弗 (fú): (literary) not, used in transliteration

弗 (fú) is a Chinese character meaning “(literary) not.” Outside the HSK 3.0 syllabus (CLEC 2022), it is composed of 弓 (structural), 丨 (structural) and 丨 (structural). It ranks #854 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 弗 two arrows 丨 pulled across a bow. Its radical form 弓 (bow) appears in many related characters such as 弟 (dì, younger brother), 强 (qiáng, stubborn), 张 (zhāng, to open up).

Spoken pronunciation

Radical: 弓 bow5 strokesFrequency #854弓 structural 丨 structural

Definitions

(literary) not
used in transliteration

Etymology & Origin

弗

ideographicTwo arrows 丨 pulled across a bow

Decomposition: ⿻弓⿰丨丨 (layout: overlay)

Components:弓structural 丨structural

Stroke Order

Practice writing 弗 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
弗兰克proper-noun	fú lán kè	Frank (name)
弗吉尼亚proper-noun	fú jí ní yà	Virginia, US state
弗洛伊德proper-noun	fú luò yī dé	Floyd (name)
克里斯托弗proper-noun	kè lǐ sī tuō fú	(Warren) Christopher
弗雷德里克proper-noun	fú léi dé lǐ kè	Frederick (name)
弗拉基米尔proper-noun	fú lā jī mǐ ěr	Vladimir
弗洛姆	fú luò mǔ	Fromm (psychoanalyst)
弗里曼proper-noun	fú lǐ màn	(surname) Freeman
杰弗逊	jié fú xùn	Jefferson
弗里德里希proper-noun	fú lǐ dé lǐ xī	Friedrich (name)
弗里敦proper-noun	fú lǐ dūn	Freetown, capital of Sierra Leone
摩根·弗里曼	mó gēn · fú lǐ màn	Morgan Freeman, American actor
弗兰兹	fú lán zī	Franz (name)
以弗所proper-noun	yǐ fú suǒ	Ephesus, city of ancient Greece
里弗赛德	lǐ fú sài dé	Riverside

Total compounds

As first character

As last character

As middle character

弗 appears in 57 compound words: 54 as the first character, 9 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 弗 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

雷léi

0.42213 co-occurrences

德dé

0.36419 co-occurrences

克kè

0.30513 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (7)

弗吉尼亚Fújíníyà

(Mainland China) Virginia (a state of the United States)

弗里斯兰Fúlǐsīlán

Friesland

弗洛伊德Fúluòyīdé

a transliteration of the German surname Freud; a transliteration of the English surname Floyd

无远弗届wúyuǎnfújiè

to be able to reach everywhere, regardless of distances

phrase

西西弗斯Xīxīfúsī

Sisyphus

以弗所书Yǐfúsuǒshū

Book of Ephesians

自愧弗如zìkuìfúrú

synonym of 自愧不如 (zìkuì-bùrú, “to be ashamed of not being as good as someone else”)

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

老师教我们弗字的发音和笔顺。

lǎo shī jiào wǒ men fú zì de fā yīn hé bǐ shùn .

The teacher taught us the pronunciation and stroke order of the character "弗."

大紀元 | 大紀元新聞網Mar 2026

【直播】以军方发言人德弗林通报3月18日新战报

zhí bō yǐ jūn fāng fā yán rén dé fú lín tōng bào 3 yuè 1 8 rì xīn zhàn bào

[Live] IDF Spokesperson Deverin Provides an Update on the Latest Developments as of March 18

大紀元 | 大紀元新聞網Feb 2026

弗吉尼亚州里士满发生枪击事件两人死亡

fú jí ní yà zhōu lǐ shì mǎn fā shēng qiāng jī shì jiàn liǎng rén sǐ wáng

Shooting in Richmond, Virginia; Two Dead

百度新闻Feb 2026

利弗莫尔中概股龙头指数收涨0.94% 网易有...

lì fú mò ěr zhōng gài gǔ lóng tóu zhǐ shǔ shōu zhǎng 0 . 9 4 wǎng yì yǒu . . .

The Livermore China ADR Index closed up 0.94%; NetEase...

百度新闻Feb 2026

美国民主党拟投数千万美元重划弗吉尼亚州选区

měi guó mín zhǔ dǎng nǐ tóu shǔ qiān wàn měi yuán chóng huá fú jí ní yà zhōu xuǎn qū

U.S. Democrats Plan to Spend Tens of Millions of Dollars on Redistricting in Virginia

Character Family

弓 Radical Family — Characters sharing the bow radical

强qiáng 张zhāng 引yǐn 弹dàn 弟dì 弱ruò 弯wān 弓gōng 弘hóng 弛chí

Related Characters

弟dì 强qiáng 张zhāng 弱ruò 弯wān 引yǐn 弹dàn 弛chí 弓gōng 弘hóng

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 弗 (fú) mean in Chinese?

弗 (fú) primarily means "(literary) not." It is not part of the HSK 3.0 syllabus. It ranks #854 in character frequency.

How many strokes does 弗 have?

弗 is written with 5 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 弗?

The radical associated with 弗 is 弓 (bow). This radical appears in many characters related to bow.

What are the components of 弗?

弗 is composed of: 弓 (structural), 丨 (structural), 丨 (structural). Its IDS decomposition is ⿻弓⿰丨丨 with a overlay layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.

What are common words containing 弗?

Common words with 弗 include: 弗兰克 (fú lán kè, "Frank (name)"); 弗吉尼亚 (fú jí ní yà, "Virginia, US state"); 弗洛伊德 (fú luò yī dé, "Floyd (name)"); 克里斯托弗 (kè lǐ sī tuō fú, "(Warren) Christopher"); 弗雷德里克 (fú léi dé lǐ kè, "Frederick (name)"). There are over 57 compound words containing this character.

Is 弗 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?

Yes, 弗 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 弗 with real-time feedback

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

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