HSK 6 · Ideas

步伐 bùfá “pace” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 步伐 means

  1. pace
  2. step
  3. (measured) step
  4. march

How to say 步伐

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale步bù4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale伐fá2nd tone, rising

步伐 in a sentence

  1. 他迈着稳健的步伐登上了山丘。

    Tā mài zhe wěnjiàn de bùfá dēngshàng le shānqiū.

    He climbed the hill with steady strides.

    Sentence #1323994 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 我们真的得加紧步伐了。

    Wǒmen zhēn de děi jiājǐn bùfá le.

    We really need to pick up the pace.

    Sentence #8883779 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 步伐 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 步 (bù) drawn as one shape
步bùa step

步 is a single shape of 7 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.

Memory aidTwo feet, one in front of the other: a step.

The character 伐 (fá) with each of its parts in a different colour
伐fáto cut down
  • 亻person form of 人 · rén
  • 戈halberd · gē

How to write 步伐

步 7 strokes · 伐 6 strokes

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

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

Words related to 步伐

Words with 步

跑步pǎobù · to run步bù · step散步sànbù · to take a walk进步jìnbù · progress退步tuìbù · to regress步骤bùzhòu · procedure逐步zhúbù · progressively让步ràngbù · to concede初步chūbù · initial地步dìbù · extent

Words with 伐

砍伐kǎnfá · to fell (trees)

More words: Ideas & Concepts

弊端bìduān · abuse比方bǐfang · example比喻bǐyù · metaphor比重bǐzhòng · proportion布局bùjú · layout不言而喻bùyán'éryù · self-evident不择手段bùzéshǒuduàn · by any means necessary策略cèlüè · strategy

FAQs

步伐 (bùfá) means “pace” or “step”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it bùfá: bù with a 4th tone, then fá with a 2nd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 步伐 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type bufa with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 步伐 from the suggestions. Typing bufa into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
步伐 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.