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动物 meaning in English

dòngwù

animal

HSK 2nounTraditional 動物14 strokes

Meaning of 动物

Definitions from CC-CEDICT.

dòngwù
  1. animal

How to use 动物

动物 is the everyday word for animal and covers everything from pets to wild animals. It often appears in compounds like 动物园 (dòngwùyuán, zoo). Example: 我喜欢小动物。(Wǒ xǐhuan xiǎo dòngwù.) I like small animals.

动物 is literally a moving thing: 动 (dòng) means to move and 物 (wù) means thing or creature. Animals are the things that move around on their own, unlike plants or rocks.

Common mistake: Learners often mix up 物 (wù) with 务 (wù) because they sound the same, as in 服务 (fúwù, service). Remember that 物 has the 牛 (cow) side, which fits the meaning of creature or thing.

动物 in example sentences

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

动dòng物wù们men都dōu吃chī得de够gòu多duō了le。
The animals already ate enough.
这zhè只zhǐ动dòng物wù比bǐ那nà只zhǐ大dà。
This animal is bigger than that one.
他tā几jī乎hū对duì那nà个ge动dòng物wù一yī无wú所suǒ知zhī。
He knows almost nothing about that animal.
动dòng物wù离lí不bù开kāi空kōng气qì和hé水shuǐ。
Animals cannot live without air and water.
人rén是shì唯wéi一yī会huì使shǐ用yòng火huǒ的de动dòng物wù。
Man is the only fire-using animal.

Stroke order for each character

Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.

动 dòng · to move · 6 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6

物 wù · thing · 8 strokes

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8

Related words

Words that share a character with 动物.

动作dòngzuòmovement; motion; action; to act; to move
行动xíngdòngoperation; action
食物shíwùfood
礼物lǐwùgift; present
活动huódòngto exercise; to move about; to work out; shaky; unsteady; loose (tooth etc)
运动yùndòngto move; to exercise
感动gǎndòngto move (sb); to touch (sb emotionally)
动物园dòngwùyuánzoo
发动fādòngto start; to launch
自动zìdòngautomatic; voluntarily
主动zhǔdòngto take the initiative; to do sth of one's own accord
动力dònglìmotive power; (fig.) motivation; impetus

Questions about 动物

What does 动物 mean?

动物 (dòngwù) means "animal" and is used as a noun.

How do you write 动物?

动物 is made of 2 characters: 动 (6 strokes), 物 (8 strokes). That is 14 strokes in total.

Is 动物 an HSK word?

Yes. 动物 is on the HSK 2 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.

How is 动物 written in traditional Chinese?

In traditional characters, 动物 is written 動物.

What is the difference between 动物 and 宠物?

动物 (dòngwù) means any animal in general. 宠物 (chǒngwù) means pet, an animal you keep at home, like a cat or dog.

How do you say zoo in Chinese?

Zoo is 动物园 (dòngwùyuán), literally animal garden. For example, 我们去动物园吧 (Wǒmen qù dòngwùyuán ba) means Let's go to the zoo.

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