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HSK 4

打扮

to dress up; to make up

verbneutral
打
dǎ3rd tone
扮
bàn4th tone

HSK level

1
2
3
4
5
6
Pinyin
dǎban
Part of speech
verb
Level
HSK 4
Strokes
12
Register
neutral

Stroke order for 打扮

打扮 is written with 12 strokes (打: 5, 扮: 7). The animation replays automatically.

What does 打扮 mean?

打扮 (dǎban) is a verb meaning 'to dress up, groom, or make oneself look a certain way' — it covers choosing clothes, doing hair, and applying makeup as a whole act of styling one's appearance.

It is neutral and very common in daily speech, often reflexive: 打扮自己 (dress oneself up) or 打扮得很漂亮 (dressed up beautifully). It can also be a noun meaning 'the way someone is dressed / one's getup.'

Two things differ from English: first, 打扮 is broader than 'put on makeup' — it means the whole styled look, so a man in a sharp suit is also 打扮; second, 打扮成 means 'to dress up AS (something),' as in 打扮成一只猫 (dress up as a cat) for a costume. The second syllable 扮 is toneless here (dǎban).

Character by character

打dǎto do; to make; light action verb
+
扮bànto disguise; to play a role; to dress as
=
打扮

Memory hook: 扮 shares 分 with 'role' — 打扮 is 'doing your look,' styling yourself for the part.

Example sentences

她每天早上都要打扮一下。

Tā měitiān zǎoshang dōu yào dǎban yíxià.

She likes to freshen up her look every morning.

spoken

今天有面试，你打扮得真精神。

Jīntiān yǒu miànshì, nǐ dǎban de zhēn jīngshen.

You have an interview today, and you look really sharp.

spoken

过年的时候，孩子们都打扮得很漂亮。

Guònián de shíhou, háizimen dōu dǎban de hěn piàoliang.

At New Year, the children are all dressed up beautifully.

neutral

他打扮成一个医生去参加派对。

Tā dǎban chéng yí ge yīshēng qù cānjiā pàiduì.

He dressed up as a doctor to go to the party.

neutral

Common phrases with 打扮

打扮自己dǎban zìjǐdress oneself up
打扮得漂亮dǎban de piàoliangdressed up prettily
化妆打扮huàzhuāng dǎbanto do makeup and dress up
打扮成dǎban chéngto dress up as

Synonyms

化妆huàzhuāng

化妆 means specifically 'to apply makeup' — face only. 打扮 is the whole look including clothes and hair. You can 打扮 without 化妆 (e.g. a man dressing sharply).

装扮zhuāngbàn

装扮 is a near-synonym, slightly more written, and leans toward 'costume / getup / disguise.' 打扮 is the everyday spoken word for grooming and dressing up.

Don't confuse 打扮 with

打折dǎzhé

打折 (to give a discount) shares 打 but is about price, not appearance. 打扮 is about how you dress and groom yourself.

扮演bànyǎn

扮演 means 'to play the role of' (an actor in a film or play). 打扮 is about styling your appearance, not acting a part on stage.

FAQ

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