正负

正负 zhèngfù

Positive and negative†

正负 in a sentence HSK 6 繁體 正負 zhengfu

What 正负 means

  1. Positive and negative†

† Our own dictionary has no entry for 正负, so these meanings are adapted from CC-CEDICT, published by MDBG and its contributors and based on CEDICT © 1997, 1998 Paul Andrew Denisowski, and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Recognise a piece of 正负 but not the character it belongs to? Pick the parts in the component character finder and it will name the character for you — free for every character, with nothing to sign in to.

Character by character

正负 is written with 2 characters. Chinese words are usually easier to remember once you can see what each part contributes.

正
zhèng
Straight (main - right - just - pure - regular - principle - directly)
负
fù
Lose (carry - to bear - negative number)

How to write 正负

Stroke order is not decoration — it is what makes handwriting legible and what dictionary lookup by stroke count depends on.

Practise 正负 on printable 田字格 sheets, trace it in the writing practice tool, or watch any other character in the Stroke Order Animator.

正负 in a sentence

这个数据的误差是正负两个百分点。
Zhège shùjù de wùchā shì zhèngfù liǎng ge bǎifēndiǎn.
The margin of error in this figure is plus or minus two percentage points.
电池有正负两极。
Diànchí yǒu zhèngfù liǎng jí.
A battery has a positive and a negative pole.

Every sentence on this site that uses 正负 is collected on the 正负 sentence page. Want pinyin above a sentence of your own? Paste it into the Pinyin Annotator.

Sounds the same as 正负

These are also written zhengfu without tone marks. Tones and context are what keep them apart — which is why the tone is part of the word, not an accent on it.

Train the difference in the Tone Trainer or the Similar Sounds Quiz.

Questions about 正负

What does 正负 mean in English?

正负 is pronounced zhèngfù and means Positive and negative †.

How do you pronounce 正负?

正负 is zhèngfù in pinyin — written zhengfu without tone marks. Press the audio button on this page to hear it spoken by a native voice.

What are the characters in 正负?

正负 is written with 2 characters: 正 (zhèng) Straight (main - right - just - pure - regular - principle - directly), 负 (fù) Lose (carry - to bear - negative number). Knowing the parts is usually how the whole word becomes memorable.

How is 正负 written in traditional Chinese?

正負. The simplified form 正负 is used in mainland China and Singapore; 正負 is used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau. Both are pronounced zhèngfù.

Is 正负 an HSK word?

Yes — 正负 is on the official HSK 6 vocabulary list. You can study it with the rest of that list on the HSK 6 page.

Studied around the same time

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Translate a whole sentence containing 正负 with the Chinese to Pinyin translator, study it alongside the rest of HSK 6, drill it with HSK flashcards, or save it above and review it on your review deck.

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