Learn Chinese Characters

Meaning

-less; not to have; no; none; not; to lack

Chinese: 没有。

Hear the Four Tones

The same syllable “wu” becomes a different word in each tone. 无 is the 2nd 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

  • 无法wú fǎunable to; incapable of
  • 无论wú lùnno matter what or how; regardless of whether...
  • 无聊wú liáobored; boring; senseless
  • 无数wú shùcountless; numberless; innumerable
  • 无所谓wú suǒ wèito be indifferent; not to matter; cannot be said to be

Example Sentence

他无话可说。Tā wú huà kě shuō.He had nothing to say.

he无话可说wú huà kě shuōto have nothing to say (id

Go deeper

Where this character comes from

Simplified from 無, which pictured a person holding decorations while dancing; it was borrowed to mean ‘to not have, without, nothing, -less’.

A way to remember it

The opposite of 有 — to not have, without.

Easy to confuse with

  • tiān‘Sky’: a similar two-stroke top, but built on 大 with a flat top line.