How to Write 妇 (fù) — Meaning “woman; wife”

Picture a woman (女) holding a broom (彐) to sweep the floor — that is a common image of a wife working at home. The right side 彐 looks like a broom with three bristles, so you can remember "woman with broom equals wife."

First write the left radical 女 with its three strokes: フ (撇点), ノ (撇), and 一 (横). Then add the right part 彐 with three horizontal strokes, making sure it is narrow and aligned vertically with the left side. A common mistake is to make the right side too wide or to misplace the middle stroke of 女.

The right side of 妇 is 彐 (three horizontal lines like a broom), while 奴 has 又 (a hand shape) and 奶 has 乃 (a curved shape). Visually, 妇 looks like a woman with a broom, 奴 looks like a woman with a hand, and 奶 looks like a woman with a curved line. Also, 奴 means "slave" and 奶 means "milk" or "breast," so their meanings are very different from 妇.

The character 妇 is rarely used alone in daily speech; instead it appears in formal compound words like 妇女 (women, a general term) and 夫妇 (husband and wife, a married couple). Culturally, it reflects traditional roles, but today these words are neutral and commonly used in news, documents, and formal writing.

Common words containing 妇 include: 妇女 (fù nǚ) — women; 夫妇 (fū fù) — Husband and wife / Couple; 孕妇 (yùn fù) — pregnant woman.