Kilo Lingo

(āi yā) - oh dear, oh no, ouch (exclamation of surprise or dismay) in Mandarin

āi

Traditional: 哎呀

Line drawing of 哎呀
Coloured illustration of 哎呀
#1693 of 5,000 Core 5000

Translation

oh dear, oh no, ouch (exclamation of surprise or dismay)

Word origin

A reduplicated-style exclamation built from 哎 (āi) and 呀 (yā), both carrying the 口 (mouth) radical to mark them as vocal sounds.

Origin
phono-semantic
Root
哎 (āi, mouth radical) + 呀 (yā, mouth radical)

Stroke order

Stroke order for 哎

Stroke order for 呀

Examples

Oh no, I forgot to bring my keys!

Oh dear, now we are in trouble.

Oh, why are you only arriving now?

Ouch, that really hurts!

Oh, so it was you!

哎呀 (āi yā) is an exclamation expressing surprise, dismay, mild pain or sudden realisation. It is roughly equivalent to "oh dear", "oh no" or "ouch".

Where this fits

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Mandarin · Free printables

哎呀: worksheet, infographic and listicle

Free printable study downloads for the Mandarin word "哎呀" (oh dear, oh no, ouch (exclamation of surprise or 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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This word is part of lesson 34.