HSK 4 · Verbs

保护 bǎohù “to protect” in Chinese

Traditional 保護

What 保护 means

  1. to protect
  2. to defend
  3. to safeguard
  4. protection

Measure word 种 zhǒng · 一种保护 yì zhǒng bǎohù

How to say 保护

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale保bǎo3rd tone, dipping
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale护hù4th tone, falling

保护 in a sentence

  1. 我们应该告诉孩子怎么保护自己。

    Wǒmen yīnggāi gàosu háizi zěnme bǎohù zìjǐ.

    We should tell children how to protect themselves.

    Sentence #333347 from Tatoeba

  2. 你要戴上头盔来保护你的头部。

    Nǐ yào dài shàng tóukuī lái bǎohù nǐ de tóubù.

    You have to wear a helmet to protect your head.

    Sentence #605964 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

  3. 你不要担心，我会保护你的。

    Nǐ búyào dānxīn, wǒ huì bǎohù nǐ de.

    Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.

    Sentence #4869669 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

How 保护 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 保 (bǎo) with each of its parts in a different colour
保bǎoto defend; to protect; to keep
  • 亻person form of 人 · rénMeaning part
  • 呆dull · dāiSound part

亻 hints at the meaning (person); 呆 (dāi) hints at the sound. Compare it with bǎo.

The character 护 (hù) with each of its parts in a different colour
护hùto protect; to guard
  • 扌hand form of 手 · shǒu
  • 户door · hù

Memory aidPicture a hand 扌 guarding the door 户: to protect.

How to write 保护

保 9 strokes · 护 7 strokes

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

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

Words related to 保护

Words with 保

保证bǎozhèng · guarantee保留bǎoliú · to keep保持bǎochí · to keep保存bǎocún · to conserve保险bǎoxiǎn · insurance保养bǎoyǎng · to take care of (one’s health)保重bǎozhòng · to take care of oneself保密bǎomì · to keep something secret保管bǎoguǎn · to look after确保quèbǎo · to ensure

Words with 护

护照hùzhào · passport护士hùshi · nurse爱护àihù · to cherish救护车jiùhùchē · ambulance拥护yōnghù · to support守护shǒuhù · to guard维护wéihù · to safeguard掩护yǎnhù · to cover辩护biànhù · to defend

More words: Common Verbs

站zhàn · stand照顾zhàogu · take care of干gàn · to do安排ānpái · to arrange报名bàomíng · to sign up抱bào · to hold遍biàn · measure word for times (start to finish)不管bùguǎn · not to be concerned

FAQs

保护 (bǎohù) means “to protect” or “to defend”. It is an HSK 4 word.
Say it bǎohù: bǎo with a 3rd tone, then hù with a 4th 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, 保护 is written 保護. The pronunciation is the same.
Use 种 (zhǒng). For example, one to protect is 一种保护 (yì zhǒng bǎohù).
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type baohu with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 保护 from the suggestions. Typing baohu into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
保护 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.