墓 meaning and stroke order
Grave; tomb; mausoleum
How to write 墓, stroke by stroke
13 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
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Meaning of 墓
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- grave
- tomb
- mausoleum
How 墓 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Earth.
土 gives the meaning and 莫 hints at the sound.
Radical: 土 (soil), shared by 183 characters on this site.
How to remember 墓
墓 is 莫 (mò) on top of 土 (tǔ, earth). Picture earth piled over a person who is no longer here, and 莫 gives the sound mù.
墓 usually appears in compound words rather than alone, such as 坟墓 (fénmù), 墓地 (mùdì) and 墓碑 (mùbēi). It is closely tied to the custom of 扫墓 (sǎomù) during the Qingming Festival. Example: 清明节我们去扫墓。(Qīngmíng jié wǒmen qù sǎomù.) We go to sweep the graves on Qingming Festival.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 墓 with other 莫 characters: 幕 (mù, curtain) has 巾, 慕 (mù, admire) has 㣺, and 暮 (mù, dusk) has 日. All are read mù, so look at the bottom part. Only the one with 土 (earth) means grave.
Common words with 墓
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
墓 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 墓
How many strokes are in 墓?
墓 is written with 13 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 墓 mean?
墓 (mù) means grave; tomb; mausoleum. A common word with it is 坟墓 (fénmù), meaning "grave; tomb".
How do you pronounce 墓?
墓 is pronounced mù, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 墓?
The radical of 墓 is 土, which carries the idea of "soil". Dictionaries list 墓 under this radical.
Is 墓 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 墓 is part of the HSK 6 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard.
What is the difference between 墓 and 坟?
坟 (fén) often refers to the burial mound itself, while 墓 is a more general and slightly more formal word for a grave or tomb. They are often combined as 坟墓 (fénmù).
What does 扫墓 really involve?
Literally it means to sweep a grave, but in practice people clean the gravesite, offer flowers or food, and pay respects to the dead. It is most common during the Qingming Festival in early April.