HSK 5 · Verbs

启发 qǐfā “to inspire” in Chinese

Traditional 啟發

What 启发 means

  1. to inspire
  2. to give someone an idea
  3. inspiration
  4. to enlighten
  5. to explain (a text etc)
More meanings from CC-CEDICT
  • to stimulate (a mental attitude)
  • enlightenment
  • revelation
  • motivation

How to say 启发

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale启qǐ3rd tone, dipping
  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale发fā1st tone, high and level

启发 in a sentence

  1. 这本书给了我很大的启发。

    Zhè běn shū gěi le wǒ hěn dà de qǐfā.

    This book was a great inspiration to me.

    Sentence by WillyChina

  2. 老师的话启发了我。

    Lǎoshī de huà qǐfā le wǒ.

    The teacher’s words gave me an idea.

    Sentence by WillyChina

How 启发 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 启 (qǐ) with each of its parts in a different colour
启qǐto open
  • 户door · hù
  • 口mouth · kǒu
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 启发

启 7 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.

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

Words related to 启发

Words with 启

启蒙qǐméng · to enlighten启事qǐshì · notice启程qǐchéng · to set out (on a journey)启示qǐshì · inspiration

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出发chūfā · to set off沙发shāfā · sofa发言fāyán · to make a speech

More words: Thinking & Talking

描写miáoxiě · to describe明确míngquè · clear盼望pànwàng · to hope for评价píngjià · to evaluate强调qiángdiào · to emphasise (a statement)请求qǐngqiú · to request劝quàn · to advise确定quèdìng · to confirm

FAQs

启发 (qǐfā) means “to inspire” or “to give someone an idea”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it qǐfā: qǐ with a 3rd 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, 启发 is written 啟發. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type qifa with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 启发 from the suggestions. Typing qifa into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
启发 is an HSK 5 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 written by WillyChina. Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.