Learn Chinese Characters

Pinyin Syllable

Chinese characters pronounced fu

Learn common Chinese characters pronounced fu, including 服 fú, 夫 fū, 府 fǔ, 复 fù, 父 fù. Compare tones, meanings, traditional forms, words…

How to Pronounce This Syllable

For fu, start on f and let it run into u without pausing; keep the mouth moving and hold the tone to the end.

Initial f

Start the syllable on the initial f, then run straight into the final u — keep them joined instead of sounding out separate English letters.

Final u

Keep the lips rounded.

Study Tip

Start with the most common characters (服 fú, 夫 fū, 府 fǔ, 复 fù, 父 fù) and lock in their tones. 33 common characters share the sound fu, so lean on words to tell the rest apart.

Learn by Tone

fu turns up here with 4 different tones; a change of tone usually means a different character, so the groups below are split by tone.

1st tone

Taking the 1st tone here: 夫, 肤 (2 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.

2nd tone

Taking the 2nd tone here: 服, 福, 佛… (11 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.

3rd tone

Taking the 3rd tone here: 府, 腐, 抚… (6 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.

4th tone

Taking the 4th tone here: 复, 父, 负… (14 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.

Common Words With This Sound

Seeing fu inside whole words makes it clear which character is meant — here are common ones.

Characters

33 common characters in this group.

Character#1 clothes; dress; garment; submit; take (medicine)Traditional: 服 Character#2 porter; husband; manTraditional: 夫 Character#3 prefecture; mansionTraditional: 府 Character#4 again; recover; reply to a letter; to repeat; to duplicate; repeatTraditional: 復 Character#5 fatherTraditional: 父 Character#6 good fortuneTraditional: 福 Character#7 lose; negative (math. etc.); to bear; to carry (on one's back)Traditional: 負 Character#8 richTraditional: 富 Character#9 secondary; auxiliary; deputy; assistant; vice-; (measure word for a pair)Traditional: 副 Character#10 fó / fúBuddha; Buddhism; seeminglyTraditional: 佛 Character#11 payTraditional: 付 Character#12 to add; to attach; to be close to; to be attachedTraditional: 附 Character#13 womanTraditional: 婦 Character#14 mark; sign; talisman; to seal; to correspond (to); tallyTraditional: 符 Character#15 notTraditional: 弗 Character#16 conceal (ambush); prostrate; submitTraditional: 伏 Character#17 (measure word for textile or picture); width; rollTraditional: 幅 Character#18 to floatTraditional: 浮 Character#19 decay; rottenTraditional: 腐 Character#20 abdomen; stomach; bellyTraditional: 腹 Character#21 to support with hand; to help sb. up; to helpTraditional: 扶 Character#22 to comfort; touch gently with handTraditional: 撫 Character#23 poetic essay; taxation; bestow on; endow withTraditional: 賦 Character#24 skinTraditional: 膚 Character#25 to cover; to overflow; to reply to a letter; to overturn; to capsizeTraditional: 覆 Character#26 go towards; go to; attend (a banquet; etc.); to goTraditional: 赴 Character#27 (surname); tutorTraditional: 傅 Character#28 to assist; to complement; auxiliaryTraditional: 輔 Character#29 prisoner of warTraditional: 俘 Character#30 to orderTraditional: 咐 Character#31 just; just nowTraditional: 甫 Character#32 look down; stoopTraditional: 俯 Character#33 spoke of a wheelTraditional: 輻