补

Etymology & Components

The Chinese character 补 (bǔ) is composed of two parts: the radical 亻(rén), which represents a person, and the phonetic component 甫 (fǔ). The original meaning of 补 was "to help" or "to assist". In ancient times, people often used their hands to help others, so the radical 亻 was used to represent this action. The phonetic component 甫 was added later to indicate the pronunciation of the character.Over time, the meaning of 补 has expanded to include "to make up for", "to repair", and "to supplement". This is because helping someone often involves making up for their deficiencies or repairing something that is broken. The character 补 can also be used as a verb or a noun. As a verb, it means "to help", "to make up for", or "to repair". As a noun, it means "help", "assistance", or "repairs".The character 补 is commonly used in Chinese writing and speech. It is a versatile character that can be used in a variety of contexts. For HSK learners, it is important to understand the etymology of this character in order to better understand its meaning and usage.