(měi) - every, each in Mandarin
měiTraditional: 每
Translation
every, each
Word origin
每 (měi) 'every, each' shows a person, originally a kneeling mother figure, topped by a hair ornament. It shares its upper element with 母 'mother' and was likely borrowed for the grammatical sense 'every'.
- Origin
- phono-semantic compound
- Root
- elements shared with 母 (mother)
Stroke order
每
Examples
。
Every day I go to school.
。
Every person has their own story.
。
I contact him every week.
。
Every week I go to the library.
。
I drink water every day.
每 (měi) means every or each and is always used with a time word or measure word (每天, every day; 每个人, every person; 每次, every time). It does not stand alone and requires a following noun or noun phrase. 每 is often paired with 都 (dōu, all) in the predicate to reinforce universality: 每个人都要遵守规则 (every person must follow the rules). It contrasts with 各 (gè, each separately) which highlights individual differences.
Appears in 3 words
Multi-character compounds in the corpus that contain 每.
Used in
Grammar articles
(5)Mandarin Aspect Markers: 了, 在/正在, 过 - the System That Replaces Tense
Mandarin Classifiers (Measure Words): 个, 本, 张, 只, 条, and the Rule That Every Counted Noun Needs One
The Two 了 in Mandarin: Completion 了 After the Verb vs Change-of-State 了 at the End
Mandarin Numbers, Time, Dates, and Currency: From 1 to 1,000,000, the 二/两 Split, and Time-Before-Verb
Mandarin Word Order: SVO, Topic-Comment, and the 把 Construction That Reorders Everything
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Go to my review queueThis word is part of lesson 12.