普 meaning and stroke order
Widespread, universal, general
How to write 普, stroke by stroke
12 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
- 10
- 11
- 12
Meaning of 普
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- general
- popular
- everywhere
- universal
How 普 is built
Ideographic (compound meaning) character. Everyone 並 under the sun 日.
Radical: 日 (sun), shared by 116 characters on this site.
How to remember 普
The top part 並 shows people standing side by side, and below is the sun 日. Everyone together under the same sun is a picture of something shared by all, so 普 (pǔ) means universal or widespread.
普 rarely stands alone and mostly appears in words like 普通 (pǔtōng, ordinary), 普遍 (pǔbiàn, widespread) and 普及 (pǔjí, to popularize). Example: 他是一个普通人。(Tā shì yí gè pǔtōng rén.) He is an ordinary person.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 普 with 晋 (jìn) or 谱 (pǔ, a musical score or chart), which look and sound similar. Remember that 谱 has the speech radical 讠 on the left, while 普 has no side radical.
Common words with 普
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 普通 | pǔtōng | common; ordinary | HSK 2 |
| 普通话 | pǔtōnghuà | Putonghua; standard Mandarin | HSK 2 |
| 普遍 | pǔbiàn | universal; general | HSK 3 |
| 普及 | pǔjí | to spread extensively; to generalize | HSK 3 |
| 普通人 | pǔtōng rén | ordinary person; private citizen | HSK 7-9 |
| 吉普 | jípǔ | Jeep (car brand) | HSK 7-9 |
| 科普 | kēpǔ | popularization of science (abbr. for 科學普及|科学普及[ke1 xue2 pu3 ji2]); (attributive) popular s | HSK 7-9 |
| 基普 | jīpǔ | kip (Laotian currency) | |
| 普罗 | pǔluó | proletariat (loanword); abbr. for 普羅列塔利亞|普罗列塔利亚[pu3 luo2 lie4 ta3 li4 ya4] | |
| 吉普车 | jípǔchē | jeep (military vehicle) (loanword) | |
| 普西 | pǔxī | psi (Greek letter Ψψ) | |
| 普普通通 | pǔpǔtōngtōng | ordinary; mediocre |
普 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Characters that contain 普
Learning 普 makes these easier to recognize and write.
Questions about 普
How many strokes are in 普?
普 is written with 12 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 普 mean?
普 (pǔ) means widespread, universal, general. A common word with it is 普通 (pǔtōng), meaning "common; ordinary".
How do you pronounce 普?
普 is pronounced pǔ, in the third tone (dipping).
What is the radical of 普?
The radical of 普 is 日, which carries the idea of "sun". Dictionaries list 普 under this radical.
Is 普 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 普 is part of the HSK 2 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 普通 and 普遍?
普通 (pǔtōng) means ordinary or average and describes a person or thing, as in 普通的一天 (an ordinary day). 普遍 (pǔbiàn) means widespread or common across many cases, as in 这个问题很普遍 (this problem is very common).
Why is standard Mandarin called 普通话?
普通话 (pǔtōnghuà) literally means the common speech, the language shared by everyone. It is the official term in mainland China, while Taiwan usually says 国语 (guóyǔ) and Singapore says 华语 (huáyǔ).