HSK 3 · Verbs

发 fā “send out” in Chinese

Traditional 發

What 发 means

  1. send out
  2. to issue
  3. to show
  4. to show (one’s feeling)
  5. to develop
More meanings from CC-CEDICT
  • to make a bundle of money
  • classifier for gunshots (rounds)

How to say 发

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale发fā1st tone, high and level

发 in a sentence

  1. 我好像发烧了。

    Wǒ hǎoxiàng fāshāo le.

    I think I have a fever.

    Sentence #427591 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 他明天出发去中国。

    Tā míngtiān chūfā qù Zhōngguó.

    He leaves for China tomorrow.

    Sentence #363883 from Tatoeba

  3. 公共汽车上发生什么了？

    Gōnggòng qìchē shàng fāshēng shénme le?

    What happened on the bus?

    Sentence #403613 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 发 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 发 (fā) drawn as one shape
发fāto send out

发 is a single shape of 5 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.

How to write 发

发 5 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

发 (fā) stroke order chart: each stroke of the character in the order you write it
Stroke order chart for 发 (fā). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 发

Words with 发

发烧fāshāo · have a fever头发tóufa · hair on the head发现fāxiàn · discover发生fāshēng · to happen发展fāzhǎn · development理发lǐfà · to get a haircut出发chūfā · to set off沙发shāfā · sofa发言fāyán · to make a speech启发qǐfā · to inspire

More words: Common Verbs

迟到chídào · arrive late打扫dǎsǎo · to clean打算dǎsuàn · to plan带dài · band发现fāxiàn · discover放fàng · put关guān · to close过guo · particle for past experience (have done)

FAQs

发 (fā) means “send out” or “to issue”. It is an HSK 3 word.
Say it fā: fā with a 1st tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 发 is written 發. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type fa with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 发 from the suggestions. Typing fa into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
发 is an HSK 3 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.