托付

• Pinyin: tuō fù
• Hanzi breakdown: 托 = 扌 (hand) + 乇 (phonetic); 付 = 人 (person) + 寸 (measurement, hand)

Meaning

To entrust; to commit to someone's care. Handing over the care of a person, task, or responsibility to another with trust.

Carries a weightier and more solemn tone than 委托. Often used when entrusting something of great personal importance — a child to a guardian, one's life work to a successor, a dying wish to a friend. The person making the 托付 places deep trust in the recipient. Common in formal and emotionally significant contexts.

Examples

1. 临终前，他将公司的未来托付给了长期共事的搭档。 Before he passed away, he entrusted the company's future to his long-time business partner.
2. 父母将孩子托付给外祖父母照料，自己则外出务工。 The parents entrusted their child to their maternal grandparents' care while they went out to work.
3. 这项重要任务就托付给你了，我完全信任你的判断。 This important task is entrusted to you — I have complete confidence in your judgement.

Usage Guide

Context: personal, professional, solemn

Tone: solemn

Do Say

• 这件事就托付给你了，请务必妥善处理。(I'm entrusting this matter to you — please handle it with great care.)
• 他将一生的心血托付给了下一代传承。(He entrusted the work of his lifetime to the next generation to carry on.)

Don't Say

• 把日常小事称为'托付' (托付 sounds solemn and weighty; for trivial everyday requests use 拜托 or 麻烦你)

Origin & History

Compound of 托 (to rest upon, to entrust) + 付 (to hand over, to pay). Together mean 'rest something upon someone and hand it over,' i.e., entrust.

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal