附
Character Story & Explanation
In modern Chinese, 附 is indispensable in formal writing: it appears in terms like 附件 (fùjiàn, 'attachment' in emails), 附属学校 (fùshǔ xuéxiào, 'affiliated school'), and government documents listing '附则' (fùzé, 'supplementary provisions'). A well-documented usage is in the PRC’s Administrative Litigation Law, where Article 101 explicitly references 附则 — standard legal terminology for supplementary clauses.
The character evolved from seal script, where the right-side 阝 originally depicted a hill or fortified city wall, and the left 付 showed a person handing over something. By the Han dynasty, 附 was standardized to mean 'to attach to' or 'to be subordinate to' — reflecting its enduring role in expressing hierarchical or structural relationships in administration and scholarship.
Hi students! Let’s learn 附 (fù), a Level 3 HSK character with just 7 strokes — quick to write but rich in usage. It belongs to the 阝 (‘mound’ or ‘city wall’) radical on the right, which often signals location, attachment, or relationship. The left side is 付 (fù), meaning 'to deliver' or 'to hand over' — so 附 literally suggests 'handing something onto' another thing: attaching, adding, or appending.
This character appears frequently in formal and written Chinese — less in casual speech — especially in contexts like documents, reports, and academic texts. You’ll see it in words meaning 'appendix', 'attachment', or 'affiliation'. It carries a neutral-to-formal tone; it doesn’t imply emotion, just connection or addition.
Remember: 附 is not about physical sticking like glue (that’s more 贴, tiē), but about logical, structural, or official linkage — like attaching a file to an email, affiliating with an organization, or citing a source in a paper. Mastering 附 helps you read official notices, research papers, and even legal documents confidently.
Example Sentences
Common Compounds
Similar Characters — Don't Mix These Up
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