HSK 6 · Ideas

分寸 fēncun “sense of propriety” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 分寸 means

  1. sense of propriety
  2. knowing the proper limits
  3. propriety
  4. appropriate behaviour
  5. proper speech or action
More meanings from CC-CEDICT
  • within the norms

How to say 分寸

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale分fēn1st tone, high and level
  • Pitch chart of the neutral tone: short and light, with no contour of its own寸cunneutral tone, light and short

Grey pinyin is a neutral tone: say it short and light. More on the neutral tone

分寸 in a sentence

  1. 他说话很没分寸。

    Tā shuōhuà hěn méi fēncun.

    He has no sense of what’s appropriate to say.

    Sentence #6015798 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

  2. 我父母在的时候，请你言语注意分寸。

    Wǒ fùmǔ zài de shíhou, qǐng nǐ yányǔ zhùyì fēncun.

    While my parents are here, please mind your language.

    Sentence #848559 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 我自有分寸。

    Wǒ zì yǒu fēncun.

    I know what I’m doing.

    Sentence #1695294 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 分寸 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 分 (fēn) with each of its parts in a different colour
分fēnto divide; to separate
  • 八eight · bā
  • 刀knife · dāo

Memory aidA knife 刀 cutting something into two 八: to divide.

The character 寸 (cùn) drawn as one shape
寸cùna unit of lengthlight in 分寸

寸 is a single shape of 3 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.

How to write 分寸

分 4 strokes · 寸 3 strokes

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

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

Words related to 分寸

Words with 分

分钟fēnzhōng · minute分fēn · divide得分défēn · to score (points)分开fēnkāi · to separate部分bùfen · part十分shífēn · very百分之bǎifēnzhī · per cent分手fēnshǒu · to break up分别fēnbié · to part分析fēnxī · to analyse

More words: Ideas & Concepts

多元化duōyuánhuà · diversification范畴fànchóu · category反面fǎnmiàn · reverse side飞跃fēiyuè · leap分量fènliàng · weight分歧fēnqí · difference (of opinion)负担fùdān · burden幅度fúdù · range

FAQs

分寸 (fēncun) means “sense of propriety” or “knowing the proper limits”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it fēncun: fēn with a 1st tone, then cun with a neutral tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 分寸 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type fencun with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 分寸 from the suggestions. Typing fencun into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
分寸 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.