Meaning of 字母
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- letter (of the alphabet)
Measure word: 個|个
How to use 字母
字母 refers to letters in alphabetic scripts such as English, and also to the letters used in pinyin. It is often paired with a language name or the measure word 个 (gè). Example: 英语有二十六个字母。(Yīngyǔ yǒu èrshíliù gè zìmǔ.) English has twenty-six letters.
字 (zì) means a written character, and 母 (mǔ) means mother. Letters are the "mother characters" that every written word is born from.
Common mistake: Learners sometimes use 字母 for Chinese characters, but a Chinese character is 汉字 (Hànzì) or just 字 (zì). Also, 母 (mǔ) has a third tone. Do not confuse it with 每 (měi, every), which looks similar but has an extra stroke on top.
字母 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
字 zì · letter · 6 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
母 mǔ · mother · 5 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
Related words
Words that share a character with 字母.
| 名字 | míngzi | name (of a person or thing) |
| 汉字 | Hànzì | Chinese character(s) |
| 数字 | shùzì | numeral; digit |
| 字典 | zìdiǎn | Chinese character dictionary (containing entries for single characters, contrasted with a |
| 母亲 | mǔqīn | mother |
| 父母 | fùmǔ | father and mother; parents |
| 文字 | wénzì | character; script |
| 签字 | qiānzì | to sign (one's name); signature |
| 祖母 | zǔmǔ | father's mother; paternal grandmother |
| 识字 | shízì | to learn to read; able to read; literate |
| 母鸡 | mǔjī | hen; don't know (humorous slang mimicking Cantonese 唔知, Jyutping: m4 zi1) |
| 母女 | mǔnǚ | mother and daughter; mother-daughter |
Questions about 字母
What does 字母 mean?
字母 (zìmǔ) means "letter (of the alphabet)" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 字母?
字母 is made of 2 characters: 字 (6 strokes), 母 (5 strokes). That is 11 strokes in total.
Is 字母 an HSK word?
Yes. 字母 is on the HSK 4 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How do you say "the alphabet" in Chinese?
The usual phrase is 字母表 (zìmǔbiǎo), literally "letter table". For English specifically you can say 英文字母 (Yīngwén zìmǔ), meaning English letters.
How do you say capital and lowercase letters?
A capital letter is 大写字母 (dàxiě zìmǔ) and a lowercase letter is 小写字母 (xiǎoxiě zìmǔ). For example, 请用大写字母写名字 (qǐng yòng dàxiě zìmǔ xiě míngzi) means "please write your name in capital letters."