How to say 買

  • Traditional characters: 買
  • Pinyin (Taiwan standard): mǎi
  • Zhuyin (bopomofo): ㄇㄞˇ
  • Meaning: to buy

Hear it in a Taiwan accent:

買 in example sentences

Real lines from CiaoSpeak’s graded stories, each with pinyin, an English translation and Taiwan-accent audio.

我要去買水果！

wǒ yào qù mǎi shuǐ guǒ

I'm off to buy fruit!

From the story 你是老師嗎？ (Are You a Teacher?)

我現在去買！你不要告訴你先生我說了。

wǒ xiàn zài qù mǎi nǐ bú yào gào su nǐ xiān sheng wǒ shuō le

I'll go buy them now! Don't tell your husband I told you.

From the story 驚喜派對 (The Surprise Party)

我跟朋友說：「我先去買鹽酥雞，等一下回來。」

wǒ gēn péng yǒu shuō wǒ xiān qù mǎi yán sū jī děng yí xià huí lái

I told my friend, 'I'm going to grab some popcorn chicken first. Back in a sec.'

From the story 士林夜市 (Shilin Night Market)

那天我買了一杯珍珠奶茶，拿著就走進車廂。

nà tiān wǒ mǎi le yì bēi zhēn zhū nǎi chá ná zhe jiù zǒu jìn chē xiāng

I'd bought a bubble tea and walked straight into the train car with it.

From the story 捷運上不能喝 (No Drinking on the MRT)

好啊！我要買水果和麵。

hǎo a wǒ yào mǎi shuǐguǒ hé miàn

Sounds good! I want to buy fruit and noodles.

From the story 去買菜 (Grocery Run)

Where 買 is taught

  • Unit level: TOCFL Novice 2 (CiaoSpeak’s placement, not the official TOCFL word list)
  • Unit: People, Actions & Questions
  • Lesson: More Everyday Verbs
  • Taught just before: 睡覺
  • Taught just after: 大