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.
发fāto send out
发 is a single shape of 5 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.
育yùto have children
亠lid · tóu
厶private · sī
⺼meat form of 肉 · ròu
Memory aidThe top is usually explained as a newborn child upside down, and below is the body ⺼: to give birth, to raise.
How to write 发育
发 5 strokes · 育 8 strokes
Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.
Stroke order chart for 发育 (fāyù). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.
发育 (fāyù) means “to develop” or “growth (of the body)”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it fāyù: fā with a 1st tone, then yù 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, 发育 is written 發育. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type fayu with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 发育 from the suggestions. Typing fayu into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
发育 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.
发fā1st tone, high and level
育yù4th tone, falling
