买/買 mǎi — to buy

Meanings

1. 1

   to buy

   To obtain something in exchange for money. Its mirror image is 卖 mài "to sell" — the same character with one extra stroke on top and a different tone.

   verb

Character breakdown

• 买/買

  mǎi (third tone, dipping)

  to buy, to purchase

  6 strokes⿱乛头Radical 乙

Example sentences

• 我想买一本书。/我想買一本書。Wǒ (third tone, dipping) xiǎng (third tone, dipping) mǎi (third tone, dipping) yì (fourth tone, falling) běn (third tone, dipping) shū. (first tone, high and level)···

  I’d like to buy a book.

• 妈妈去商店买东西。/媽媽去商店買東西。Māma (first tone, high and level) qù (fourth tone, falling) shāngdiàn (first tone, high and level) mǎi (third tone, dipping) dōngxi. (first tone, high and level)···

  Mum is going to the shop to do some shopping.

Common mistakes

• Not quitemài (卖)

  Correctmǎi (买)

  买 mǎi "buy" is third tone; 卖 mài "sell" is fourth. The tone is the only thing separating them in speech, and getting it wrong reverses who pays whom.

Similar words

Words containing 买

• 购买/購買gòu (fourth tone, falling) mǎi (third tone, dipping)to purchase; to buy
• 买卖/買賣mǎi (third tone, dipping) mài (fourth tone, falling)buying and selling
• 收买/收買shōu (first tone, high and level) mǎi (third tone, dipping)to purchase
• 买不起/買不起mǎi (third tone, dipping) bu (neutral tone) qǐ (third tone, dipping)cannot afford