How to write 猫 (māo, “cat”)
猫 (māo), an HSK 1 character, means “cat”, “modem” and “to hide oneself”. It is HSK 1 in the 2025 syllabus, down from level 2 in the 2021 standard. China and Japan order its strokes differently: Chinese stroke 9, going rightwards, is the 10th in Japanese schools; Chinese stroke 10, going downwards, is the 9th in Japanese schools. On its own it is an HSK 1 word; it also forms 大熊猫 (“giant panda”), 公猫 (“male cat”) and 奶猫 (“very young kitten”). Japanese reads it neko, “cat”, as a JLPT N3 kanji.
- Pinyin
- māo
- Strokes
- 11
- HSK
- 1
- Radical
- 犭 (“animal”)
- Traditional
- 貓
Stroke by stroke
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
As a left-right character it splits into 犭 (“animal”, the radical), strokes 1–3; 苗 (“young plant”), strokes 4–11, written the left part first.
- top leftdown and left
- top leftdownwards
- leftdown and left
- toprightwards
- topdownwards
- top rightdown and right → downwards
- centerdownwards
- centerrightwards → downwards
- bottomrightwards
- centerdownwards
- bottomrightwards
Two stroke orders
Japan and China order its strokes differently: 2 strokes sit in another place. Japanese 9 = Chinese 10; Japanese 10 = Chinese 9.
Trace it
Follow the numbers. Tracing help
Pinyin and meaning
| Pinyin | Meanings | Traditional | In words |
|---|---|---|---|
| māo first tone | cat; (loanword) (coll.) modem; (dialect) to hide oneself | 貓 | 大熊猫 公猫 奶猫 家猫 |
- HSK 2025 syllabus
- level 1
- 2021 standard
- level 2
- HSK 2.0
- in a level 1 word
- Words with it
- 78 in CC-CEDICT
Words with 猫
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 猫 貓 | māo | cat; to hide oneself HSK 1 |
| 大熊猫 大熊貓 | dàxióngmāo | giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) HSK 3 |
| 公猫 公貓 | gōngmāo | male cat; tomcat |
| 奶猫 奶貓 | nǎimāo | very young kitten |
| 家猫 家貓 | jiāmāo | domestic cat; house cat |
| 小猫 小貓 | xiǎomāo | kitten |
| 猫儿 貓兒 | māoér | kitten |
| 猫只 貓隻 | māozhī | cat (used in official documents, news reports etc) |
| 猫条 貓條 | māotiáo | cat treat tube; squeeze-up cat treat |
| 猫饭 貓飯 | māofàn | homemade cat food; rice with bonito flakes… |
HSK words first (CC-CEDICT).
Practice sheet
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HSK 1, in list order: