HSK 3.0 Level 4 · Ideas, Society

法 fǎ “law” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 法 means

  1. law
  2. method
  3. way
  4. to emulate
  5. (Buddhism) dharma
More meanings from CC-CEDICT
  • (abbr. for 法家) the Legalists
  • France
  • French

How to say 法

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale法fǎ3rd tone, dipping

法 in a sentence

  1. 你必须遵守法律。

    Nǐ bìxū zūnshǒu fǎlǜ.

    You must obey the law.

    Sentence #2035070 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 爬山是锻炼的好方法。

    Páshān shì duànliàn de hǎo fāngfǎ.

    Climbing mountains is a good way to exercise.

    Sentence #1517736 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 再想别的办法吧。

    Zài xiǎng biéde bànfǎ ba.

    Let’s think of another way.

    Sentence #10511443 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 法 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 法 (fǎ) with each of its parts in a different colour
法fǎlaw
  • 氵water form of 水 · shuǐ
  • 去to go away · qù

Memory aidTraditionally explained as water 氵, which always lies level and so is fair, with 去 (qù) “to remove”, driving the guilty away: law, method.

How to write 法

法 8 strokes

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

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

Words related to 法

Words with 法

办法bànfǎ · method看法kànfǎ · way of looking at a thing语法yǔfǎ · grammar法律fǎlǜ · law方法fāngfǎ · method无法wúfǎ · to be unable to合法héfǎ · lawful法院fǎyuàn · court of law法人fǎrén · legal entity非法fēifǎ · illegal

FAQs

法 (fǎ) means “law” or “method”. It is an HSK 3.0 Level 4 word.
Say it fǎ: fǎ with a 3rd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 法 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type fa with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 法 from the suggestions. Typing fa into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
法 is an HSK 3.0 Level 4 word in the official 2021 syllabus, and it is on our HSK 3.0 Band 6 word list. It is not on the older HSK 2.0 word lists.

Turn words into conversations

A dictionary gives you the words. A native teacher shows you how to use them. Start with a free 30-minute intro call.

Book a free intro call

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.