(wǔ) - dance in Mandarin

wǔ

Traditional: 舞

#2,837 by frequencyCore 5000

Translation

dance

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Word origin

Originally a pictograph of a person holding ox tails or streamers in both hands while dancing, later borrowed for the sound and given the 舛 (chuǎn, two feet apart) element at the foot.

Origin
pictograph
Root
a dancer holding streamers, with 舛 (chuǎn, stepping feet) below

Stroke order

Stroke order for 舞

舞

Examples

。

She has studied dance since she was small.

,。

This dance is hard and I cannot do it well.

,。

As soon as the music started everyone began to dance.

厅tīng。

The dance is in the school hall.

。

The teacher taught us a new dance.

舞 (wǔ) is dance as a thing rather than an action. It sits inside most of the words you need for the subject: 跳舞 (to dance), 舞台 (stage), 舞会 (a dance or ball), 舞蹈 (dance as an art form).

The verb is 跳舞, literally to jump a dance, and it is a verb-object pair. That matters for word order: anything extra goes in the middle, so it is 跳了一个舞 and 跳中国舞, not 跳舞了一个.

The trap is treating 舞 as a verb on its own. You cannot say 我舞 for I dance; you need 我跳舞. Bare 舞 works as a noun and inside compounds, and that is where you will actually meet it.

Where this fits

Used in

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Mandarin · Free printables

舞: worksheet, infographic and listicle

Free printable study downloads for the Mandarin word "舞" (dance): 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 taught in chapter 31, lesson 4: 舞, 饼干, 舞台 and 7 more words.