布 meaning and stroke order
Cloth; to declare; to announce
How to write 布, stroke by stroke
5 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
Meaning of 布
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- cloth
- to declare
- to announce
- to spread
- to make known
- variant of 布[bu4]
How 布 is built
Ideographic (compound meaning) character. Cloth 巾 held in a hand.
Radical: 巾 (cloth), shared by 53 characters on this site.
How to remember 布
The bottom part is 巾 (jīn), a piece of cloth, and the top strokes are a hand holding it. Picture a hand shaking out a length of cloth to spread it wide, which links the meanings cloth, to spread, and to announce.
布 means cloth on its own, as in 一块布 (yí kuài bù, a piece of cloth), but it appears most often in words about spreading or making things known, like 宣布, 公布 and 发布. Example: 老师宣布明天放假。(Lǎoshī xuānbù míngtiān fàngjià.) The teacher announced that tomorrow is a holiday.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 布 with 市 (shì, market), since both have 巾 at the bottom. 市 has a dot and a horizontal stroke on top, while 布 has a horizontal stroke crossed by a long left-falling stroke.
Common words with 布
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 宣布 | xuānbù | to declare; to announce | HSK 3 |
| 公布 | gōngbù | to announce; to make public; to publish | HSK 3 |
| 布置 | bùzhì | to arrange; to set up; to lay out; to assign (tasks, homework etc) | HSK 4 |
| 分布 | fēnbù | to scatter; to distribute | HSK 4 |
| 发布 | fābù | to release; to issue | HSK 5 |
| 布满 | bùmǎn | to be covered with; to be filled with | HSK 6 |
| 瀑布 | pùbù | waterfall | HSK 7-9 |
| 发布会 | fābùhuì | press conference; news conference; product launch event | HSK 7-9 |
| 遍布 | biànbù | to cover the whole (area); to be found throughout | HSK 7-9 |
| 散布 | sànbù | to disseminate | HSK 7-9 |
| 布局 | bùjú | arrangement; composition | HSK 7-9 |
| 颁布 | bānbù | to issue; to proclaim | HSK 7-9 |
| 布鲁斯 | bùlǔsī | blues (music) (loanword) | |
| 布雷 | bùléi | to lay mines |
布 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Characters that contain 布
Learning 布 makes these easier to recognize and write.
Questions about 布
How many strokes are in 布?
布 is written with 5 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 布 mean?
布 (bù) means cloth; to declare; to announce. A common word with it is 宣布 (xuānbù), meaning "to declare; to announce".
How do you pronounce 布?
布 is pronounced bù, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 布?
The radical of 布 is 巾, which carries the idea of "cloth". Dictionaries list 布 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 布?
The traditional form of 布 is 佈. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 布 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 布 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 布 is part of the HSK 3 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard, and you are expected to write it by hand from HSK 3.
What is the difference between 宣布, 公布 and 发布?
宣布 (xuānbù) is announcing something out loud, often a decision. 公布 (gōngbù) is making information public, like exam results or a list. 发布 (fābù) is officially releasing news, a product or a statement, as in 发布会 (fābùhuì), a press conference.
Why is 布 in the word for waterfall, 瀑布?
In 瀑布 (pùbù), the falling water looks like a long sheet of cloth hanging down. The 布 keeps its basic cloth meaning here.