部 (bù): ministry, department, section
部 (bù) is a Chinese character meaning “ministry.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 咅 (phonetic) and 阝 (semantic). It ranks #84 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 部 place. Its radical form 阝 (mound) appears in many related characters such as 那 (nà, (specifier) that), 都 (dōu, all), 院 (yuàn, courtyard).
Definitions
- ministry
- department
- section
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 部 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 部
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 部分noun | bù fen | part | 4 |
| 全部noun | quán bù | whole | 4 |
| 俱乐部noun | jù lè bù | (loanword) club (the organization or its premises) | 6 |
| 部门noun | bù mén | department | 4 |
| 部队noun | bù duì | army | 6 |
| 内部noun | nèi bù | interior | 5 |
| 总部noun | zǒng bù | headquarters | 5 |
| 西部noun | xī bù | western part | 4 |
| 南部noun | nán bù | southern part | 4 |
| 北部noun | běi bù | northern part | 4 |
| 面部noun | miàn bù | face (body part) | 6 |
| 东部noun | dōng bù | the east | 4 |
| 部位noun | bù wèi | part (esp. of the body, but also of a vegetable, e.g. the root, or a garment, e.g. the sleeve, etc) | 6 |
| 外部noun | wài bù | the outside | 5 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 部落noun | bù luò | tribe |
| 大部分noun | dà bù fen | the greater part |
| 胸部noun | xiōng bù | chest |
| 部长noun | bù zhǎng | head of a (government etc) department |
| 头部noun | tóu bù | head |
| 臀部noun | tún bù | butt |
| 国防部noun | guó fáng bù | Defense Department |
| 一部分 | yī bù fen | portion |
| 脸部noun | liǎn bù | face |
| 中部noun | zhōng bù | middle part |
| 腹部noun | fù bù | abdomen |
| 部署verb | bù shǔ | to dispose |
| 特种部队 | tè zhǒng bù duì | (military) special forces |
| 底部noun | dǐ bù | bottom |
| 背部noun | bèi bù | back (of a human or other vertebrate, or of an object) |
部 appears in 105 compound words: 15 as the first character, 75 as the last, and 10 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 部 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (7)
to do something in an orderly manner; to follow the prescribed order; to keep to the conventional ways
Demigods and Semidevils, wuxia novel by Jin Yong 金庸 and its TV and screen adaptations
Example Sentences
老师教我们部字的发音和笔顺。
lǎo shī jiào wǒ men bù zì de fā yīn hé bǐ shùn .
The teacher taught us the pronunciation and stroke order of the character "部."
美国突在约旦军事基地 部署大量战机
měi guó tū zài yuē dàn jūn shì jī dì bù shǔ dà liàng zhàn jī
The United States suddenly deployed a large number of fighter jets at Jordanian military bases
...困晴空塔升降机长达5个半小时 约20人全部获救
. . . kùn qíng kōng tǎ shēng jiàng jī cháng dá 5 gè bàn xiǎo shí yuē 2 0 rén quán bù huò jiù
... The Skytree elevator was trapped for five and a half hours, and all about 20 people were rescued
美国向联合国支付1.6亿美元部分欠款,仅为其约20..
měi guó xiàng lián gě guó zhī fù 1 . 6 yì měi yuán bù fēn qiàn kuǎn , jǐn wéi qí yuē 2 0 . .
The United States pays part of its $160 million arrears to the United Nations, only about 20 percent.
存储概念股普涨 西部数据(WDC.US)涨逾3%
cún chǔ gài niàn gǔ pǔ zhǎng xī bù shǔ jù ( W D C . U S ) zhǎng yú 3
Storage concept stocks rose across Western Digital (WDC. US) rose more than 3%
也门安全部队向反政府示威者开火 造成至少12人伤亡
yě mén ān quán bù duì xiàng fǎn zhèng fǔ shì wēi zhě kāi huǒ zào chéng zhì shǎo 1 2 rén shāng wáng
Yemeni security forces opened fire on anti-government demonstrators, killing at least 12 people
加入我们的俱乐部吗？
Jiārù wǒmen de jùlèbù ma?
Will you join our club?
你有没有看过那部电影？
Nǐ yǒuméiyǒu kàn guo nà bù diànyǐng?
Did you ever see that movie?
您隶属哪家俱乐部吗？
Nín lìshǔ nǎ jiājù lè bù ma?
Do you belong to any clubs?
你觉得这部新电影怎样？
Nǐ juéde zhè bù xīn diànyǐng zěnyàng?
What do you think of the new movie?
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 阝 (place) component
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 部 (bù) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 部 and 培?
How many strokes does 部 have?
What is the radical of 部?
What are the components of 部?
What are common words containing 部?
What characters sound the same as 部 (bù)?
Is 部 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 部 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.