步 meaning in English

bù

a step; a pace

HSK 3nounmeasure word7 strokes

Meaning of 步

Definitions from CC-CEDICT.

bù

a step
a pace
walk
march
stages in a process
situation

Bù

surname Bu

How to use 步

步 is often a measure word for steps or stages, as in 一步 (yī bù, one step), and it appears in many common words like 散步 (sànbù) and 进步 (jìnbù). 我们晚饭后去散步。(Wǒmen wǎnfàn hòu qù sànbù.) We go for a walk after dinner.

步 (bù) has 止 (zhǐ, a foot) on top and a reversed foot shape below, so picture one foot in front of the other as you take a step. Two feet moving in turn make a pace.

Common mistake: Learners often write the bottom part like 少 (shǎo), adding an extra dot on the left. The bottom of 步 has no left dot, only a short stroke, a dot on the right, and a long sweeping stroke.

步 in example sentences

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

请qǐng告gào诉sù我wǒ下xià一yī步bù该gāi做zuò什shén么me。

Please show me what to do next.

因yīn为wèi车chē子zi坏huài了le，他tā们men只zhǐ好hǎo步bù行xíng。

The car broke down, so they had to walk.

我wǒ不bù知zhī道dào下xià一yī步bù做zuò什shén么me。

I don't know what the next step is.

和hé以yǐ前qián相xiāng比bǐ，已yǐ经jīng进jìn步bù了le很hěn多duō。

It has greatly improved compared with what it was.

我wǒ父fù亲qīn每měi天tiān早zǎo上shàng都dōu跑pǎo步bù。

My father goes jogging every morning.

Stroke order for each character

Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.

步 bù · a step · 7 strokes

Related words

Words that share a character with 步.

散步	sànbù	to take a walk; to go for a walk
进步	jìnbù	progress; improvement; to improve; to progress
进一步	jìnyībù	to go a step further; (develop, understand, improve etc) more; further
跑步	pǎobù	to run; to jog
初步	chūbù	initial; preliminary
步行	bùxíng	to go on foot; to walk
逐步	zhúbù	progressively; step by step
脚步	jiǎobù	footstep; step
地步	dìbù	stage; degree (to which a situation has evolved); a (usu. bad) situation
步骤	bùzhòu	procedure; step
让步	ràngbù	to concede; to give in
同步	tóngbù	synchronous; to synchronize

Questions about 步

What does 步 mean?

步 (bù) means "a step; a pace" and is used as a noun and measure word.

How do you write 步?

步 is made of 1 character: 步 (7 strokes). That is 7 strokes in total.

Is 步 an HSK word?

Yes. 步 is on the HSK 3 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.

How do you say step by step in Chinese?

You can say 一步一步 (yī bù yī bù) or the set phrase 逐步 (zhúbù). For example, 一步一步来 (yī bù yī bù lái) means take it one step at a time.

What is the difference between 步行 and 走路?

Both mean to walk. 步行 (bùxíng) sounds more formal and appears on signs or in writing, while 走路 (zǒulù) is the everyday spoken choice.