HSK 2 · Food

牛奶 niúnǎi “milk” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 牛奶 means

  1. milk
  2. cow’s milk

Measure word 瓶 píng or 杯 bēi · 一瓶牛奶 yì píng niúnǎi

How to say 牛奶

  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale牛niú2nd tone, rising
  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale奶nǎi3rd tone, dipping

牛奶 in a sentence

  1. 请问能给我一杯牛奶吗？

    Qǐngwèn néng gěi wǒ yì bēi niúnǎi ma?

    Could I have a glass of milk, please?

    Sentence #5911681 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 没牛奶了。

    Méi niúnǎi le.

    There’s no milk left.

    Sentence #345919 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 可以把牛奶递给我吗？

    Kěyǐ bǎ niúnǎi dìgěi wǒ ma?

    Could you pass me the milk?

    Sentence #9140814 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 牛奶 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 牛 (niú) drawn as one shape
牛niúox

牛 is a single shape of 4 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.

Memory aidDrawn from an ox’s head with its two horns: ox, cow.

The character 奶 (nǎi) with each of its parts in a different colour
奶nǎibreast
  • 女woman · nǚMeaning part
  • 乃then · nǎiSound part

女 hints at the meaning (woman); 乃 (nǎi) hints at the sound. Compare it with nǎi.

How to write 牛奶

牛 4 strokes · 奶 5 strokes

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

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

Words related to 牛奶

Words with 牛

牛niú · cow牛仔裤niúzǎikù · jeans吹牛chuīniú · to boast

Words with 奶

奶茶nǎichá · milk tea奶奶nǎinai · grandma

More words: Food & Drink

面条儿miàntiáor · noodles晚饭wǎnfàn · evening meal午饭wǔfàn · lunch早饭zǎofàn · breakfast鸡蛋jīdàn · egg西瓜xīguā · watermelon羊肉yángròu · lamb鱼yú · fish

In the Chinese zodiac

牛niú · Year of the Ox

牛 is the ox of the Chinese zodiac.

FAQs

牛奶 (niúnǎi) means “milk” or “cow’s milk”. It is an HSK 2 word, so it is one of the words learners meet early.
Say it niúnǎi: niú with a 2nd tone, then nǎi with a 3rd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 牛奶 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Use 瓶 (píng) or 杯 (bēi). For example, one milk is 一瓶牛奶 (yì píng niúnǎi).
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type niunai with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 牛奶 from the suggestions. Typing niunai into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
牛奶 is an HSK 2 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.