplified Chinese writes it as 仆. Today it mostly appears in compound words like 仆人 (púrén) servant and 公仆 (gōngpú) public servant. Example: 官员应该是人民的公仆。(Guānyuán yīnggāi shì rénmín de gōngpú.) Officials should be servants of the people.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 僕 with 撲 (pū, to pounce), which has the same right side but a hand radical and a first tone. Keep the person 亻 for servant and the hand 扌 for pouncing.
Common words with 僕
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
Questions about 僕
How many strokes are in 僕?
僕 is written with 14 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 僕 mean?
僕 (pú) means to fall forward; prostrate, prone; servant. A common word with it is 公仆 (gōngpú), meaning "public servant".
How do you pronounce 僕?
僕 is pronounced pú, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 僕?
The radical of 僕 is 亻, which carries the idea of "man". Dictionaries list 僕 under this radical.
What is the simplified form of 僕?
僕 is a traditional character. Its simplified form is 仆, used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 僕 the same character as 仆?
For the meaning servant, yes. 仆 is the simplified form used in mainland China. In simplified writing 仆 also covers pū, to fall forward, as in 前仆后继 (qián pū hòu jì).
Does 僕 mean I in Chinese like in Japanese?
In modern Mandarin it does not mean I. In older classical writing it could be a humble word for oneself, but today Chinese speakers just say 我 (wǒ).