莓 meaning and stroke order

méi

Moss; edible berries

Strokes10
Pinyinméi
ToneTone 2
Frequency#2,641

How to write 莓, stroke by stroke

10 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 莓

Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.

méisecond tone (rising)
  1. (bound form) berry (e.g. strawberry, blackberry, loganberry)

How 莓 is built

Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Grass.

艹 gives the meaning and 每 hints at the sound.

Radical: 艹 (grass), shared by 421 characters on this site.

How to remember 莓

莓 is a plant word: the grass radical 艹 on top tells you it grows from plants, and 每 (měi) below gives the sound. Picture berries growing on every (每) little plant.

莓 is a bound form, so it almost never appears alone. It shows up as the second syllable in berry names like 草莓 (cǎoméi), 蓝莓 (lánméi), and 黑莓 (hēiméi). Example: 我很喜欢吃草莓。(Wǒ hěn xǐhuan chī cǎoméi.) I really like eating strawberries.

Common mistake: Learners often read 莓 with the third tone like 每 (měi), but 莓 is second tone, méi. Also do not confuse it with 霉 (méi, mold), which sounds the same but has the rain radical 雨 on top.

Common words with 莓

Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.

WordPinyinMeaningLevel
草莓cǎoméistrawberry; (Tw) hickey
蓝莓lánméiblueberry
黑莓hēiméiblackberry (Rubus fruticosus)

莓 in example sentences

Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.

我wǒ们men喜xǐ欢huān吃chī新xīn鲜xiān的de小xiǎo红hóng莓méi。
We like to eat fresh cranberries.
我wǒ喜xǐ欢huān圣shèng诞dàn蛋dàn糕gāo上shàng有yǒu草cǎo莓méi。
I love strawberries on Christmas cake.
你nǐ最zuì喜xǐ欢huān的de草cǎo莓méi甜tián点diǎn是shì什shén么me?
What's your favorite dessert with strawberries?
他tā做zuò的de蓝lán莓méi蛋dàn糕gāo很hěn美měi味wèi。
The blueberry cake he made was delicious.
他tā有yǒu个gè装zhuāng满mǎn草cǎo莓méi的de篮lán子zi。
He has a basket full of strawberries.

Questions about 莓

How many strokes are in 莓?

莓 is written with 10 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.

What does 莓 mean?

莓 (méi) means moss; edible berries. A common word with it is 草莓 (cǎoméi), meaning "strawberry; (Tw) hickey".

How do you pronounce 莓?

莓 is pronounced méi, in the second tone (rising).

What is the radical of 莓?

The radical of 莓 is 艹, which carries the idea of "grass". Dictionaries list 莓 under this radical.

Can I say 莓 by itself to mean berry?

Not usually. In everyday speech you name the specific berry, such as 草莓 or 蓝莓, or use a general word like 浆果 (jiāngguǒ) for berry.

What does 草莓 mean in Taiwan besides strawberry?

In Taiwan, 草莓 can also be slang for a hickey, because of the red mark. Context makes the meaning clear, so be aware of it when talking casually.