抹 (mǒ) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

抹

mǒ[mo3]Tone 3

to smear, wipe, or erase

HSK 7

Multiple Readings (多音字):

Guru Deep Dive

English · to smear, wipe, or erase

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Topology:Left-right

Strokes:8

Writing Balance Rule: The left radical (hand component) should be narrower and slightly higher, while the right phonetic component claims more horizontal space.

1. Meaning

to smear, wipe, or apply

to erase or cross outclassifier for wisps of cloud, light beams, or shades

Verb, ClassifierNeutral#action#cleaning#touch

Sample Usage

请把桌子上的水抹干净。
Qǐng bǎ zhuōzi shàng de shuǐ mǒ gānjìng.
Please wipe the water clean off the table.
天空中有一抹晚霞。
Tiānkōng zhōng yǒu yī mǒ wǎnxiá.
There is a streak of sunset glow in the sky.

2. Sound

/[mɔ²¹⁴]/Tone: 214

抹

mǒmo3

ˇ(214)

=mǒ

Build the syllable

Step-by-step blending

Tone mark placement: Tone mark sits on "o" per main-vowel priority (a > e > o; in -iu/-ui the mark takes the second vowel).

Initial Consonant

Type: Bilabial Nasal

Sounds like: m sound like in 'mother'

Unaspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: Nasal resonance through nostrils.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Lips pressed together to voice the nasal sound, tongue flat.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -o vowel group

Sounds like: o rhymes with law or caught in some dialects, back rounded vowel

Mouth Shape Guide: Pronounce as standalone vowel 'aw'.

Common Learner Trap: Keep vowel quality steady across all 4 tone contours.

Tone

T3 (214)

2 → 1 → 4 (214)

3rd Tone (Low-Dipping)

Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 3 dips low and rises like asking 'Really?' in English disbelief.

Sandhi: When followed by another 3rd tone syllable, mǒ changes to a 2nd tone (35) due to tone sandhi.

👂

Listening trap: Do not confuse the 3rd tone dip with the 4th tone sharp drop (mò).

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: Trace a checkmark in the air: dip down from medium pitch to low, then rise up.

3. Writing

Topology: Left-right · Strokes: 8 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The left radical (hand component) should be narrower and slightly higher, while the right phonetic component claims more horizontal space.

4. Components

Radical 扌 · Hand Radical (Hand, manual action)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 扌 (Indicates actions performed with the hand (wiping, smearing).)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 末 (original sound: mò / mǒ (provides the sound clue))

The Hand radical (扌) on the left joins with the character for 'tip/end' (末) on the right to show the hand wiping across a surface or edge.

扌 Hand action
末 Phonetic and structural component meaning end/tip

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

6· Phonetic Root: 末 (me)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Combined from the hand radical (扌) representing physical action and 末 (mò) representing the phonetic base.

Semantic Evolution: Originally meant to rub or wipe with the hand, later extended to erasing, smearing paint or ointment, and counting light or cloud streaks.

The right component 末 originally depicted a tree branch with a highlighted tip.

6. Sinosphere

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

You use your HAND (扌) to WIPE away the end (末) of a chalk mark on the blackboard.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

末

mevariant of 麼|么[me5]Phonetic Core (声旁)

袜

wàvariant of 襪|袜[wa4]+ 衤 (clothes)

沫

mòfoam; suds+ 氵 (water)

秣

mòfeed a horse with grain; horse feed+ 禾 (grain)

Explore this family →

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

末(mò)

末 lacks the hand radical and means 'end' or 'tip'.

摸(mō)

摸 uses 莫 on the right and means 'to touch or stroke', whereas 抹 means 'to wipe or smear'.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

请把黑板上的字[___]掉。

Clue: mǒ

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the tone with mò (4th tone), leading to incorrect pronunciation when using it as a verb.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: What does 抹 mean and how is it pronounced with tone?

Production: How do you write the character for 'to wipe/smear' using the hand radical?

抹mǒto smear, wipe, or erase

Speed:

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