How to say “buy” in Chinese
buy
“Buy” in Chinese is 买, mǎi: the meaning, a recording of how it sounds, the characters stroke by stroke and examples.
How to pronounce it
买 is read mǎi. The tone is part of the word: with another melody you get another word, or just a jumble of sounds.
How to write it
Strokes go in order: top to bottom and left to right, horizontal before vertical. Tap a character to open its page, with the strokes shown large and the words it appears in. To train your hand, print a handwriting sheet for “买”.
Examples
Sentences from the course lessons with 买. Tap the sound icon to listen.
- 我买了三个苹果。wǒmǎilesāngepíngguǒI bought three apples.
- 你买了什么？nǐmǎileshénmeWhat did you buy?
- 我去超市买东西。wǒqùchāoshìmǎidōngxiI'm going to the supermarket to do some shopping.
- 你想买什么东西？nǐxiǎngmǎishénmedōngxiWhat do you want to buy?
- 我买了一件新衣服wǒmǎileyíjiànxīnyīfuI bought a new piece of clothing.
- 我想买两本书wǒxiǎngmǎiliǎngběnshūI want to buy two books.
More characters by topic — happiness, luck, strength, nature — on the page “Chinese characters with meanings”.
More words from the lesson “Expensive and cheap”
Look up another word in the Chinese–English dictionary: in English, in pinyin or in characters.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say “buy” in Chinese?
“Buy” in Chinese is 买, pinyin mǎi.
What does 买 mean?
买 (mǎi) means “buy”.
How do you write 买?
买 is 1 character. The stroke order of each one is shown step by step on this page.
How do you pronounce 买?
买 is read mǎi. Tones: mǎi — third tone. The page has a native speaker recording.
“buy” in the lesson “Expensive and cheap”
This word is from the topic “Food and shopping” of HSK 1. In the lesson you hear it in a dialogue, build a sentence with it and say it out loud. Start for free, no sign-up needed.
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