忙 meaning and stroke order
Busy; hurriedly; to hurry
How to write 忙, stroke by stroke
6 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
Meaning of 忙
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- busy
- hurriedly
- to hurry
- to rush
How 忙 is built
Ideographic (compound meaning) character. A heart 忄 faced with death 亡; 亡 also provides the pronunciation.
Radical: 忄 (heart), shared by 167 characters on this site.
How to remember 忙
忙 (máng) puts a heart 忄 next to 亡 (wáng), which means to perish or be lost. When you are too busy, your heart feels lost, and 亡 also hints at the sound.
忙 is very common as an adjective meaning busy, and it often takes 很 (hěn) before it. It also appears in many verbs and adverbs about hurrying, like 帮忙 (bāngmáng) and 急忙 (jímáng). Example: 你最近忙吗？(Nǐ zuìjìn máng ma?) Have you been busy lately?
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 忙 with 忘 (wàng, to forget). Both use 亡, but 忙 has the heart on the left as 忄, while 忘 has the full heart 心 underneath.
Common words with 忙
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 帮忙 | bāngmáng | to help; to lend a hand | HSK 1 |
| 连忙 | liánmáng | promptly; at once | HSK 3 |
| 急忙 | jímáng | hastily | HSK 4 |
| 慌忙 | huāngmáng | in a great rush; in a flurry | HSK 5 |
| 赶忙 | gǎnmáng | to hurry; to hasten | HSK 6 |
| 匆忙 | cōngmáng | hasty; hurried | HSK 7-9 |
| 忙碌 | mánglù | busy; bustling | HSK 7-9 |
| 繁忙 | fánmáng | busy; bustling | HSK 7-9 |
| 忙活 | mánghuo | to be really busy; pressing business | HSK 7-9 |
| 忙乱 | mángluàn | rushed and muddled | HSK 7-9 |
| 帮帮忙 | bāngbangmáng | to help; to do a favor | |
| 忙于 | mángyú | busy with | |
| 大忙人 | dàmángrén | busy bee; very busy person | |
| 忙不过来 | mángbùguòlái | to have more work than one can deal with; to have one's hands full |
忙 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 忙
How many strokes are in 忙?
忙 is written with 6 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 忙 mean?
忙 (máng) means busy; hurriedly; to hurry. A common word with it is 帮忙 (bāngmáng), meaning "to help; to lend a hand".
How do you pronounce 忙?
忙 is pronounced máng, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 忙?
The radical of 忙 is 忄, which carries the idea of "heart". Dictionaries list 忙 under this radical.
Is 忙 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 忙 is part of the HSK 1 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard, and you are expected to write it by hand from HSK 1.
How do you say 'I am busy' in Chinese?
Say 我很忙 (wǒ hěn máng). The 很 here is mostly grammatical and does not strongly mean 'very.' Saying just 我忙 sounds incomplete or contrastive.
Why is 帮忙 sometimes split as 帮我的忙?
帮忙 is a separable verb, made of 帮 (help) plus 忙 (busy matter). You can put words in the middle, as in 帮我一个忙 (bāng wǒ yí gè máng), do me a favor. Avoid saying 帮忙我. Use 帮我 or 帮我的忙 instead.