HSK 4 · Transport

出发 chūfā “to set off” in Chinese

Traditional 出發

What 出发 means

  1. to set off
  2. to start (on a journey)
  3. (fig.) to proceed from (a particular standpoint or basis)

How to say 出发

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale出chū1st tone, high and level
  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale发fā1st tone, high and level

出发 in a sentence

  1. 他明天出发去中国。

    Tā míngtiān chūfā qù Zhōngguó.

    He leaves for China tomorrow.

    Sentence #363883 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 我们明天几点出发？

    Wǒmen míngtiān jǐ diǎn chūfā?

    What time do we leave tomorrow?

    Sentence #392666 from Tatoeba

  3. 你马上出发，就可以赶上他们了。

    Nǐ mǎshàng chūfā, jiù kěyǐ gǎnshàng tāmen le.

    If you set off right now, you’ll catch up with them.

    Sentence #459770 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

How 出发 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 出 (chū) with each of its parts in a different colour
出chūto go out; to come out
  • 屮sprout · chè
  • 凵open box · kǎn

Memory aidA foot stepping up out of an opening 凵: to go out.

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 出发

出 5 strokes · 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.

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

Words related to 出发

Words with 出

出租车chūzūchē · taxi出chū · to go out出国chūguó · to go abroad出来chūlái · to come out出门chūmén · to go out出去chūqù · to go out出院chūyuàn · to leave hospital出生chūshēng · to be born出现chūxiàn · to appear演出yǎnchū · to act (in a play)

Words with 发

发fā · send out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沙发shāfā · sofa发言fāyán · to make a speech启发qǐfā · to inspire

More words: Everyday Things

照相机zhàoxiàngjī · camera只zhī · measure word for animals (a cat种zhǒng · kind出差chūchāi · to go on an official or business trip登机牌dēngjīpái · boarding pass高速公路gāosùgōnglù · motorway航班hángbān · (scheduled) flight交通jiāotōng · traffic

FAQs

出发 (chūfā) means “to set off” or “to start (on a journey)”. It is an HSK 4 word.
Say it chūfā: chū with a 1st tone, then 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, 出发 is written 出發. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type chufa with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 出发 from the suggestions. Typing chufa into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
出发 is an HSK 4 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.