HSK 6 · Nature

腐烂 fǔlàn “to rot” in Chinese

Traditional 腐爛

What 腐烂 means

  1. to rot
  2. to decay
  3. rotten
  4. to putrefy
  5. (fig.) corrupt

How to say 腐烂

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale腐fǔ3rd tone, dipping
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale烂làn4th tone, falling

腐烂 in a sentence

  1. 水果一般不久就会腐烂。

    Shuǐguǒ yìbān bùjiǔ jiù huì fǔlàn.

    Fruit usually goes rotten quite quickly.

    Sentence #1737865 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 盐可以帮助保存食物避免腐烂。

    Yán kěyǐ bāngzhù bǎocún shíwù bìmiǎn fǔlàn.

    Salt helps preserve food and stops it from rotting.

    Sentence #798097 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

  3. 这个苹果开始腐烂了。

    Zhè ge píngguǒ kāishǐ fǔlàn le.

    This apple is starting to rot.

    Sentence #6884326 from Tatoeba

How 腐烂 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 腐 (fǔ) with each of its parts in a different colour
腐fǔdecay
  • 广shelter · guǎng
  • 付give · fùSound part
  • 肉meat · ròuMeaning part

肉 hints at the meaning (meat); 付 (fù) hints at the sound. Compare it with fǔ.

The character 烂 (làn) with each of its parts in a different colour
烂lànsoft; mushy
  • 火fire · huǒMeaning part
  • 兰orchid · lánSound part

火 hints at the meaning (fire); 兰 (lán) hints at the sound. Compare it with làn.

How to write 腐烂

腐 14 strokes · 烂 9 strokes

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

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

Words related to 腐烂

Words with 腐

豆腐dòufu · tofu腐朽fǔxiǔ · rotten腐败fǔbài · corrupt腐蚀fǔshí · to corrode

Words with 烂

烂làn · rotten灿烂cànlàn · brilliant

More words: Nature & Environment

飞翔fēixiáng · to fly风暴fēngbào · storm风光fēngguāng · scenery丰收fēngshōu · bumper harvest干旱gānhàn · drought耕地gēngdì · arable land鸽子gēzi · pigeon灌溉guàngài · to irrigate

FAQs

腐烂 (fǔlàn) means “to rot” or “to decay”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it fǔlàn: fǔ with a 3rd tone, then làn 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, 腐烂 is written 腐爛. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type fulan with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 腐烂 from the suggestions. Typing fulan into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
腐烂 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.