HSK 5 · Verbs

骂 mà “to scold” in Chinese

Traditional 罵

What 骂 means

  1. to scold
  2. to abuse
  3. to curse

Measure word 通 tòng or 顿 dùn · 一通骂 yí tòng mà

How to say 骂

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale骂mà4th tone, falling

骂 in a sentence

  1. 他不但没帮我，还骂了我。

    Tā búdàn méi bāng wǒ, hái mà le wǒ.

    Not only did he not help me, he even told me off.

    Sentence #2102713 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 你被老师骂了吗？

    Nǐ bèi lǎoshī mà le ma?

    Did your teacher tell you off?

    Sentence #373174 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

  3. 他骂他的儿子懒惰。

    Tā mà tā de érzi lǎnduò.

    He scolded his son for being lazy.

    Sentence #768239 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters

How 骂 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 骂 (mà) with each of its parts in a different colour
骂màto scold
  • 口mouth · kǒuMeaning part
  • 口mouth · kǒuMeaning part
  • 马horse · mǎSound part

口 hints at the meaning (mouth); 马 (mǎ) hints at the sound. Compare it with mà.

How to write 骂

骂 9 strokes

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

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

Words related to 骂

More words: Thinking & Talking

据说jùshuō · it is said that决心juéxīn · determination看不起kànbuqǐ · to look down upon夸kuā · to praise满足mǎnzú · to satisfy秘密mìmì · secret描写miáoxiě · to describe明确míngquè · clear

FAQs

骂 (mà) means “to scold” or “to abuse”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it mà: mà with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 骂 is written 罵. The pronunciation is the same.
Use 通 (tòng) or 顿 (dùn). For example, one to scold is 一通骂 (yí tòng mà).
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type ma with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 骂 from the suggestions. Typing ma into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
骂 is an HSK 5 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.