Meaning of 肚子
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- belly
- abdomen
- stomach
Measure word: 個|个
How to use 肚子
肚子 is the everyday word for belly or stomach, used for hunger, fullness and stomach pain. A very common phrase is 肚子饿 or 肚子疼. Example: 我肚子疼。(Wǒ dùzi téng.) My stomach hurts.
肚 has the flesh radical 月 on the left, showing a body part, and 土 (tǔ, earth) on the right, which also hints at the sound dù. Picture your belly as round as a little hill of earth, and 子 (zi) is just the common noun ending you also see in 桌子 (zhuōzi) and 杯子 (bēizi).
Common mistake: Learners often say 胃 (wèi) when they just mean they are hungry. 胃 is the stomach organ, so for everyday hunger say 我肚子饿了 (wǒ dùzi è le). Also keep 子 neutral and light, not zǐ.
肚子 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.
肚 dù · belly · 7 strokes
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子 zi · noun suffix · 3 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 肚子.
Questions about 肚子
What does 肚子 mean?
肚子 (dùzi) means "belly; abdomen" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 肚子?
肚子 is made of 2 characters: 肚 (7 strokes), 子 (3 strokes). That is 10 strokes in total.
Is 肚子 an HSK word?
Yes. 肚子 is on the HSK 4 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
Is 肚 ever pronounced dǔ instead of dù?
Yes. In 肚子 meaning belly it is dù. When it means animal tripe as food, as in 猪肚 (zhūdǔ, pork tripe), it is read dǔ.
How do I say I am full or my stomach is upset using 肚子?
For full, people often just say 我吃饱了 (wǒ chī bǎo le). For an upset stomach with diarrhea, the common phrase is 拉肚子 (lā dùzi).