HSK 5 · Verbs

缺乏 quēfá “to lack” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 缺乏 means

  1. to lack
  2. to be short of

How to say 缺乏

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale缺quē1st tone, high and level
  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale乏fá2nd tone, rising

缺乏 in a sentence

  1. 她缺乏常识。

    Tā quēfá chángshí.

    She lacks common sense.

    Sentence #1746045 from Tatoeba

  2. 住在大城市的人们一般都缺乏锻炼。

    Zhù zài dàchéngshì de rénmen yìbān dōu quēfá duànliàn.

    People who live in big cities tend not to get enough exercise.

    Sentence #1408073 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 我们因缺乏准备而失败了。

    Wǒmen yīn quēfá zhǔnbèi ér shībài le.

    We failed due to a lack of preparation.

    Sentence #778488 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters

How 缺乏 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 缺 (quē) with each of its parts in a different colour
缺quēdeficiency
  • 缶jar · fǒuMeaning part
  • 夬decisive · guàiSound part

缶 hints at the meaning (jar); 夬 (guài) hints at the sound. Compare it with quē.

The character 乏 (fá) with each of its parts in a different colour
乏fáshort of
  • 丿slash · piě
  • 之marks preceding phrase as modifier of following phrase · zhī

How to write 缺乏

缺 10 strokes · 乏 4 strokes

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

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

Words related to 缺乏

Words with 缺

缺少quēshǎo · lack缺点quēdiǎn · weak point缺席quēxí · to be absent缺口quēkǒu · gap缺陷quēxiàn · defect

Words with 乏

贫乏pínfá · lacking

More words: Common Verbs

切qiē · to cut庆祝qìngzhù · to celebrate取消qǔxiāo · to cancel去世qùshì · to pass away燃烧ránshāo · to burn绕rào · to wind忍不住rěnbuzhù · cannot help洒sǎ · to sprinkle

FAQs

缺乏 (quēfá) means “to lack” or “to be short of”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it quēfá: quē with a 1st tone, then fá with a 2nd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 缺乏 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type quefa with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 缺乏 from the suggestions. Typing quefa into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
缺乏 is an HSK 5 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.