赋 meaning and stroke order
Tax; to give, to bestow
How to write 赋, 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.
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Meaning of 赋
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- poetic essay
- taxation
- to bestow on
- to endow with
How 赋 is built
Ideographic (compound meaning) character. Money 贝 used to raise an army 武; 武 also provides the pronunciation.
Radical: 贝 (sea shell), shared by 63 characters on this site.
How to remember 赋
On the left is 贝 (bèi), shell money, and on the right is 武 (wǔ), military force. Picture people paying money 贝 so the state can raise an army 武, and you have a tax. 武 also hints at the sound fù.
Today 赋 appears mostly in set words like 天赋 (tiānfù, natural talent) and 赋予 (fùyǔ, to give or entrust), and it has a formal, written feel. Example: 她很有音乐天赋。(Tā hěn yǒu yīnyuè tiānfù.) She has a real gift for music.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 赋 (fù) with 富 (fù, rich) and 付 (fù, to pay) because they share the same sound and tone. Remember that 赋 has 贝 on the left and 武 on the right, and it means bestowing or taxing, not being wealthy or paying a bill.
Common words with 赋
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
赋 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 赋
How many strokes are in 赋?
赋 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 赋 mean?
赋 (fù) means tax; to give, to bestow. A common word with it is 天赋 (tiānfù), meaning "gift; innate skill".
How do you pronounce 赋?
赋 is pronounced fù, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 赋?
The radical of 赋 is 贝, which carries the idea of "sea shell". Dictionaries list 赋 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 赋?
The traditional form of 赋 is 賦. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 赋 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 赋 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 赋 is part of the HSK 7-9 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
What does 赋 mean in Chinese literature?
赋 is also the name of a classical literary form, often translated as a rhapsody or poetic essay. It mixes rhymed verse and prose and was especially popular in the Han dynasty.
Is 赋 still used to mean tax in modern Chinese?
Rarely on its own. The everyday word for tax is 税 (shuì), and 赋 with the tax meaning survives mainly in historical or formal phrases like 赋税 (fùshuì), taxes and levies.