丈夫
husband
zhàngfu
What does 丈夫 mean?
丈夫 (zhàngfu) is the standard noun for 'husband' — the man a woman is legally married to. The word is neutral and slightly formal: it is what appears on official forms, in news writing, and in polite conversation, but Chinese speakers usually switch to 老公 (lǎogōng) in everyday talk with friends or family. Two things English speakers should notice: first, the second syllable 夫 is unstressed and reads as a neutral tone (zhàngfu, not zhàngfū), even though the character on its own is fū; second, 丈夫 is strictly the spouse word, while English 'husband' can sometimes appear in older compounds (husband the resources). For 'wife,' the matching neutral term is 妻子 (qīzi) and the casual one is 老婆 (lǎopó).
Note: Standard, slightly formal-leaning word for 'husband.' In casual speech, especially in mainland China, 老公 (lǎogōng) is far more common between friends and on social media. 丈夫 is what you write on a form or use when you want a neutral, respectful tone.
Character breakdown
elder; a unit of length; respected adult man
man; adult male
Memory hook: Two characters that both mean 'grown man' stacked together — the grown man of the house, your husband.
Measure word for 丈夫
Example sentences
我的丈夫是医生。
Wǒ de zhàngfu shì yīshēng.
My husband is a doctor.
neutral
她的丈夫在北京工作。
Tā de zhàngfu zài Běijīng gōngzuò.
Her husband works in Beijing.
neutral
你认识她丈夫吗？
Nǐ rènshi tā zhàngfu ma?
Do you know her husband?
spoken
丈夫和妻子都喜欢看电影。
Zhàngfu hé qīzi dōu xǐhuan kàn diànyǐng.
Both the husband and wife like watching movies.
neutral
Common phrases with 丈夫
Hear it in real Fluentide episodes
丈夫 appears in 1 podcast episode at natural native speed, with full Chinese script, pinyin, and line-by-line English translation.
Synonyms
Casual, intimate, very common in spoken mainland Mandarin and online. Use 老公 with friends or when chatting; use 丈夫 on forms, in formal writing, or when speaking to people you don't know well.
When attached to a possessive (我先生 / 她先生), 先生 is a polite way to refer to one's husband, common in Taiwan and in formal mainland speech. 丈夫 is more neutral and explicit; 先生 is softer and more refined.
Don't confuse 丈夫 with
丈母娘 is 'mother-in-law' (specifically a man's wife's mother). It shares the character 丈 but refers to a relative by marriage, not the husband.
夫妻 means 'husband and wife' as a pair — the couple. 丈夫 is just the husband alone. 他们是夫妻 = 'they are a married couple.'