HSK 6 · Verbs

弥补 míbǔ “to make up for” in Chinese

Traditional 彌補

What 弥补 means

  1. to make up for
  2. to remedy
  3. to complement
  4. to make up for a deficiency

How to say 弥补

  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale弥mí2nd tone, rising
  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale补bǔ3rd tone, dipping

弥补 in a sentence

  1. 我必须弥补损失。

    Wǒ bìxū míbǔ sǔnshī.

    I must make up for the loss.

    Sentence #1416297 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 弥补永远不会太晚。

    Míbǔ yǒngyuǎn bú huì tài wǎn.

    It’s never too late to make amends.

    Sentence #806741 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

  3. 世上没有任何的成功，能够弥补家庭的失败。

    Shìshàng méiyǒu rènhé de chénggōng, nénggòu míbǔ jiātíng de shībài.

    No success in the world can make up for failure in the family.

    Sentence #839111 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

How 弥补 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 弥 (mí) with each of its parts in a different colour
弥mífull
  • 弓bow · gōngMeaning part
  • 尔you · ěrSound part

弓 hints at the meaning (bow); 尔 (ěr) hints at the sound. Compare it with mí.

The character 补 (bǔ) with each of its parts in a different colour
补bǔto repair
  • 衤clothes form of 衣 · yīMeaning part
  • 卜divination · bǔSound part

衤 hints at the meaning (clothes); 卜 (bǔ) hints at the sound. Compare it with bǔ.

How to write 弥补

弥 8 strokes · 补 7 strokes

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

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

Words related to 弥补

Words with 弥

弥漫mímàn · to fill the air

Words with 补

补充bǔchōng · to replenish补救bǔjiù · to remedy补偿bǔcháng · to compensate补贴bǔtiē · subsidy

More words: Common Verbs

蔓延mànyán · to spread冒充màochōng · to pass oneself off as眯mī · to narrow one’s eyes瞄准miáozhǔn · to aim at密封mìfēng · to seal up弥漫mímàn · to fill the air命名mìngmíng · to name磨合móhé · to break in

FAQs

弥补 (míbǔ) means “to make up for” or “to remedy”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it míbǔ: mí with a 2nd tone, then bǔ with a 3rd 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, 弥补 is written 彌補. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type mibu with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 弥补 from the suggestions. Typing mibu into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
弥补 is an HSK 6 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.