HSK 6 · Function Words

哇 wa “particle (form of 啊 after -u or -ao)” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

Hear it in a sentence

What 哇 means

  1. particle (form of 啊 after -u or -ao)
  2. wow
  3. replaces 啊 when following the vowel “u” or “ao”

How to say 哇

  • Pitch chart of the neutral tone: short and light, with no contour of its own哇waneutral tone, light and short

Grey pinyin is a neutral tone: say it short and light. More on the neutral tone

哇 in a sentence

  1. 哇！真便宜啊！

    Wa! Zhēn piányi a!

    Wow! That’s cheap!

    Sentence #422976 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 哇，好冷！

    Wa, hǎo lěng!

    Wow, it’s so cold!

    Sentence #762012 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 哇，下雪了！

    Wa, xiàxuě le!

    Wow, it’s snowing!

    Sentence #3805044 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 哇 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 哇 (wa) with each of its parts in a different colour
哇wareplaces 啊 when following the vowel
  • 口mouth · kǒuMeaning part
  • 圭jade tablet · guīSound part

口 hints at the meaning (mouth); 圭 (guī) hints at the sound. Compare it with wa.

How to write 哇

哇 9 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

哇 (wa) stroke order chart: each stroke of the character in the order you write it
Stroke order chart for 哇 (wa). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 哇

More words: Function Words & Grammar

索性suǒxìng · might as well倘若tǎngruò · if特意tèyì · specially统统tǒngtǒng · all万分wànfēn · extremely唯独wéidú · only未免wèimiǎn · rather务必wùbì · must

FAQs

哇 (wa) means “particle (form of 啊 after -u or -ao)” or “wow”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it wa: wa with a neutral tone. Play the example sentences on this page to hear it in use.
Yes. 哇 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type wa with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 哇 from the suggestions. Typing wa into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
哇 is an HSK 6 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.