TraceHanzi

弗 meaning and stroke order

fú

Not, negative

5 strokesRadical 弓
Strokes5
Pinyinfú
ToneTone 2
Frequency#642
Printable worksheet

How to write 弗, 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. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5

Meaning of 弗

Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.

fúsecond tone (rising)
  1. (literary) not
  2. used in transliteration

How 弗 is built

Ideographic (compound meaning) character. Two arrows 丨 pulled across a bow.

gōnga bow+shùnumber one

Radical: 弓 (bow), shared by 29 characters on this site.

How to remember 弗

Picture two arrows 丨丨 pulled across a bow 弓. The arrows are stuck and will not fly, so the character means "not."

弗 (fú) is a literary negative found in classical texts and set phrases. Today you mostly see it in transliterations of foreign names and words, such as 弗洛伊德 (Fúluòyīdé, Freud) and 佛罗里达 is not one of them, but 弗吉尼亚 (Fújíníyà, Virginia) is. In everyday speech, use 不 (bù) for "not" instead.

Common mistake: Learners often confuse 弗 (fú) with 佛 (fó, Buddha) and 拂 (fú, to brush). Those characters contain 弗 as a sound component, so check for the extra person 亻 or hand 扌 on the left.

弗 in example sentences

Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.

弗fú雷léi德dé的de房fáng子zi有yǒu五wǔ间jiān房fáng间jiān。
Fred's house has five rooms.
你nǐ有yǒu弗fú雷léi迪dí的de消xiāo息xī吗ma？
Have you heard from Freddie?
弗fú兰lán克kè在zài大dà学xué主zhǔ修xiū社shè会huì学xué。
Frank majored in sociology at university.
为wèi什shén么me克kè里lǐ斯sī托tuō弗fú·哥gē伦lún布bù离lí婚hūn了le ？
What did Christopher Columbus discover?
汤tāng姆mǔ和hé弗fú兰lán克kè是shì好hǎo朋péng友yǒu。
Tom and Frank are good friends.

Characters that contain 弗

Learning 弗 makes these easier to recognize and write.

费fèito cost佛fóBuddha費fèiexpenses沸fèito boil狒fèibaboon彿fúsimilar砩fúto build a dam with…氟fúfluorine拂fúto shake off

Questions about 弗

How many strokes are in 弗?

弗 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 弗 mean?

弗 (fú) means not, negative.

How do you pronounce 弗?

弗 is pronounced fú, in the second tone (rising).

What is the radical of 弗?

The radical of 弗 is 弓, which carries the idea of "bow". Dictionaries list 弗 under this radical.

Why does 弗 appear inside so many other characters?

弗 often works as a sound component. You can hear it in characters like 佛 (fó), 沸 (fèi, to boil), 费 (fèi, to spend) and 拂 (fú), where it hints at the pronunciation.

Is 弗 the same as 不 in meaning?

Both mean "not," but 弗 is classical and formal. In modern Chinese you would say 我不去 (wǒ bú qù, I am not going), never 我弗去.