罢 (bà): to stop, to cease, to dismiss
罢 (bà) is a Chinese character meaning “to stop.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 罒 (structural) and 去 (structural). It ranks #1297 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 罢 stuck in a net 罒, unable to leave 去. Its radical form 罒 (net) appears in many related characters such as 网 (wǎng, net), 置 (zhì, to install), 罚 (fá, to punish).
Definitions
- to stop
- to cease
- to dismiss
Etymology & Origin
ideographicStuck in a net 罒, unable to leave 去
Decomposition: ⿱罒去 (layout: top-bottom)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 罢 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 罢了 | bà le | a modal particle indicating (that's all, only, nothing much) |
| 罢工 | bà gōng | a strike |
| 罢休 | bà xiū | to give up |
| 罢手 | bà shǒu | to give up |
| 也罢 | yě bà | (reduplicated) whether... or... |
| 欲罢不能 | yù bà bù néng | want to stop but can't (idiom) |
| 作罢 | zuò bà | to drop (subject etc) |
| 罢免 | bà miǎn | to remove sb from their post |
| 罢官 | bà guān | to dismiss from office |
| 罢课 | bà kè | student strike |
| 罢黜 | bà chù | to dismiss from office |
| 不提也罢 | bù tí yě bà | best not to mention it |
| 静坐罢工 | jìng zuò bà gōng | sit-in strike |
| 罢教 | bà jiào | teacher's strike |
| 罢论 | bà lùn | abandoned idea |
罢 appears in 20 compound words: 60 as the first character, 15 as the last, and 25 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 罢 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (4)
Hai Rui dismissed from office, 1960 historical play by historian Wu Han 吳晗|吴晗
Hai Rui dismissed from office, 1960 historical play by historian Wu Han 吳晗|吴晗
Example Sentences
罢字由10笔画组成，结构很巧妙。
bà zì yóu bǐ huà zǔ chéng , jié gòu hěn qiǎo miào .
The character "罢" consists of ten strokes and features a remarkably ingenious structure.
SF高等法院书记员周四开始罢工
S F gāo děng fǎ yuàn shū jì yuán zhōu sì kāi shǐ bà gōng
SF Superior Court clerks began their strike on Thursday
中国人大常委会会议闭幕:张又侠暂未被罢免
zhōng guó rén dà cháng wěi huì huì yì bì mù : zhāng yòu xiá zàn wèi bèi bà miǎn
The meeting of the Standing Committee of the Chinese National Congress closed: Zhang Youxia has not been dismissed for the time being
共军清洗还没完!陆全国人大 罢免5上将
gòng jūn qīng xǐ hái méi wán ! lù quán guó rén dà bà miǎn 5 shàng jiāng
The communist purge is not over yet! The National People's Congress dismissed 5 generals
风光发电不再“罢工”,偏远执勤哨接通长明电
fēng guāng fā diàn bù zài bà gōng , piān yuǎn zhí qín shào jiē tōng cháng míng diàn
Wind and solar power generation is no longer "on strike", and remote duty posts are connected to Changming electricity
全面罢工瘫痪了整个国家。
Quánmiàn bàgōng tānhuàn le zhěnggè guójiā.
The general strike paralyzed the whole country.
罢工妨碍了国家经济。
Bàgōng fáng'ài le guójiā jīngjì.
The strike affected the nation's economy.
他们已经取消了罢工。
Tāmen yǐjīng qǔxiāo le bàgōng.
They already called off the strike.
你还以为我作罢了，不是吗？
Nǐ hái yǐwéi wǒ zuòbà le, bù shì ma?
You thought I was through doing that, didn't you?
你怕啥？就是部电影罢了。
Nǐ pà shá? jiùshì bù diànyǐng bàle.
Why are you so scared? It's just a movie.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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What characters sound the same as 罢 (bà)?
Is 罢 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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