HSK 6 · Adjectives

朴素 pǔsù “plain” in Chinese

Traditional 樸素

What 朴素 means

  1. plain
  2. simple
  3. unadorned
  4. plain and simple
  5. simple living
More meanings from CC-CEDICT
  • not frivolous

How to say 朴素

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale朴pǔ3rd tone, dipping
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale素sù4th tone, falling

朴素 in a sentence

  1. 她穿的衣服总是很朴素。

    Tā chuān de yīfu zǒngshì hěn pǔsù.

    She always dresses very simply.

    Sentence #1541783 from Tatoeba

  2. 他生活朴素。

    Tā shēnghuó pǔsù.

    He lives simply.

    Sentence #1894971 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 玛丽穿了一条朴素的白裙子。

    Mǎlì chuān le yì tiáo pǔsù de bái qúnzi.

    Mary wore a plain white dress.

    Sentence #8496245 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 朴素 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 朴 (pǔ) with each of its parts in a different colour
朴pǔplain; simple
  • 木tree · mùMeaning part
  • 卜divination · bǔSound part

木 hints at the meaning (tree); 卜 (bǔ) hints at the sound. Compare it with pǔ.

The character 素 (sù) with each of its parts in a different colour
素sùraw silk
  • 龶part of the character
  • 糸silk · mì

How to write 朴素

朴 6 strokes · 素 10 strokes

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

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

Words related to 朴素

Words with 朴

朴实pǔshí · plain

Words with 素

因素yīnsù · element素食sùshí · vegetarian food元素yuánsù · element素质sùzhì · quality要素yàosù · key element维生素wéishēngsù · vitamin

More words: Adjectives

平坦píngtǎn · flat平行píngxíng · parallel平庸píngyōng · mediocre朴实pǔshí · plain恰当qiàdàng · appropriate恰到好处qiàdàohǎochù · just right谦逊qiānxùn · modest锲而不舍qiè'érbùshě · to persevere

FAQs

朴素 (pǔsù) means “plain” or “simple”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it pǔsù: pǔ with a 3rd tone, then sù 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, 朴素 is written 樸素. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type pusu with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 朴素 from the suggestions. Typing pusu into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
朴素 is an HSK 6 word in the 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.