伐 (fá): to cut down, to fell, to dispatch an expedition against

伐 (fá) is a Chinese character meaning “to cut down.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 亻 (structural) and 戈 (structural). It ranks #1793 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 伐 a person 亻 attacked 戈. Its radical form 亻 (person) appears in many related characters such as 人 (rén, person), 什 (shén, what), 今 (jīn, now).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. to cut down
  2. to fell
  3. to dispatch an expedition against

Etymology & Origin

伐

ideographicA person 亻 attacked 戈

Decomposition: ⿰亻戈 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6

Practice writing 伐 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
步伐nounbù fápace
伐木verbfá mùto fell trees (for timber)
巴伐利亚proper-nounbā fá lì yàBavaria
斯洛伐克proper-nounsī luò fá kèSlovakia (officially the Slovak Republic since 1993)
讨伐verbtǎo fáto suppress by armed force
捷克斯洛伐克proper-nounjié kè sī luò fá kèRepublic of Czechoslovakia (1918-1992)
砍伐verbkǎn fáto hew
口诛笔伐phrasekǒu zhū bǐ fáto condemn in speech and in writing (idiom)
采伐verbcǎi fáto fell
滥伐làn fáto denude
斯洛伐克语proper-nounsī luò fá kè yǔSlovak (language)
党同伐异phrasedǎng tóng fá yìto be narrowly partisan
北伐军běi fá jūnthe Northern Expeditionary Army
南征北伐nán zhēng běi fáwar on all sides (idiom)
伐木工fá mù gōnglumberjack
30
Total compounds
13
As first character
50
As last character
37
As middle character

伐 appears in 30 compound words: 13 as the first character, 50 as the last, and 37 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 伐 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

蔓màn
0.78014 co-occurrences
砍kǎn
0.6624,684 co-occurrences
虫chóng
0.64914 co-occurrences
讨tǎo
0.6299,458 co-occurrences
克kè
0.53129,056 co-occurrences
止zhǐ
0.49618 co-occurrences
延yán
0.48014 co-occurrences
巴bā
0.48012,458 co-occurrences
征zhēng
0.4664,310 co-occurrences
斯sī
0.46121,472 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (9)

巴伐利亚BāfálìyàHSK 7+

Bavaria

操斧伐柯cāo fǔ fá kē

(cf Book of Songs) How to fashion an ax handle? You need an ax; fig. to follow a principle; fig. to act as matchmaker

phrase
党同伐异dǎngtóngfáyìHSK 7+

to unite with those who agree and fight those who differ

phrase
吊民伐罪diào mín fá zuìHSK 7+

to console the people by punishing the tyrants (idiom)

phrase
南征北伐nán zhēng běi fáHSK 7+

war on all sides (idiom); fighting from all four quarters

phrase
斯洛伐克Sīluòfákè

Slovakia (a country in Central Europe)

大张挞伐dà zhāng tà fáHSK 7+

(idiom) to launch an all-out attack; to roundly condemn; to castigate

phrase
口诛笔伐kǒuzhūbǐfáHSK 7+

to condemn in speech and writing; to denounce by word and pen

phrase

Showing 8 of 9 idioms containing 伐.

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

作为伐民,我们有责任保护环境。

zuò wéi fá mín , wǒ men yǒu zé rèn bǎo hù huán jìng .

As loggers, we have a responsibility to protect the environment.

中時新聞網Mar 2026

...评估陆无意2027年攻台 陆委会:国防步伐不变

. . . píng gū lù wú yì 2 0 2 7 nián gōng tái lù wěi huì : guó fáng bù fá bù biàn

...Regarding Speculation That China May Invade Taiwan in 2027, the Mainland Affairs Council Says: Defense Plans Remain Unchanged

LtnMar 2026

遏止外国车“加油观光”抢便宜 斯洛伐克祭出差别油价

è zhǐ wài guó chē jiā yóu guàn guāng qiǎng biàn yí sī 洛 fá kè jì chū chā bié yóu jià

To curb foreign drivers stopping to fill up and sightsee in search of cheaper fuel, Slovakia has introduced differential fuel prices

The Portugal NewsFeb 2026

葡萄牙房地产发展势头不减,但步伐有所改变

pú táo yá fáng dì chǎn fā zhǎn shì tóu bù jiǎn , dàn bù fá yǒu suǒ gǎi biàn

Portuguese real estate is gaining momentum, but the pace has changed

百度新闻Feb 2026

预见金马|财信证券刘宛晨:长期资金入市步伐稳健,有..

yù jiàn jīn mǎ cái xìn zhèng quàn liú 宛 chén : cháng qī zī jīn rù shì bù fá wěn jiàn , yǒu . .

Foresight Golden Horse|Caixin Securities Liu Wanchen: The pace of long-term funds entering the market is steady, there are:

百度新闻Feb 2026

斯洛伐克政府宣布进入国家石油紧急状态

sī 洛 fá kè zhèng fǔ xuān bù jìn rù guó jiā shí yóu jǐn jí zhuàng tài

The Slovak government has declared a national oil emergency

Tatoeba

他迈着稳健的步伐登上了山丘。

Tā mài zhe wěnjiàn de bùfá dēngshàng le shānqiū.

He was walking up the hill at a steady pace.

Tatoeba

汤姆在后院砍伐了一棵树。

Tāngmǔ zàihòu yuàn kǎnfá le yī kē shù.

Tom cut down a tree in his yard.

Tatoeba

匈牙利和斯洛伐克是邻国。

Xiōngyálì hé Sīluòfákè shì línguó.

Hungary and Slovakia are neighbors.

Tatoeba

在加拿大有很多区域砍伐树木是非法的。

Zài Jiānádà yǒu hěn duō qūyù kǎnfá shùmù shì fēifǎ de.

In Canada, there are many areas where it is illegal to log trees.

Character Family

Homophones — Characters pronounced fá

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 伐 (fá) mean in Chinese?
伐 (fá) primarily means "to cut down." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #1793 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 伐 and 设?
伐 (fá) and 设 (shè) are often confused. antonym. The key distinguishing feature: 伐 (down) vs 设 (up).
How many strokes does 伐 have?
伐 is written with 6 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.
What is the radical of 伐?
The radical associated with 伐 is 亻 (person). This radical appears in many characters related to person.
What are the components of 伐?
伐 is composed of: 亻 (structural), 戈 (structural). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰亻戈 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 伐?
Common words with 伐 include: 步伐 (bù fá, "pace"); 伐木 (fá mù, "to fell trees (for timber)"); 巴伐利亚 (bā fá lì yà, "Bavaria"); 斯洛伐克 (sī luò fá kè, "Slovakia (officially the Slovak Republic since 1993)"); 讨伐 (tǎo fá, "to suppress by armed force"). There are over 30 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 伐 (fá)?
Several characters share the pronunciation fá: 发 (to send out), 法 (law, method), 罚 (to punish), 乏 (short of), and 1 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 伐 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 伐 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 伐 with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

Character data sourced from Unihan (Unicode Consortium), SUBTLEX-CH frequency corpus (Cai & Brysbaert, 2010), and Make Me a Hanzi (stroke data). Collocation strength measured via NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information). Verified by the HanziFeed linguistics team.

HSK classification follows the HSK 3.0 Standard (Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, 2022 revision). Idiom data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Data last verified: March 2026.