脯 (fǔ) is a Chinese character meaning “dried meat”. It is written from 月 (moon; month) and 甫 (fǔ (sound component)), side by side, and takes 11 strokes. It has a second reading, pú, which turns up in 胸脯 — here the two readings are two separate things to learn, not one card with two answers.
Build the character for “dried meat”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
月 + 甫
Left–right structure
Structure from: 说文解字: 脯，乾肉也。从肉甫聲; ids-decomposition (⿰月甫; 4+7 笔与 hanzi-writer-data 的 11 笔字形逐笔核验一致：笔画 0–3 为 月，笔画 4–10 为 甫)
Memory aid
Meat (月, the flesh form) next to 甫 (fǔ), which also gives the sound: meat you can keep — dried meat, fǔ.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
11 strokes
In real words
- 果脯guǒ fǔcandied fruit; preserved fruit脯 = fǔ
- 肉脯ròu fǔdried meat slices; jerky脯 = fǔ
Go deeper
All readings
dried meat
dried meat; preserved candied fruit
肉干；用糖或蜜浸渍后晾干的果肉。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 果脯guǒ fǔcandied fruit; preserved fruit脯 = fǔ
- 肉脯ròu fǔdried meat slices; jerky脯 = fǔ
chest
chest; breast
胸部。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 胸脯xiōng púchest; breast脯 = pú
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 脯 mean?
脯 (fǔ) means dried meat; preserved candied fruit.
How do you pronounce 脯?
Its main reading is fǔ. It also has a second reading, pú, which only shows up in certain words such as 胸脯 — so the word tells you the reading, not the character on its own.
Why is 脯 sometimes pronounced pú?
Because it is a multi-reading character: each reading carries a different sense, and the word decides which one applies. In 胸脯 it is read pú.
What parts is 脯 made of?
月 (moon; month) and 甫 (fǔ (sound component)), side by side. The recorded source is: 说文解字: 脯，乾肉也。从肉甫聲; ids-decomposition (⿰月甫; 4+7 笔与 hanzi-writer-data 的 11 笔字形逐笔核验一致：笔画 0–3 为 月，笔画 4–10 为 甫). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 脯 have?
11. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 脯?
月. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.
What words use 脯?
Common ones are 果脯 and 肉脯. The reading of 脯 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.