府 fǔ prefect

源How it came to be

A lean-to roof with the pay block under it, handing something over. A building where things were handed in and stored: first a treasury, then the office that ran it, then the official.

用How it is used

• 府 is essentially a one-word character in modern usage: 政府 (zhèngfǔ) "government" is by far its dominant compound, used constantly in news and formal speech.
• 首府 (shǒufǔ) refers to the capital of a province, region, or state (as opposed to 首都 shǒudū, which is specifically a national capital).
• Historically it meant an official residence or prefecture, a sense that survives mostly in place names and old fiction rather than everyday conversation.

字Characters built with 府

• 腐 to spoil
• 俯 to bow down

词Words with 府

• 政府zhèngfǔgovernmentHSK 5
• 首府shǒufǔcapital city of an autonomous regionHSK 9

句Example sentences

• 政府重点发展经济。 Zhèngfǔ zhòngdiǎn fāzhǎn jīngjì.The government focus is on economic development.
• 广州是广东省的首府。 Guǎngzhōu shì Guǎngdōng Shěng de shǒufǔ.Guangzhou is the capital city of Guangdong province.