verb

Meanings

  1. 1 to instruct; to tell (only in 吩咐 / 嘱咐)

Examples

Māma fēnfù wǒ jìde suǒmén.
Mother told me to remember to lock the door.
Línzǒu qián lǎoshī zàisān zhǔfù wǒmen lùshàng xiǎoxīn.
Before leaving, the teacher repeatedly told us to be careful on the road.

Tips

usage
is bound and toneless in practice. It lives only in 吩咐 (to instruct, give orders to) and 嘱咐 (to urge, exhort), both about telling someone to do something.

Components

radical
kǒu
mouth
The mouth radical. Instructing and exhorting are done by speaking, so the mouth radical marks as an act of the spoken word.
phonetic
to hand over; to pay
Supplies the sound: standalone is fù and keeps that reading. The handing-over sense also subtly fits passing instructions to someone, but it serves mainly as the pronunciation.

Stroke Order