HSK 4 · Objects

沙发 shāfā “sofa” in Chinese

Traditional 沙發

What 沙发 means

  1. sofa
  2. couch

How to say 沙发

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale沙shā1st tone, high and level
  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale发fā1st tone, high and level

沙发 in a sentence

  1. 我们想买张沙发。

    Wǒmen xiǎng mǎi zhāng shāfā.

    We would like to buy a sofa.

    Sentence #4265139 from Tatoeba

  2. 这个沙发很舒服。

    Zhè ge shāfā hěn shūfu.

    This couch is very comfortable.

    Sentence #10054257 from Tatoeba

  3. 电视遥控器在沙发下面。

    Diànshì yáokòngqì zài shāfā xiàmiàn.

    The TV remote is under the sofa.

    Sentence #8744085 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 沙发 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 沙 (shā) with each of its parts in a different colour
沙shāgranule
  • 氵water form of 水 · shuǐMeaning part
  • 少few · shǎoSound part

氵 hints at the meaning (water); 少 (shǎo) hints at the sound. Compare it with shā.

The character 发 (fā) drawn as one shape
发fāto send out

发 is a single shape of 5 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.

How to write 沙发

沙 7 strokes · 发 5 strokes

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

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

Words related to 沙发

Words with 沙

沙漠shāmò · desert沙滩shātān · beach

Words with 发

发fā · send out发烧fāshāo · have a fever头发tóufa · hair on the head发现fāxiàn · discover发生fāshēng · to happen发展fāzhǎn · development理发lǐfà · to get a haircut出发chūfā · to set off发言fāyán · to make a speech启发qǐfā · to inspire

More words: Everyday Things

区别qūbié · difference缺点quēdiǎn · weak point任务rènwu · mission日记rìjì · diary数量shùliàng · amount数字shùzì · numeral速度sùdù · speed塑料袋sùliàodài · plastic bag

FAQs

沙发 (shāfā) means “sofa” or “couch”. It is an HSK 4 word.
Say it shāfā: shā with a 1st tone, then fā with a 1st 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, 沙发 is written 沙發. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type shafa with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 沙发 from the suggestions. Typing shafa into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
沙发 is an HSK 4 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.