Meaning
horse; horse chess piece; Surname
Chinese: 马这种动物；也可作姓氏。
Hear the Four Tones
The same syllable “ma” becomes a different word in each tone. 马 is the 3rd tone. Tap any tone to hear a native voice and see its pitch shape.
Stroke Order
Tap Animate to watch the strokes in order, or Practice to trace it yourself.
Common Words
- 马上mǎ shàngat once; right away; immediately; on horseback (i.e. by military force)
- 马路mǎ lùstreet; road
- 马虎mǎ hucareless; sloppy; negligent; skimpy
- 马车mǎ chēcart; chariot; carriage; buggy
- 马桶mǎ tǒngchamber pot; wooden pan used as toilet; toilet bowl
Example Sentence
草原上有许多马。Cǎo yuán shàng yǒu xǔ duō mǎ.There are many horses on the grassland.
草原Cǎo yuángrassland上shàngon有yǒuto have许多xǔ duōmany马mǎhorse。
Go deeper
Where this character comes from
A pictograph of a horse — the traditional form 馬 showed the mane, body, legs and tail; the simplified 马 keeps the outline.
A way to remember it
A galloping outline with a flowing tail — a horse.
Easy to confuse with
- 鸟‘Bird’: a similar curved outline, but with a dot for the eye.