负 (fù): to bear, to carry (on one's back), to turn one's back on
负 (fù) is a Chinese character meaning “to bear.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of ⺈ (structural) and 贝 (structural). It ranks #691 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 负 a person 人 carrying a lot of money 贝. Its radical form 贝 (shell) appears in many related characters such as 贵 (guì, abbr. for Guizhou Province 貴州|贵州[Gui4 zhou1]), 责 (zé, responsibility), 费 (fèi, to cost).
Definitions
- to bear
- to carry (on one's back)
- to turn one's back on
Etymology & Origin
ideographicA person 人 carrying a lot of money 贝
Decomposition: ⿱⺈贝 (layout: top-bottom)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 负 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 负
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 负责verb/adjective | fù zé | to be responsible for | 4 |
| 负担verb/noun | fù dān | to bear (an expense, a responsibility etc) | 5 |
| 负责人noun | fù zé rén | person in charge | 4 |
| 负面adjective | fù miàn | negative | 6 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 欺负 | qī fu | to bully |
| 自负 | zì fù | conceited |
| 辜负 | gū fù | to fail to live up (to expectations) |
| 胜负 | shèng fù | victory or defeat |
| 背负 | bēi fù | to bear |
| 忘恩负义 | wàng ēn fù yì | to forget favors and violate justice (idiom) |
| 负有 | fù yǒu | to be responsible for |
| 抱负 | bào fù | aspiration |
| 肩负 | jiān fù | to shoulder (a burden) |
| 如释重负 | rú shì zhòng fù | as if relieved from a burden (idiom) |
| 负伤 | fù shāng | to be wounded |
| 负荷 | fù hè | load |
| 超负荷 | chāo fù hè | excess load |
| 负债 | fù zhài | to be in debt |
| 负重 | fù zhòng | (lit. and fig.) to carry a heavy load |
负 appears in 89 compound words: 53 as the first character, 25 as the last, and 22 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 负 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (16)
to offer someone a humble apology, requesting punishment and forgiveness
to be devoid of gratefulness; to forget someone’s kindness and turn one’s back on him; to bite the hand that feeds one
to disobey one's benefactor; to violate debts of gratitude; to repay good with evil
to offer someone a humble apology, requesting punishment and forgiveness
to be devoid of gratefulness; to forget someone’s kindness and turn one’s back on him; to bite the hand that feeds one
Showing 12 of 16 idioms containing 负.
Example Sentences
他背负着沉重的责任，但仍然坚持前行。
Tā bēifùzhe chénzhòng de zérèn, dàn réngrán jiānchí qiánxíng.
He bears heavy responsibilities but still persists in moving forward.
...nt上半财年利润暴跌56%,尽管已实现零负债
. . . n t shàng bàn cái nián lì rùn bào diē 5 6 , jǐn guǎn yǐ shí xiàn líng fù zhài
... NT's profit plummeted 56% in the first half of the fiscal year, despite achieving zero debt
彰化竹塘慈航宫总斗首之争 第三轮PK分胜负 桃园人拿下了
zhāng huà zhú táng cí háng gōng zǒng dǒu shǒu zhī zhēng dì sān lún P K fēn shèng fù táo yuán rén ná xià le
Changhua Zhutang Cihang Palace overall battle third round PK point winner Taoyuan people won
宜昌高新区23家企业满负荷运转
yí chāng gāo xīn ōu jiā qǐ yè mǎn fù hé yùn zhuǎn
23 Enterprises in Yichang High-Tech Zone Operate at Full Capacity
新冬能·场外音|关尹:超越胜负的拥抱比金牌更可贵
xīn dōng néng chǎng wài yīn guān 尹 chāo yuè shèng fù de yōng bào bǐ jīn pái gēng kě guì
New Dongneng - Off the field | Guan Yin: Embrace beyond victory is more valuable than gold medals
你又在欺负弱小了！
Nǐ yòu zài qīfu ruòxiǎo le!
You're bullying someone smaller than you again!
她没有辜负我们的期望。
Tā méiyǒu gūfù wǒmen de qīwàng.
She lived up to our expectations.
他是营销部的负责人。
Tā shì yíngxiāo bù de fùzérén.
He's the manager of the marketing department.
我需要为错误负责。
Wǒ xūyào wèi cuòwù fùzé.
I am responsible for the mistake.
责任应该由你来负。
Zérèn yīnggāi yóu nǐ lái fù.
It is you that are to blame for it.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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What characters sound the same as 负 (fù)?
Is 负 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 负 with real-time feedback
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