罚 (fá): to punish; to penalize

Meanings

1 to punish; to penalize
2 to fine (monetary penalty)

Characters

罚

fá

to punish; to penalize

Examples

老师罚他站了一节课。

Lǎoshī fá tā zhàn le yī jié kè.

The teacher punished him by making him stand for one class period.

违反规定要受到处罚。

Wéifǎn guīdìng yào shòudào chǔfá.

Violating the rules will result in punishment.

他因为闯红灯被罚了两百块。

Tā yīnwèi chuǎnghóngdēng bèi fá le liǎngbǎi kuài.

He was fined 200 yuan for running a red light.

犯规的球员被罚下场。

Fànguī de qiúyuán bèi fáxià chǎng.

The player who committed a foul was sent off.

Tips

usage

罚 + action = punish by making someone do something: 罚站 (stand as punishment), 罚抄 (copy text as punishment). 罚 + money = fine someone.

usage

处罚 (chǔfá) = to punish (formal). 惩罚 (chéngfá) = to punish (stronger). 罚球 (fáqiú) = penalty kick/free throw.

Components

radical

罒 wǎng

net (radical form of 网)

Top-side net radical — the indexing radical, the flattened-overhead form of 网. Pictures a net cast over from above. Anchors the imagery of 罚: an offender caught in the net of the law. Same family: 罪 (crime), 罗 (catch in net), 署 (office), 罢 (cease).

semantic

讠 yán

speech (radical form of 言)

Bottom-left speech radical — the simplified side-form of 言. Represents the formal verbal pronouncement of the verdict. Combined with 罒 above, the picture is 'caught in the net + sentence read aloud'. Simplified from 言 in the traditional 罰; the modern 讠 is the 2-stroke shorthand.

semantic

刂 dāo

knife (radical form of 刀)

Bottom-right knife radical — the standing side-form of 刀. Represents the punishment itself: historically corporal penalties were dispensed with blades (tattooing, amputation, execution). The full ideograph reads 罒 (caught) + 讠 (sentenced) + 刂 (penalty carried out) — a three-stage compound for 'punish'.