(āi) - ah, oh (interjection of surprise or mild dismay) in Mandarin
āiTraditional: 哎
Translation
ah, oh (interjection of surprise or mild dismay)
Word origin
哎 is a phono-semantic compound built from the mouth radical 口, marking it as a spoken interjection, with 艾 (ài) supplying the sound. As with most interjections, the mouth radical signals that the character writes an exclamation rather than a concrete meaning.
- Origin
- phono-semantic compound
- Root
- 口 (mouth radical) + 艾 (ài, phonetic)
Stroke order
哎
Examples
，。
Oh, I forgot to bring my wallet.
，？
Ah, how come you are late again?
，。
Ah, what a pity.
，。
Hey, don't say that.
，。
Oh no, I forgot my keys again.
哎 (āi) is an interjection expressing surprise or mild dismay.
Where this fits
Appears in 1 word
Multi-character compounds in the corpus that contain 哎.
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哎: worksheet, infographic and listicle
Free printable study downloads for the Mandarin word "哎" (ah, oh (interjection of surprise or mild dismay)): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.
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Start your free weekThis word is part of lesson 18.