妇 meaning and stroke order
Married woman; wife
How to write 妇, 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.
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Meaning of 妇
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- woman
- old variant of 婦|妇[fu4]
How 妇 is built
Ideographic (compound meaning) character. Simplified form of 婦; a woman 女 with a broom 彐.
Radical: 女 (woman), shared by 156 characters on this site.
How to remember 妇
妇 (fù) shows a woman 女 next to 彐, a hand holding a broom. Picture a woman with a broom, the old image of a married woman running a household.
妇 rarely stands alone in modern Chinese. It appears in words about women and wives, such as 妇女 (fùnǚ, women), 夫妇 (fūfù, husband and wife) and 孕妇 (yùnfù, pregnant woman). Example: 这对夫妇很热情。(Zhè duì fūfù hěn rèqíng.) This couple is very warm and welcoming.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 妇 (fù) with 归 (guī, to return), which also has 彐 on the right but uses a different left side. Also keep the fourth tone in 妇女 (fùnǚ), but note that in 媳妇 (xífu) and 寡妇 (guǎfu) it is usually read in the neutral tone.
Common words with 妇
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 夫妇 | fūfù | a (married) couple; husband and wife | HSK 4 |
| 妇女 | fùnǚ | woman | HSK 6 |
| 寡妇 | guǎfu | widow | HSK 7-9 |
| 孕妇 | yùnfù | pregnant woman | HSK 7-9 |
| 媳妇 | xífu | daughter-in-law; wife of a younger brother or relative of the younger generation | HSK 7-9 |
| 主妇 | zhǔfù | housewife; woman of senior authority in a household | HSK 7-9 |
| 荡妇 | dàngfù | prostitute; floozy; slut | |
| 情妇 | qíngfù | mistress; paramour (of married man) | |
| 家庭主妇 | jiātíngzhǔfù | housewife; stay-at-home wife | |
| 妇人 | fùrén | married woman | |
| 老妇人 | lǎofùrén | elderly woman | |
| 泼妇 | pōfù | shrew; vixen | |
| 妇产科 | fùchǎnkē | department of gynecology and obstetrics; birth clinic | |
| 新婚夫妇 | xīnhūnfūfù | newly married couple; newlyweds |
妇 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 妇
How many strokes are in 妇?
妇 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 妇 mean?
妇 (fù) means married woman; wife. A common word with it is 夫妇 (fūfù), meaning "a (married) couple; husband and wife".
How do you pronounce 妇?
妇 is pronounced fù, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 妇?
The radical of 妇 is 女, which carries the idea of "woman". Dictionaries list 妇 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 妇?
The traditional form of 妇 is 婦 and 媍. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 妇 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 妇 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 妇 is part of the HSK 4 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard, and you are expected to write it by hand from HSK 2.
What is the difference between 妇女 and 女人?
妇女 (fùnǚ) is a formal, collective term used in news, laws and holidays, as in 妇女节 (Fùnǚ Jié, Women's Day). 女人 (nǚrén) is the everyday word for a woman and can sound casual.
Does 媳妇 mean wife or daughter-in-law?
Both. In standard usage 媳妇 (xífu) means daughter-in-law or the wife of a younger relative. In northern colloquial speech, many men use 媳妇 (xífu) or 媳妇儿 to mean their own wife.