怕 (pà): to fear, afraid
怕 (pà) is a Chinese character meaning “to fear, afraid.” Classified as HSK Level 3 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 忄 (semantic) and 白 (phonetic). It ranks #631 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 怕 heart. Its radical form 忄 (heart) appears in many related characters such as 忙 (máng, busy), 快 (kuài, fast, happy), 怎 (zěn, how).
Definitions
- to fear, afraid
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 怕 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 怕
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 害怕verb | hài pà | to be afraid | 3 |
| 可怕adjective | kě pà | awful | 5 |
| 恐怕verb/adverb | kǒng pà | fear | 4 |
| 哪怕 | nǎ pà | even | 5 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 不怕 | bù pà | fearless |
| 惧怕 | jù pà | to be afraid |
| 担惊受怕 | dān jīng shòu pà | (idiom) apprehensive |
| 只怕 | zhǐ pà | I'm afraid that... |
| 怕事 | pà shì | timid |
| 生怕 | shēng pà | to fear |
| 后怕 | hòu pà | lingering fear |
| 贪生怕死 | tān shēng pà sǐ | greedy for life, afraid of death (idiom) |
| 怕羞 | pà xiū | coy |
| 怕生 | pà shēng | fear of strangers |
| 事怕行家 | shì pà háng jiā | an expert always produces the best work (idiom) |
| 天不怕地不怕 | tiān bù pà dì bù pà | fearing nothing in Heaven or Earth (idiom) |
| 天下无难事，只怕有心人 | tiān xià wú nán shì , zhǐ pà yǒu xīn rén | lit. there is nothing the determined person can't accomplish (idiom) |
| 世上无难事，只怕有心人 | shì shàng wú nán shì , zhǐ pà yǒu xīn rén | see 天下無難事，只怕有心人|天下无难事，只怕有心人[tian1 xia4 wu2 nan2 shi4 , zhi3 pa4 you3 xin1 ren2] |
| 不怕神一样的对手，就怕猪一样的队友 | bù pà shén yī yàng de duì shǒu , jiù pà zhū yī yàng de duì yǒu | (saying) a boneheaded teammate can do you more harm than the most formidable opponent |
怕 appears in 51 compound words: 14 as the first character, 24 as the last, and 63 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 怕 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (4)
lit. ghosts are afraid of evil too; an evil person fears someone even more evil (idiom)
Example Sentences
不要害怕提出不同的意见，团队讨论需要各种观点。
Búyào hàipà tíchū bùtóng de yìjiàn, tuánduì tǎolùn xūyào gè zhǒng guāndiǎn.
Don't be afraid to voice different opinions; team discussions need various perspectives.
代銷認「最怕1類人」看房! 網秒懂笑了:會拿捲尺驗屋
dài 銷 認 zuì pà 類 rén kàn fáng ! 網 miǎo dǒng xiào le 會 ná 捲 chǐ 驗 wū
Real estate agents admit they "fear one type of person" most during viewings! Netizens instantly get it and laugh: They'll bring a tape measure to inspect the property.
怕發福?蕭美琴發福袋順便「練深蹲」 網讚:...
pà 發 fú ? 蕭 měi qín 發 fú dài 順 biàn 練 shēn cún 網 讚 . . .
Worried about weight gain? Hsiao Mei-chin hands out red envelopes while "practicing squats"—netizens praise:...
中國網紅「陳老師」被禁入台5年!哽咽怕撐不下去:可能要說再見了
zhōng 國 網 紅 陳 lǎo 師 bèi jīn rù tái nián ! 哽 yān pà 撐 bù xià qù kě néng yāo 說 zài 見 le
Chinese Internet Celebrity "Teacher Chen" Banned from Taiwan for 5 Years! Choking Back Tears, Fears She Can't Go On: "I Might Have to Say Goodbye"
...孩童狂踢椅背 近7成日本人選擇忍?坦言是怕「他們」
. . . hái tóng kuáng tī yǐ bèi jìn chéng rì běn rén 選 擇 rěn ? tǎn yán shì pà tā 們
... Children kicking the back of chairs. 70% of the Japanese people choose to put up with it. They say they're afraid of them.
TACO老招沒在怕?網笑「週一開盤大禮包」
lǎo zhāo 沒 zài pà ? 網 xiào 週 yī 開 盤 dà 禮 bāo
TACO's old tricks don't scare you? The net laughs at "Monday's opening package".
你为什么这么害怕？
Nǐ wèishénme zhème hàipà?
Why were you so scared?
你害怕被炒鱿鱼吗？
Nǐ hàipà bèi chǎo yóuyú ma?
Are you afraid of being fired?
你们为什么怕汤姆呀？
Nǐmen wèishénme pà Tāngmǔ ya?
Why are you afraid of Tom?
你觉得动物为什么会怕火呢？
Nǐ juéde dòngwù wèishénme huì pà huǒ ne?
Why do you think animals dread fire?
Character Family
Homophones — Characters pronounced pà
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 怕 (pà) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 怕 and 百?
How many strokes does 怕 have?
What is the radical of 怕?
What are the components of 怕?
What are common words containing 怕?
What characters sound the same as 怕 (pà)?
Is 怕 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 怕 with real-time feedback
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