帧 (zhēn): frame, classifier for paintings etc

帧 (zhēn) is a Chinese character meaning “frame.” Outside the HSK 3.0 syllabus (CLEC 2022), it is composed of 巾 (semantic) and 贞 (phonetic). It ranks #3738 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 帧 cloth. Its radical form 巾 (cloth) appears in many related characters such as 常 (cháng, always), 希 (xī, to hope), 帮 (bāng, to help).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. frame
  2. classifier for paintings etc

Etymology & Origin

帧

pictophoneticcloth

Decomposition: ⿰巾贞 (layout: left-right)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
装帧zhuāng zhēnbinding and layout (of a book etc)
帧首定界符zhēn shǒu dìng jiè fústart frame delimiter (SFD)
司马承帧sī mǎ chéng zhēnSima Chengzhen (655-735), Daoist priest in Tang dynasty
帧中继zhēn zhōng jìframe relay
帧格式zhēn gé shìframe format
帧检验序列zhēn jiǎn yàn xù lièframe check sequence (FCS)
帧率nounzhēn lǜframe rate
帧频zhēn pínframe rate
8
Total compounds
75
As first character
25
As last character
0
As middle character

帧 appears in 8 compound words: 75 as the first character, 25 as the last, and 0 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.

Example Sentences

中国新闻网·文化Sep 2026

第四届插图装帧艺术展山东济南开幕 260余件佳作呈现时代新貌

dì sì jiè chā tú zhuāng zhēn yì shù zhǎn shān dōng jì nán kāi mù 2 6 0 yú jiàn jiā zuò chéng xiàn shí dài xīn mào

The 4th Illustration and Book Design Art Exhibition Opens in Jinan, Shandong; Over 260 Outstanding Works Showcase the New Face of the Times

中国新闻网·文化Sep 2026

他逐句抠台词、逐帧调状态,加上两位助演铺垫情绪、承接戏份,三人渐入佳境。

tā zhú jù kōu tái cí , zhú zhēn diào zhuàng tài , jiā shàng liǎng wèi zhù yǎn pù diàn qíng xù , chéng jiē xì fèn , sān rén jiàn rù jiā jìng .

He refined his lines one by one and adjusted his performance frame by frame, while the two supporting actors set the emotional tone and carried the scenes forward; the three of them gradually found their rhythm.

中国新闻网·文化Sep 2026

她喜欢这两个故事,也看中了这一版本的封面、插图和装帧,准备买回去收藏。

tā xǐ huān zhè liǎng gè gù shì , yě kàn zhōng le zhè yī bǎn běn de fēng miàn , chā tú hé zhuāng zhēn , zhǔn bèi mǎi huí qù shōu zàng .

She liked these two stories and was also drawn to the cover, illustrations, and binding of this edition, so she decided to buy it to add to her collection.

爱范儿Sep 2026

但是 AI 帧生成提供了另一种选择:有些帧可以“生成”。

dàn shì A I zhēn shēng chéng tí gōng le lìng yī zhǒng xuǎn zé : yǒu xiē zhēn kě yǐ shēng chéng .

However, AI frame generation offers another option: some frames can be “generated.”

爱范儿Sep 2026

视频播放界面新增了帧导出功能。

shì pín bō fàng jiè miàn xīn zēng le zhēn dǎo chū gōng néng .

A frame export feature has been added to the video playback interface.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 巾 (cloth) component

Homophones — Characters pronounced zhēn

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 帧 (zhēn) mean in Chinese?
帧 (zhēn) primarily means "frame." It is not part of the HSK 3.0 syllabus. It ranks #3738 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 帧 have?
帧 is written with 9 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 帧?
The radical associated with 帧 is 巾 (cloth). This radical appears in many characters related to cloth.
What are the components of 帧?
帧 is composed of: 巾 (semantic), 贞 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰巾贞 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 帧?
Common words with 帧 include: 装帧 (zhuāng zhēn, "binding and layout (of a book etc)"); 帧首定界符 (zhēn shǒu dìng jiè fú, "start frame delimiter (SFD)"); 司马承帧 (sī mǎ chéng zhēn, "Sima Chengzhen (655-735), Daoist priest in Tang dynasty"); 帧中继 (zhēn zhōng jì, "frame relay"); 帧格式 (zhēn gé shì, "frame format"). There are over 8 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 帧 (zhēn)?
Several characters share the pronunciation zhēn: 侦 (to scout), 祯 (auspicious), 桢 ((old) privet (genus Ligustrum)). Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 帧 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
No. The simplified form is 帧 and the traditional form is 幀.

Practice writing 帧 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.