Meaning of 马
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- horse
- horse or cavalry piece in Chinese chess
- knight in Western chess
Measure word: 匹
- surname Ma
- abbr. for Malaysia 馬來西亞|马来西亚[Ma3 lai2 xi1 ya4]
How to use 马
马 (mǎ) means horse, but it shows up in many everyday words that have little to do with horses, like 马上 (mǎshàng, right away) and 马路 (mǎlù, road). Horses are counted with 匹 (pǐ). Example: 我马上就来。(Wǒ mǎshàng jiù lái.) I'll be right there.
The simplified 马 (mǎ) is a quick sketch of a horse seen from the side. The top strokes are the head and mane, and the hook at the bottom is the body and tail.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 马 (mǎ) with 吗 (ma), the question particle, and 妈 (mā), mother. These share the 马 part but add 口 or 女 and have different tones. Keep 马 in the third tone, mǎ.
马 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.
马 mǎ · horse · 3 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
Related words
Words that share a character with 马.
| 马上 | mǎshàng | at once; right away |
| 马路 | mǎlù | street; road |
| 马车 | mǎchē | cart; chariot |
| 马桶 | mǎtǒng | chamber pot; wooden pan used as toilet |
| 马力 | mǎlì | horsepower |
| 马虎 | mǎhu | careless; sloppy |
| 黑马 | hēimǎ | dark horse; fig. unexpected winner |
| 马戏 | mǎxì | circus |
| 骏马 | jùnmǎ | fine horse; steed |
| 马后炮 | mǎhòupào | (Chinese chess) moving the cannon after moving the horse away; (fig.) a useless action or |
| 千军万马 | qiānjūn-wànmǎ | magnificent army with thousands of men and horses (idiom); impressive display of manpower; |
| 马克 | Mǎkè | mark (monetary unit) |
Questions about 马
What does 马 mean?
马 (mǎ) means "horse; horse or cavalry piece in Chinese chess" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 马?
马 is made of 1 character: 马 (3 strokes). That is 3 strokes in total.
Is 马 an HSK word?
Yes. 马 is on the HSK 3 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 马 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 马 is written 馬.
Why does 马虎 (mǎhu) mean careless if it is made of horse and tiger?
In 马虎 the two characters work as a fixed word, and the meaning is careless or sloppy, not an animal. Note that 虎 is said in a neutral tone here: mǎhu. A common phrase is 马马虎虎 (mǎmǎhūhū), meaning so-so or just okay.
How is 马 used as a surname or for Malaysia?
马 (Mǎ) is a common Chinese surname, as in 马先生 (Mǎ xiānsheng), Mr. Ma. It is also short for 马来西亚 (Mǎláixīyà), Malaysia, in compounds such as 中马关系 (Zhōng Mǎ guānxì), China-Malaysia relations.