付 (fù): to pay, to hand over to, classifier for pairs or sets of things

付 (fù) is a Chinese character meaning “to pay.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 亻 (structural) and 寸 (structural). It ranks #820 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 付 to hand 寸 something over to someone 亻 . 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 pay
  2. to hand over to
  3. classifier for pairs or sets of things

Etymology & Origin

付

ideographicTo hand 寸 something over to someone 亻 

Decomposition: ⿰亻寸 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5

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

Words & Compounds

HSK Vocabulary with 付

WordPinyinMeaningHSK
付出verbfù chūto pay5
支付verbzhī fùto pay (money)4

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
对付verbduì futo handle
应付verbyìng futo deal with
付给fù gěito deliver
付费verbfù fèito pay
付清verbfù qīngto pay in full
付款verbfù kuǎnto pay a sum of money
付账verbfù zhàngto settle an account
托付verbtuō fùto entrust
预付verbyù fùto pay in advance
付诸verbfù zhūto apply to
交付verbjiāo fùto hand over
付钱verbfù qiánto pay
分期付款verbfēn qī fù kuǎnto pay in installments
付现fù xiànto pay in cash
赔付verbpéi fùto pay out
74
Total compounds
35
As first character
41
As last character
24
As middle character

付 appears in 74 compound words: 35 as the first character, 41 as the last, and 24 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 付 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

支zhī
0.58348,692 co-occurrences
费fèi
0.48812,792 co-occurrences
赔péi
0.4711,032 co-occurrences
炬jù
0.470770 co-occurrences
款kuǎn
0.4509,582 co-occurrences
交jiāo
0.44826,693 co-occurrences
偿cháng
0.423834 co-occurrences
闪shǎn
0.418636 co-occurrences
需xū
0.4045,602 co-occurrences
垫diàn
0.400280 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (10)

分期付款fēnqī fùkuǎnHSK 5+

to pay in installments; installment plan (for a purchase)

verbnoun
付之东流fùzhīdōngliúHSK 4+

synonym of 付諸東流 /付诸东流 (fùzhūdōngliú, “to go in vain; to go down the drain; to be completely wasted”)

phrase
付之一炬fùzhīyījùHSK 7+

synonym of 付諸一炬 /付诸一炬 (fùzhūyījù, “to be burnt down”)

phrase
付之一叹fù zhī yī tànHSK 7+

to dismiss with a sigh (idiom); a hopeless case

phrase
付之一笑fùzhīyīxiàoHSK 4+

to laugh something off; to dismiss with a laugh

phrase
付诸东流fùzhūdōngliúHSK 6+

to go in vain; to go down the drain; to be completely wasted

phrase
付诸实施fù zhū shí shīHSK 6+

to put into practice; to carry out (idiom)

phrase
穷于应付qióng yú yìng fùHSK 5+

to struggle to cope (with a situation); to be at one's wits' end

phrase
应付裕如yìng fu yù rúHSK 6+

handling any occasion smoothly (idiom); equal to any situation

phrase
应付自如yìngfùzìrúHSK 4+

to handle something with skill and ease

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

你可以用手机支付,非常方便。

Nǐ kěyǐ yòng shǒujī zhīfù, fēicháng fāngbiàn.

You can pay with your mobile phone, which is very convenient.

鉅亨網 - 財經新聞、全球指數、股市報價、商品行情、理財投資Feb 2026

反乌托邦AI报告震撼华尔街 支付与软体股全面承压

fǎn wū tuō bāng A I bào gào zhèn hàn huá ěr jiē zhī fù yǔ ruǎn tǐ gǔ quán miàn chéng yā

Dystopian AI report shocked Wall Street, and payment and software stocks were under pressure across the board

大紀元 | 大紀元新聞網Feb 2026

【直播】HHS开改善医疗服务多方支付方协调会议

zhí bō H H S kāi gǎi shàn yī liáo fú wù duō fāng zhī fù fāng xié diào huì yì

HHS held a multi-payer coordination meeting to improve medical services

百度新闻Feb 2026

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.

百度新闻Feb 2026

新春海外订单旺 智造赋能保交付

xīn chūn hǎi wài dìng shàn wàng zhì zào fù néng bǎo jiāo fù

Overseas orders in the New Year are strong, and smart manufacturing empowers to ensure delivery.

百度新闻Feb 2026

...6年除夕晚23:50至初一0:20网络支付最..

. . . nián chú xī wǎn zhì chū yī wǎng lào zhī fù zuì . .

... ...6 New Year's Eve night 23:50 to the first day of the year 0:20 network payment most...

Tatoeba

我该在哪儿付煤气费?

Wǒ gāi zài nǎr fù méiqì fèi?

Where do I pay for the gas?

Tatoeba

我们怎样才能将其付出实践?

Wǒmen zěnyàng cáinéng jiāng qí fùchū shíjiàn?

How can we put it into practice?

Tatoeba

为什么不直接付钱给汤姆?

Wèishénme bù zhíjiē fùqián gěi Tāngmǔ?

Why didn't you just pay Tom?

Tatoeba

我可以用信用卡付帐吗?

Wǒ kěyǐ yòng xìnyòngkǎ fù zhàng ma?

Can I pay by credit card?

Character Family

Homophones — Characters pronounced fù

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 付 (fù) mean in Chinese?
付 (fù) primarily means "to pay." It is classified as HSK Level 4, making it an upper-intermediate character. It ranks #820 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 付 have?
付 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 付?
The radical associated with 付 is 亻 (person). This radical appears in many characters related to person.
What are the components of 付?
付 is composed of: 亻 (structural), 寸 (structural). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰亻寸 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 付?
Common words with 付 include: 对付 (duì fu, "to handle"); 付出 (fù chū, "to pay"); 应付 (yìng fu, "to deal with"); 支付 (zhī fù, "to pay (money)"); 付给 (fù gěi, "to deliver"). There are over 74 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 付 (fù)?
Several characters share the pronunciation fù: 服 (clothes, serve), 夫 (husband), 复 (to go and return), 父 (father), and 6 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 付 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 付 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 付 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.