buy in Chinese

How to write 买

Animated stroke order. Tap a character to replay its stroke order.

买 is listed in the official HSK vocabulary at HSK 1. The beginner band covers the first, most essential words every learner needs.

买 in a sentence

• 我wǒ想xiǎng买mǎi一yī本běn书shū。

  I want to buy a book.

• 她tā在zài网wǎng上shàng买mǎi东dōng西xī。

  She buys things online.

• 这zhè个gè多duō少shǎo钱qián？我wǒ买mǎi了le。

  How much is this? I'll take it.

买 vs 卖 vs 购物

Similar and easily confused words, and how they differ.

• 卖 mài to sell

  The classic look-alike pair: 卖 has an extra 十 on top and a fourth tone; 买 'buy' is third tone. Learners mix them constantly.

• 购物 gòu wù shopping; to shop

  买 is buying one specific thing; 购物 is the activity of shopping in general — and sounds more formal.