米 mǐ — metre

Meanings

1. 1

   metre

   The metre. It follows the number directly, with no other classifier: 一米, 三米, 一千米. A person’s height is said the same way — 一米八 is one metre eighty.

   measure
2. 2

   rice (uncooked grain)

   noun

   米 is the grain in the bag; 米饭 is what is in the bowl. The two are not interchangeable at table, and the same 米 sits inside 玉米 (maize) and 米色 (beige).

Example sentences

• 这条路有一千米长。/這條路有一千米長。Zhè (fourth tone, falling) tiáo (second tone, rising) lù (fourth tone, falling) yǒu (third tone, dipping) yìqiān (fourth tone, falling) mǐ (third tone, dipping) cháng. (second tone, rising)···

  This road is a thousand metres long.

• 他有一米八，比我高。Tā (first tone, high and level) yǒu (third tone, dipping) yì (fourth tone, falling) mǐ (third tone, dipping) bā, (first tone, high and level) bǐ (third tone, dipping) wǒ (third tone, dipping) gāo. (first tone, high and level)···

  He is one metre eighty — taller than me.

Common mistakes

• Not quite我想吃米。

  Correct我想吃米饭。

  You eat 米饭, cooked rice. 米 on its own is raw grain — asking for it at a meal is asking for the sack, not the dish.

Similar words