Learn Chinese Characters

Meaning

female; mother

Chinese: 母亲、雌性或根本。

Hear the Four Tones

The same syllable “mu” becomes a different word in each tone. 母 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

  • 父母fù mǔfather and mother; parents
  • 母亲mǔ qīnmother
  • 字母zì mǔletter (of the alphabet)
  • 母女mǔ nǚmother and daughter; mother-daughter
  • 母子mǔ zǐmother and child; parent and subsidiary (companies); principal and interest

Example Sentence

母亲节我送给妈妈一束花。Mǔ qīn jié wǒ sòng gěi mā ma yí shù huā.On Mother Day I gave my mom a bouquet of flowers.

母亲节Mǔ qīn jiéMother's DayI送给sòng gěito send妈妈mā mamamaoneshùto bindhuāflower

Go deeper

Where this character comes from

Based on 女 (woman) with two dots added to mark the breasts that nurse a child. It means ‘mother’.

A way to remember it

A woman with two dots — a nursing mother.

Easy to confuse with

  • měi‘Each / every’: built on 母 with a stroke added on top.
  • ‘Woman’: 母 is 女 with the two extra dots removed.