俯 (fǔ) is a Chinese character meaning “to bow the head”. It is written from 亻 (person (the form 人 takes on the left)) and 府 (government office; mansion), side by side, and takes 10 strokes.
Build the character for “to bend down”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
亻 + 府
Left–right structure
Structure from: IDS ⿰亻府；形声：从人，府声（《广韵》方矩切，与「府」同音）
Memory aid
A person (亻) standing beside a grand office building (府, fǔ). The person bows low before it — to bend down. 府 also gives the sound: fǔ → fǔ. Both parts are really in this character.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
10 strokes
In real words
- 俯视fǔ shìto look down at; to overlook俯 = fǔ
- 俯身fǔ shēnto bend over; to stoop俯 = fǔ
Go deeper
All readings
to bend down
to bow the head; to bend down; to look down
低头；向下弯身。与「仰」相对。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 俯视fǔ shìto look down at; to overlook俯 = fǔ
- 俯身fǔ shēnto bend over; to stoop俯 = fǔ
Sound component
府 family exact
Easy to confuse with
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 俯 mean?
俯 (fǔ) means to bow the head; to bend down; to look down.
How do you pronounce 俯?
It is pronounced fǔ.
What parts is 俯 made of?
亻 (person (the form 人 takes on the left)) and 府 (government office; mansion), side by side. The recorded source is: IDS ⿰亻府；形声：从人，府声（《广韵》方矩切，与「府」同音）. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 俯 have?
10. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 俯?
人. 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 俯?
Common ones are 俯视 and 俯身. The reading of 俯 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.