Sentence #1964240 from Tatoeba · translation adapted
How 中午 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.
中zhōngwithin; among; in
口mouth · kǒu
丨line · gǔn
Memory aidA line 丨 through the centre of a box 口: the middle.
午wǔ7th earthly branch: 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
丿slash · piě
干dry · gān
Memory aidDrawn from a pestle. It was borrowed for the hour around noon, as in 中午 (zhōngwǔ) “midday”.
How to write 中午
中 4 strokes · 午 4 strokes
Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.
Stroke order chart for 中午 (zhōngwǔ). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.
中午 (zhōngwǔ) means “noon” or “midday”. It is an HSK 1 word, so it is one of the words learners meet early.
Say it zhōngwǔ: zhōng with a 1st tone, then wǔ with a 3rd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 中午 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Use 个 (gè). For example, one noon is 一个中午 (yí ge zhōngwǔ).
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type zhongwu with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 中午 from the suggestions. Typing zhongwu into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
中午 is an HSK 1 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.
Turn words into conversations
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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.
中zhōng1st tone, high and level
午wǔ3rd tone, dipping
