答复 meaning in English

dáfù

to answer; to reply

HSK 5verbnounTraditional 答覆21 strokes

Meaning of 答复

Definitions from CC-CEDICT.

dáfù

to answer
to reply
Reply to: (in email header)

dáfù

variant of 答覆|答复[da2 fu4]

How to use 答复

答复 is a more formal word than 回答 (huídá). It is used for official replies to requests, letters, applications or emails, and it works as both a verb and a noun. Example: 公司还没有答复我。(Gōngsī hái méiyǒu dáfù wǒ.) The company has not replied to me yet.

答 (dá) means to answer, and 复 (fù) means to go back or return, as in 重复 (chóngfù). So 答复 is sending an answer back to someone who asked you something.

Common mistake: Learners often use 答复 for answering a simple question in class or in conversation, where 回答 (huídá) sounds natural and 答复 sounds stiff. Also note that 答 is second tone dá here, not first tone dā as in 答应 (dāying).

答复 in example sentences

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

我wǒ今jīn天tiān无wú法fǎ给gěi您nín一yí个gè最zuì终zhōng的de答dá复fù。

I cannot give you a definite answer today.

谢xiè谢xiè你nǐ的de答dá复fù。

Thanks for your reply.

谢xiè谢xiè您nín的de答dá复fù。

Thanks for your answer.

我wǒ没méi答dá复fù。

I didn't reply.

我wǒ永yǒng远yuǎn都dōu不bú会huì忘wàng记jì她tā的de答dá复fù。

I will never forget her answer.

Stroke order for each character

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

答 dá · to answer · 12 strokes

复 fù · again · 9 strokes

Related words

Words that share a character with 答复.

回答	huídá	to reply; to answer; reply; answer
答应	dāying	to answer; to respond; to answer positively; to agree; to accept; to promise
重复	chóngfù	to repeat; to duplicate
复习	fùxí	to review; revision
复杂	fùzá	complicated; complex
反复	fǎnfù	repeatedly; over and over
复印	fùyìn	to photocopy; to duplicate a document
答案	dá'àn	answer; solution
回复	huífù	to recover; to revert; to return to (good health, normal condition etc); variant of 回覆[hui
复制	fùzhì	to duplicate; to make a copy of
恢复	huīfù	to reinstate; to resume
修复	xiūfù	to restore; to renovate; (computing) to repair (a corrupted file etc)

Questions about 答复

What does 答复 mean?

答复 (dáfù) means "to answer; to reply" and is used as a verb and noun.

How do you write 答复?

答复 is made of 2 characters: 答 (12 strokes), 复 (9 strokes). That is 21 strokes in total.

Is 答复 an HSK word?

Yes. 答复 is on the HSK 5 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.

How is 答复 written in traditional Chinese?

In traditional characters, 答复 is written 答覆.

What is the difference between 答复 and 答应?

答复 means to give a reply, which can be yes or no. 答应 (dāying) means to agree or promise, so it implies a positive answer.

How do I say I am waiting for a reply with 答复?

You can say 我在等你的答复 (wǒ zài děng nǐ de dáfù), I am waiting for your reply. Another common phrase is 给我一个答复 (gěi wǒ yí ge dáfù), give me an answer.