Meaning
square; quadrilateral; direction; just
Chinese: 方向、方法或一方。
Hear the Four Tones
The same syllable “fang” becomes a different word in each tone. 方 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
- 地方dì fāngregion; regional (away from the central administration); local
- 方法fāng fǎmethod; way; technique; procedure
- 方面fāng miànrespect; aspect; field; side
- 方向fāng xiàngdirection; orientation
- 方便fāng biànconvenient; suitable; to facilitate; to make things easy
Example Sentence
请问，火车站在哪个方向？Qǐng wèn, huǒ chē zhàn zài nǎ ge fāng xiàng?Excuse me, which direction is the train station?
请问Qǐng wènExcuse me, may I ask...?，火车站huǒ chē zhàntrain station在zàiat哪个nǎ gewhich方向fāng xiàngdirection？
Go deeper
Where this character comes from
A pictograph, often explained as two boats lashed side by side or a plow handle. It means ‘square; direction; side; method; just now’.
A way to remember it
A clean four-sided shape — square, and by extension direction and method.
Easy to confuse with
- 万‘Ten thousand’: a similar outline, but without the top dot-stroke arrangement of 方.