TongTong
Sign in

发财 (fā cái) — to get rich, to make a fortune

Definition

发财 (fā cái) means 'to get rich / strike it rich' — common in greetings like 恭喜发财. More colloquial than 致富, which focuses on the process of building wealth.

verb
to get richto make a fortune

Examples

  • 发财，。
    Jīn nián tā fā cái le, mǎi le liǎng tào fáng zi.
    This year he got rich and bought two houses.
  • 发财！！
    Gōng xǐ fā cái! xīn nián kuài lè!
    Wishing you wealth! Happy New Year!
  • 。
    Tā zuò tóu zī fā le yì bǐ dà cái.
    He made a large fortune through investing.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

发fāmake
财cáiwealth

发 (make) and 财 (wealth) combine to mean making wealth, i.e. getting rich.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 發; 发 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 发 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (爆发, 出发) it is 發; in others (理发, 头发) it is 髮.

The form 發, which 发 stands for in many words, was originally drawn as a bow firing an arrow.

Open 发 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 財; 财 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
貝貝bèishell
Sound part声符shēngfú
才
才cái財cái
Same sound today

The traditional form 財 has 貝 (shell) next to 才, which gives the sound; the simplified 财 is a later shorthand.

Open 财 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Money & Currency

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.