HSK 6 · Places

方位 fāngwèi “position” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 方位 means

  1. position
  2. direction
  3. bearing
  4. points of the compass
  5. azimuth

How to say 方位

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale方fāng1st tone, high and level
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale位wèi4th tone, falling

方位 in a sentence

  1. 我在山里迷路了，分不清方位。

    Wǒ zài shān lǐ mílù le, fēn bu qīng fāngwèi.

    I got lost in the mountains and couldn’t tell which way was which.

    Sentence by WillyChina

  2. 地图上标出了每个景点的方位。

    Dìtú shàng biāochū le měi ge jǐngdiǎn de fāngwèi.

    The map marks the position of each sight.

    Sentence by WillyChina

How 方位 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 方 (fāng) drawn as one shape
方fāngsquare

方 is a single shape of 4 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.

The character 位 (wèi) with each of its parts in a different colour
位wèiposition
  • 亻person form of 人 · rén
  • 立stand · lì

Memory aidA person 亻 standing 立 in their place: a position, a seat.

How to write 方位

方 4 strokes · 位 7 strokes

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

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

Words related to 方位

Words with 方

北方běifāng · north地方dìfang · place方便fāngbiàn · convenient南方nánfāng · the south西方xīfāng · the West东方dōngfāng · the East方便面fāngbiànmiàn · instant noodles方法fāngfǎ · method方面fāngmiàn · respect方向fāngxiàng · direction

Words with 位

位wèi · position座位zuòwèi · seat各位gèwèi · everyone (polite address)位于wèiyú · to be located at位置wèizhi · position单位dānwèi · unit (of measurement)地位dìwèi · position诸位zhūwèi · everyone部位bùwèi · position学位xuéwèi · academic degree

More words: Places & Geography

场所chǎngsuǒ · place城堡chéngbǎo · castle赤道chìdào · the equator地势dìshì · terrain方圆fāngyuán · surrounding area废墟fèixū · ruins坟墓fénmù · grave港湾gǎngwān · harbour

FAQs

方位 (fāngwèi) means “position” or “direction”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it fāngwèi: fāng with a 1st tone, then wèi with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 方位 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type fangwei with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 方位 from the suggestions. Typing fangwei into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
方位 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 written by WillyChina. Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.