放 fàng — to put, to place, to set down

Meanings

1. 1

   to put, to place, to set down

   Putting an object somewhere. Chinese wants the destination said: 放 almost always carries 在 plus a place after it — 放在桌子上, 放在冰箱里 — because putting something down without saying where leaves the sentence unfinished.

   verb
2. 2

   to let out, to finish (school, work)

   verb

Character breakdown

• 放

  fàng (fourth tone, falling)

  to put, to place, to lay down; to let go, to release, to set free; to let out, to give a holiday

  8 strokes⿰方攵Radical 攴

Example sentences

• 请把书放在桌子上。/請把書放在桌子上。Qǐng (third tone, dipping) bǎ (third tone, dipping) shū (first tone, high and level) fàng (fourth tone, falling) zài (fourth tone, falling) zhuōzi (first tone, high and level) shang. (neutral tone)···

  Please put the book on the table.

• 我们下午五点放学。/我們下午五點放學。Wǒmen (third tone, dipping) xiàwǔ (fourth tone, falling) wǔ (third tone, dipping) diǎn (third tone, dipping) fàngxué. (fourth tone, falling)···

  School finishes at five in the afternoon.

Common mistakes

• Not quite我把书放。

  Correct我把书放在桌子上。

  A 把 sentence must report an outcome, and 放 has none until the place is named. 放在桌子上, 放好, 放进包里 — any of these finishes the sentence; a bare 放 does not.

Similar words

Words containing 放

• 放弃/放棄fàngqì (fourth tone, falling)to give up, to abandon (a plan, right, opportunity)
• 放心fàngxīn (fourth tone, falling)to set one’s mind at rest, to stop worrying
• 放下fàng (fourth tone, falling) xià (fourth tone, falling)to lay down
• 释放/釋放shì (fourth tone, falling) fàng (fourth tone, falling)to release
• 开放/開放kāi (first tone, high and level) fàng (fourth tone, falling)to bloom
• 放到fàng (fourth tone, falling) dào (fourth tone, falling)Put in
• 改革开放/改革開放gǎi (third tone, dipping) gé (second tone, rising) kāi (first tone, high and level) fàng (fourth tone, falling)to reform and open to the outside world
• 解放jiě (third tone, dipping) fàng (fourth tone, falling)to liberate
• 播放bō (first tone, high and level) fàng (fourth tone, falling)to broadcast
• 放手fàng (fourth tone, falling) shǒu (third tone, dipping)to let go one's hold
• 放大fàng (fourth tone, falling) dà (fourth tone, falling)to enlarge
• 放假fàng (fourth tone, falling) jià (fourth tone, falling)to have a holiday or vacation
• 放过/放過fàng (fourth tone, falling) guò (fourth tone, falling)to let off
• 发放/發放fā (first tone, high and level) fàng (fourth tone, falling)to provide
• 放学/放學fàng (fourth tone, falling) xué (second tone, rising)to dismiss students at the end of the school day
• 放射fàng (fourth tone, falling) shè (fourth tone, falling)to radiate
• 放置fàng (fourth tone, falling) zhì (fourth tone, falling)to put