(xióng) - bear in Mandarin
xióngTraditional: 熊
Translation
bear
Word origin
An ancient pictograph of the animal, now written with 能 above the four-dot fire radical 灬, which here represents the creature's legs rather than fire.
- Origin
- native
- Root
- 能 (néng, upper element) + 灬 (the four-dot form, here the legs)
Stroke order
熊
Examples
。
There are bears in the forest.
河。
That bear is catching fish by the river.
。
The child is holding a teddy bear.
冬。
Bears sleep for a long time in winter.
。
We saw two bears at the zoo.
熊 (xióng) is a bear. It takes the measure word 只 (zhī), the one used for most animals: 一只熊.
Two compounds are worth knowing straight away. 熊猫 (xióng māo) is the panda, literally bear-cat, and 玩具熊 or 泰迪熊 is a teddy bear. Note that 熊猫 is one word, so a panda is never just 熊.
In colloquial northern speech 熊 also works as an insult meaning useless or cowardly: 你真熊 is roughly "you are pathetic". It is informal and a bit rough, so recognise it rather than use it.
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熊: worksheet, infographic and listicle
Free printable study downloads for the Mandarin word "熊" (bear): 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 41.