贸 meaning and stroke order
Commerce, trade
How to write 贸, stroke by stroke
9 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
- 7
- 8
- 9
Meaning of 贸
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- commerce
- trade
How 贸 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Money.
贝 gives the meaning and 卯 hints at the sound.
Radical: 贝 (sea shell), shared by 63 characters on this site.
How to remember 贸
The top part 卯 (mǎo) gives the sound, and the bottom part 贝 (bèi), a shell once used as money, gives the meaning. Picture money 贝 changing hands under a market sign 卯, and you have trade.
贸 almost never appears alone. It shows up in words like 贸易 (màoyì, trade), 外贸 (wàimào, foreign trade) and 经贸 (jīngmào, economy and trade), often in news and business language. Example: 中国和美国有很多贸易。(Zhōngguó hé Měiguó yǒu hěn duō màoyì.) China and the US have a lot of trade.
Common mistake: Learners often write the top as 卵 (luǎn, egg) or 卬 instead of 卯. Check that 卯 has two separate halves with no dots inside. Also keep the fourth tone in mào, not the third tone of 卯 (mǎo).
Common words with 贸
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
贸 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 贸
How many strokes are in 贸?
贸 is written with 9 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 贸 mean?
贸 (mào) means commerce, trade. A common word with it is 贸易 (màoyì), meaning "(commercial) trade".
How do you pronounce 贸?
贸 is pronounced mào, in the fourth tone (falling).
What is the radical of 贸?
The radical of 贸 is 贝, which carries the idea of "sea shell". Dictionaries list 贸 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 贸?
The traditional form of 贸 is 貿. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 贸 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 贸 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 贸 is part of the HSK 5 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard, and you are expected to write it by hand from HSK 3.
Why does 贸然 mean rashly if 贸 means trade?
In 贸然 (màorán) the character keeps an older sense of acting carelessly or without thinking. It is a fixed word, so learn it separately: 不要贸然决定 (bú yào màorán juédìng) means don't decide rashly.
What is the difference between 贸易 and 生意?
贸易 (màoyì) is formal and refers to trade in general, often between companies or countries. 生意 (shēngyi) is everyday speech for business or a deal, like running a small shop.