買 (mǎi) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

買

mǎi[mai3]Tone 3

to buy

HSK 1

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买

Guru Deep Dive

English · to buy

Cached lesson

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Topology:Top-bottom

Strokes:6

Writing Balance Rule: The top net/cover component should be compact and wide, while the bottom 'shell' component provides sturdy support and anchors the vertical center line.

Simplification Logic: Simplified from the traditional form 買, where the lower part historically depicted a cowrie shell (貝), simplified in modern standard writing.

1. Meaning

to buy, to purchase

to bribeto hire or win over

VerbNeutral#commerce#action#economy

Sample Usage

我想买一个新手机。
wǒ xiǎng mǎi yī gè xīn shǒujī.
I want to buy a new cell phone.
你在买什么？
nǐ zài mǎi shénme?
What are you buying?

2. Sound

/[maɪ̯²¹⁴]/Tone: 214

買

mǎimai3

ˇ(214)

=mǎi

Initial Consonant

Type: Bilabial Nasal

Sounds like: m sound as in 'mother'

Unaspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: Nasal resonance through nostrils.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Lips pressed lightly together to form a nasal bilabial closure, voicing through the nose.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -a vowel group

Sounds like: ai rhymes with 'eye' or 'high'

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

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 like expressing disbelief or hesitation in English ('Oh really?'), then rises back up.

Sandhi: When followed by another 3rd tone syllable, mǎi changes to a 2nd tone (35) due to tone sandhi, becoming máimǎi in casual speech context though written tone remains 3rd.

👂

Listening trap: Confusing mǎi (to buy, 3rd tone) with mài (to sell, 4th tone). The tone contour makes all the difference between commerce directions.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: Trace a checkmark in the air: dip down sharply from medium pitch to a low point, then sweep upward to a high finish.

3. Writing

Topology: Top-bottom · Strokes: 6 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The top net/cover component should be compact and wide, while the bottom 'shell' component provides sturdy support and anchors the vertical center line.

Simplification Logic: Simplified from the traditional form 買, where the lower part historically depicted a cowrie shell (貝), simplified in modern standard writing.

4. Components

Radical 乛 · Net / Cover Radical (Variant of 罒) (net, catching, or housing)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 贝 (Represents cowrie shells, the ancient form of currency used for buying and selling.)

Imagine a net (top) thrown out to catch and pull in money or valuable shells (bottom) in order to buy goods.

乛 Top cover or net shape
十 Cross structure dividing the space
贝 Valuable shell or money at the bottom

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

2· Phonetic Root: 買 ()

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: In oracle bone script, the character originally depicted a net over cowrie shells, representing trade and acquisition. Over time, the net structure evolved into the top roof/cover element.

Semantic Evolution: Originally signified acquiring goods through trade tokens (shells), it narrowed down specifically to the act of purchasing.

Cowrie shells were widely used as primitive currency in early Chinese dynasties, directly linking money characters to shells.

6. Sinosphere

🇻🇳

Sino-Vietnamese

mãi

Shared similar historical phonology, though modern meanings and tones diverged.

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: バイ / Kun: かう

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

You throw a net (乛 + 十) over a pile of precious shells (贝) so you can *buy* them all at the market!

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

卖

màito sellHas a 'ten' (十) plus a cover on top, meaning you push things away to sell them.

续

xùto continueUses silk thread on the left to tie things together.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

卖(mài)

卖 (mài) has an extra horizontal stroke/cross on top (like a outbox for selling), whereas 买 (mǎi) has an open net roof waiting to scoop things up to buy.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

我去超市[___]了一些水果。

Clue: mǎi

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing 买 (mǎi, buy, 3rd tone) with 卖 (mài, sell, 4th tone). Remember: when you buy, you pull things in under a roof (买); when you sell, you push things out (卖).

Memory Prompts

Recognition: What does 买 (mǎi) mean, and what tone does it have?

Production: How do you write the character for 'to buy' (mǎi) and what is its Pinyin?

買mǎito buy

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