Meaning of 违法
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- illegal
- to break the law
How to use 违法
违法 works as a verb (to break the law) and as an adjective (illegal). It is common in news, signs and formal speech, often in phrases like 违法行为 (wéifǎ xíngwéi, illegal act). Example: 酒后开车是违法的。(Jiǔ hòu kāichē shì wéifǎ de.) Drunk driving is illegal.
违 (wéi) means to go against, and 法 (fǎ) means law. Put them together and you get going against the law, which is breaking the law or being illegal.
Common mistake: Learners often write 违 (wéi) as 伟 (wěi, great) because they sound alike. 违 has the walking radical 辶, while 伟 has the person radical 亻. Also keep the tones as second plus third, wéifǎ, and do not say wèifǎ.
违法 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
违 wéi · to violate · 7 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
法 fǎ · law · 8 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
Related words
Words that share a character with 违法.
| 办法 | bànfǎ | way of handling sth; means; measure; (practical) solution to a problem |
| 想法 | xiǎngfǎ | way of thinking; opinion; notion; to think of a way (to do sth) |
| 方法 | fāngfǎ | method; way; technique; procedure |
| 看法 | kànfǎ | way of looking at a thing; view |
| 做法 | zuòfǎ | way of handling sth; method for making |
| 合法 | héfǎ | lawful; legitimate |
| 无法 | wúfǎ | unable to; incapable of |
| 法律 | fǎlǜ | law |
| 法官 | fǎguān | judge (in court) |
| 法院 | fǎyuàn | court of law; court |
| 语法 | yǔfǎ | grammar; (computing) syntax |
| 没法儿 | méifǎr | (coll.) can't do anything about it; (coll.) there's no way that ...; it's simply not credi |
Questions about 违法
What does 违法 mean?
违法 (wéifǎ) means "illegal; to break the law".
How do you write 违法?
违法 is made of 2 characters: 违 (7 strokes), 法 (8 strokes). That is 15 strokes in total.
Is 违法 an HSK word?
Yes. 违法 is on the HSK 5 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 违法 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 违法 is written 違法.
What is the difference between 违法 and 犯法?
Both mean breaking the law. 犯法 (fànfǎ) is more colloquial and usually describes a person committing a crime. 违法 is more formal and is also used as an adjective, as in 违法行为 (illegal act).
What is the opposite of 违法?
The opposite is 合法 (héfǎ), meaning lawful or legal. For example, 这是合法的 (zhè shì héfǎ de) means this is legal.