復 (fù) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

復

fù[fu4]Tone 4

to return, to repeat, to reply

HSK 2

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复

Guru Deep Dive

English · to return, to repeat, to reply

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:12

Writing Balance Rule: The left side (彳) is narrower and taller, while the right side (复) is wider and spans the remaining space with balanced horizontal segments.

Simplification Logic: The traditional form 復 has a complex right component (襆/龠 variant), which was simplified in modern Chinese to the standard right component found in 夂 and 日-like structures.

1. Meaning

to return or to reply

to resume or restore to a normal stateto repeat or do againto answer a letter or message

Verb / AdverbNeutral#action#communication#repetition

Sample Usage

身体恢复得很快。
shēntǐ huīfù de hěn kuài.
His health recovered very quickly.
请回复我的电子邮件。
qǐng huífù wǒ de diànzǐ yóujiàn.
Please reply to my email.

2. Sound

/[fu⁵¹]/Tone: 51

復

fùfu4

`(51)

=fù

Initial Consonant

Type: Labiodental Fricative

Sounds like: f sound

Unaspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: Continuous smooth friction.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Upper teeth gently touch the lower lip, air friction passes through.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -u vowel group

Sounds like: oo sound as in food

Mouth Shape Guide: Pronounce as standalone vowel 'oo'.

Common Learner Trap: Keep vowel quality steady across all 4 tone contours.

Tone

T4 (51)

5 → 1 (51)

4th Tone (High-Falling)

Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 4 starts high and plunges sharply down, exactly like shouting a sudden 'No!' or giving a firm command.

👂

Listening trap: Confusing the falling Tone 4 with Tone 3 (fǔ) or Tone 1 (fū).

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: A sharp, decisive nod downwards, mirroring the falling pitch from high to low.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 12 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The left side (彳) is narrower and taller, while the right side (复) is wider and spans the remaining space with balanced horizontal segments.

4. Components

Radical 彳 · Step Radical (movement, step, walking)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 彳 (indicates walking, stepping, or going back and forth)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 复 (original sound: fu)

A person taking steps (彳) to go back and forth repeatedly (复).

彳 step or movement
夂 following or going behind
日 sun or repeating cycles

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

2· Phonetic Root: 復 ()

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Originally depicted walking back and forth along a path (represented by 彳 and steps), capturing the concept of returning.

Semantic Evolution: From physical walking and returning to a place, the meaning expanded abstractly to repeating actions, restoring previous states, and replying to communications.

The traditional character 復 clearly shows the element of traveling back and forth.

6. Sinosphere

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: フク / Kun: また

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

You take steps (彳) day after day (日) to go back and forth (复) to the store to return a defective item.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

腹

fùabdomen, bellyAdd meat/flesh radical (月) on the left because your belly is part of your body.

覆

fùto overturn, to coverAdd the cover/west radical (西) on top to mean covering or overturning something.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

付(fù)

付 means 'to pay' and uses the person radical (亻), whereas 复 uses the step radical (彳).

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

病好以後，他的身體慢慢地[___]了健康。

Clue: huī fù

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing 复 (fù) with other similar-sounding syllables like fú or fū, and forgetting the correct stroke order of the left radical 彳.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: What does the character 复 mean when seen in compound words like 恢复 or 回复?

Production: How do you write the character for 'to return / to reply' with pinyin fù?

復fùto return, to repeat, to reply

Speed:

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