Learn Chinese Characters

Meaning

to send out; to show (one's feeling); to issue; to develop; hair

Chinese: 发出、发生或发展。

Hear the Four Tones

The same syllable “fa” becomes a different word in each tone. 发 is the 1st tone. Tap any tone to hear a native voice and see its pitch shape.

Stroke Order

Tap Animate to watch the strokes in order, or Practice to trace it yourself.

Common Words

  • 发现fā xiànto notice; to become aware of; to discover; to find
  • 头发tóu fahair (on the head)
  • 出发chū fāto set off; to start (on a journey)
  • 发生fā shēngto happen; to occur; to take place; to break out
  • 发展fā zhǎndevelopment; growth; to develop; to grow

Example Sentence

老师给我们发了新课本。Lǎo shī gěi wǒ men fā le xīn kè běn.The teacher handed out new textbooks to us.

老师Lǎo shīteachergěito我们wǒ menweto send outle(completed action)xīnnew课本kè běntextbook

Go deeper

Where this character comes from

Simplified from two characters: 發 ‘to shoot out, send, emit, develop, happen’ (fā), and 髮 ‘hair’ (fà). The simplified 发 covers both.

A way to remember it

fā = to send/emit/develop; fà = hair.