服 meaning and stroke order
Clothes; dress; garment
How to write 服, stroke by stroke
8 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
Meaning of 服
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- clothes
- dress
- garment
- to serve (in the military, a prison sentence etc)
- to obey
- to be convinced (by an argument)
- classifier for medicine: dose
- Taiwan pr. [fu2]
How 服 is built
Ideographic (compound meaning) character. A person 卩 putting on 又 a coat 月.
Radical: 月 (moon), shared by 14 characters on this site.
How to remember 服
Picture a kneeling person 卩 using a hand 又 to pull on a coat 月 hanging beside them. Putting on clothes is the core idea of 服 (fú).
服 rarely stands alone in daily speech. It appears in very common words like 衣服 (yīfu, clothes), 舒服 (shūfu, comfortable), and 服务员 (fúwùyuán, waiter). Example: 这件衣服很舒服。(Zhè jiàn yīfu hěn shūfu.) These clothes are very comfortable.
Common mistake: In 衣服 (yīfu) and 舒服 (shūfu), 服 is said with a neutral tone, not a full second tone. Learners also mix up the left part 月 in 服 with 日, so keep the two inner strokes and the open bottom of 月.
Common words with 服
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 衣服 | yīfu | clothes | HSK 1 |
| 舒服 | shūfu | comfortable; feeling well | HSK 2 |
| 服务 | fúwù | to serve; service | HSK 2 |
| 服装 | fúzhuāng | dress; clothing | HSK 3 |
| 克服 | kèfú | (try to) overcome (hardships etc); to conquer | HSK 3 |
| 服务员 | fúwùyuán | waiter; waitress | HSK 3 |
| 说服 | shuōfú | to persuade; to convince | HSK 4 |
| 征服 | zhēngfú | to conquer; to subdue | HSK 4 |
| 服从 | fúcóng | to obey (an order); to comply | HSK 5 |
| 羽绒服 | yǔróngfú | down jacket; down coat | HSK 5 |
| 制服 | zhìfú | to subdue; to check | HSK 7-9 |
| 服用 | fúyòng | to take (medicine) | HSK 7-9 |
| 礼服 | lǐfú | ceremonial robe; formal attire (dinner suit, evening gown etc) | HSK 7-9 |
| 佩服 | pèifú | to admire | HSK 7-9 |
服 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 服
How many strokes are in 服?
服 is written with 8 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 服 mean?
服 (fú) means clothes; dress; garment. A common word with it is 衣服 (yīfu), meaning "clothes".
How do you pronounce 服?
服 is pronounced fú, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 服?
The radical of 服 is 月, which carries the idea of "moon". Dictionaries list 服 under this radical.
Is 服 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 服 is part of the HSK 1 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard, and you are expected to write it by hand from HSK 1.
How do you say 'take medicine' with 服?
The formal phrase is 服药 (fú yào), often seen on medicine labels. In everyday speech people usually say 吃药 (chī yào) instead.
What does 我服了 mean?
It means "I give up" or "I'm convinced," using the sense of 服 as to submit or be won over. In casual speech it often sounds exasperated, like "I can't believe you."