多 meaning in English

duō

many; much; more; a lot of; too many; in excess

HSK 1adjectivepronounadverb6 strokes

Meaning of 多

Definitions from CC-CEDICT.

duō

many; much; more; a lot of
too many; in excess
(after a numeral) ... odd
how (to what extent) (Taiwan pr. [duo2])
(bound form) multi-; poly-

How to use 多

多 means "many" or "much," and it often follows 很 (hěn) as a predicate, as in 人很多 (rén hěn duō, there are a lot of people). Before a measure word or an adjective it can ask "how," for example 你多大？(Nǐ duō dà? How old are you?). After a number it means "and some," as in 十多个 (shí duō gè, ten-odd).

多 (duō) is made of two 夕 (xī, evening) stacked on top of each other. Picture evening after evening piling up, and you get the idea of "many" or "a lot."

Common mistake: Learners often say 很多人 correctly but then write 多人 on its own, which sounds wrong. Before a noun, 多 usually needs 很, 好 or 许 in front, as in 很多书 (hěn duō shū, many books). Also, 多 placed before a verb means "do more," as in 多吃 (duō chī, eat more). Do not put it after the verb in that sense.

多 in example sentences

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

很hěn多duō人rén不bù知zhī道dào怎zěn么me做zuò。

A lot of people don't know how to do that.

“你nǐ说shuō得de太tài多duō了le，”他tā说shuō道dào。

"You talk too much," he said.

我wǒ今jīn天tiān没méi有yǒu更gèng多duō的de事shì要yào做zuò了le。

I have nothing more to do today.

关guān于yú那nà件jiàn事shì我wǒ有yǒu很hěn多duō话huà要yào说shuō。

I had a lot to say in relation to that affair.

话huà多duō不bù如rú话huà少shǎo，话huà少shǎo不bù如rú话huà好hǎo。

It's better to speak less than to speak too much, and it's better to speak well than to speak too little.

Stroke order for each character

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

多 duō · many · 6 strokes

Related words

Words that share a character with 多.

多少	duōshao	number; amount; somewhat
多久	duōjiǔ	(of time) how long?; (not) a long time
差不多	chàbuduō	almost; nearly
许多	xǔduō	many; a lot of
好多	hǎoduō	many; quite a lot
多么	duōme	how (wonderful etc); what (a great idea etc)
大多数	dàduōshù	(great) majority
多数	duōshù	majority; most
多云	duōyún	(meteorology) cloudy
多年	duō nián	many years; for many years
多次	duō cì	many times; repeatedly
大多	dàduō	for the most part; many

Questions about 多

What does 多 mean?

多 (duō) means "many; much; more; a lot of; too many; in excess" and is used as a adjective, pronoun and adverb.

How do you write 多?

多 is made of 1 character: 多 (6 strokes). That is 6 strokes in total.

Is 多 an HSK word?

Yes. 多 is on the HSK 1 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.

What is the difference between 多少 and 几 when asking how many?

几 (jǐ) is used when you expect a small number, usually under ten, and it needs a measure word. 多少 (duōshao) works for any number and can drop the measure word, as in 多少钱？(duōshao qián? How much money?).

How do I say "more than" with 多?

Use 比 (bǐ) with 多 after the adjective, for example 他比我高多了 (tā bǐ wǒ gāo duō le, he is much taller than me). For a number, put 多 after it, as in 一百多人 (yì bǎi duō rén, over a hundred people).