Word

丈夫 (zhàng fu) — Chinese word meaning

HSK 2

Meaning of 丈夫

名 míng noun

husband

她的丈夫是一位医生。

tā de zhàng fu shì yī wèi yī shēng

Her husband is a doctor.

Word breakdown

丈 zhàng — adult male, man of stature

夫 fū / fu — man, husband

Contextual pronunciation: fu

1 夫妻 fū qī — husband and wife; married couple HSK 3
- 夫 husband
- 妻 wife
Example

夫妻应该互相尊重。

fū qī yīng gāi hù xiāng zūn zhòng

Husband and wife should respect each other.
2 功夫 gōng fu — kung fu; skill; effort HSK 4
- 功 achievement; skill; work
- 夫 suffix completing the word; relates to time/labor spent
Example

学好中文需要下功夫。

xué hǎo zhōng wén xū yào xià gōng fu

Learning Chinese well requires effort.
3 大夫 dài fu — doctor HSK 4
- 大 great, senior
- 夫 man, person
Example

大夫说我需要多休息。

dài fu shuō wǒ xū yào duō xiū xi

The doctor said I need more rest.
4 夫妇 fū fù — married couple HSK 5
- 夫 husband
- 妇 wife
Example

这对夫妇结婚三十年了。

zhè duì fū fù jié hūn sān shí nián le

This couple has been married for thirty years.
5 下功夫 xià gōng fu — to put in effort; to work hard at HSK 6
- 下 to put in; to expend
- 功 work; effort; merit
- 夫 time; skill (forms the word for effort/skill)
Example

他在这个项目上下了很多功夫。

tā zài zhè ge xiàng mù shàng xià le hěn duō gōng fu

He put in a lot of effort on this project.

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6 夫人 fū rén — madam HSK 6
- 夫 husband, man (forming a respectful term)
- 人 person (completing the respectful term for wife/lady)
Example

李先生和他的夫人一起来了。

Lǐ xiān sheng hé tā de fū rén yì qǐ lái le

Mr. Li came with his wife.
7 工夫 gōng fu — time; spare time; skill; effort HSK 6
- 工 work; labor (contributes the sense of effort or activity)
- 夫 suffix (combines with 工 to form the word meaning time or skill)
Example

我今天没有工夫去购物。

wǒ jīn tiān méi yǒu gōng fu qù gòu wù

I don't have time to go shopping today.

Structure & writing

1 丈 zhàng — zhang, a traditional Chinese unit of length equal to 10 chi (approx. 3.33 m); 10 zhang equals 1 yin

丈 is a component in 3 characters

HSK 6

仗 zhàng general term for ancient weapons

HSK 7

吏 lì government official in ancient times 杖 zhàng walking stick, cane

丈 is an atomic character — it does not decompose further.

Stroke order

2 夫 fū / fu — general term for an adult man

夫 is a component in 7 characters

HSK 4

失 shī to lose; to be deprived of (opposite of 得) 肤 fū skin, the outer surface of the human body 规 guī compass (for drawing circles)

HSK 5

扶 fú to support with one's hand to prevent falling, or to help something fallen stand up again 替 tì to replace; to substitute

HSK 6

夹 jiā to clamp; to press from both sides to hold something in place

HSK 7

撵 niǎn to expel, drive away

consists of

2.1 一 yī — the smallest positive integer; one (①used before a measure word ②used before a noun ③indicates a single action or a brief/tentative action)

一 is a component in 58 characters

HSK 1