mǎi

to buy; to purchase

Type: VerbsHSK 1
Character origin

Radical 乛 + 头 (head). It was originally written 買, with 贝 (cowrie, money) and 网 (net). Buying was 'netting' money to trade it. The simplification lost that reference.

Did you know?

The opposite of 卖 (to sell). In traditional markets, haggling is common. '多少钱?' is the key phrase to ask the price, and then you can ask for a discount: '便宜一点吧' (a bit cheaper, please).

Radicals it's made of
hook
tóuhead
Example sentence

我买苹果。

Wǒ mǎi píngguǒ.

I buy apples.

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