Meaning of 毛病
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- fault
- defect
- shortcomings
- ailment
Measure word: 個|个
How to use 毛病
毛病 is very common in daily speech for something that is wrong with a machine, a habit, or a person's body. It often goes with 有 (yǒu) or 出 (chū). 我的手机出毛病了。(Wǒ de shǒujī chū máobìng le.) My phone has a problem.
毛 (máo) means hair or fur, and 病 (bìng) means illness. Think of a tiny problem as small as a hair that still makes something sick, and you get 毛病, a fault or defect.
Common mistake: Learners often use 毛病 only for illness, but it is used much more for broken things and bad habits. For a real disease, 病 (bìng) alone is more natural, as in 他生病了 (tā shēngbìng le), not 他有毛病.
毛病 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.
毛 máo · hair · 4 strokes
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病 bìng · illness · 10 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 毛病.
| 病人 | bìngrén | sick person; patient |
| 生病 | shēngbìng | to fall ill |
| 看病 | kànbìng | to visit a doctor; to see a patient |
| 毛巾 | máojīn | towel |
| 毛衣 | máoyī | (wool) sweater |
| 病毒 | bìngdú | virus |
| 羽毛球 | yǔmáoqiú | badminton; shuttlecock |
| 毛笔 | máobǐ | writing brush |
| 疾病 | jíbìng | disease; sickness; ailment |
| 心脏病 | xīnzàngbìng | heart disease |
| 病房 | bìngfáng | ward (of a hospital); sickroom |
| 病情 | bìngqíng | state of an illness; patient's condition |
Questions about 毛病
What does 毛病 mean?
毛病 (máobìng) means "fault; defect" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 毛病?
毛病 is made of 2 characters: 毛 (4 strokes), 病 (10 strokes). That is 14 strokes in total.
Is 毛病 an HSK word?
Yes. 毛病 is on the HSK 3 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
Is 有毛病 rude to say about a person?
Yes, it can be. 你有毛病吧 (nǐ yǒu máobìng ba) means something like "Are you crazy?" and sounds insulting. To talk about a person's flaw politely, say 他有个小毛病 (tā yǒu gè xiǎo máobìng), "he has a small flaw."
What is the difference between 毛病 and 问题?
问题 (wèntí) is a general word for a question or problem. 毛病 points to a defect inside something, like a fault in a car or a bad habit. For a broken device you can use either, but for a math question only 问题 works.