wu
part of speech
word (Mandarin, pinyin «wǔ», «wù», «wú»); proper noun (Wu — a Chinese surname and dialect group)
meaning for a pupil
1) (Mandarin, pinyin) «Wǔ» means «five»: «wǔ» 五. It sounds like «woo» to an English ear. tree →
2) (Mandarin, pinyin) «Wǔ» can also mean «dance» or «noon» (wǔfàn, lunch), and «wú» can mean «not have, none». tree →
3) (a name) Wu is a common Chinese family name. tree →
4) Wu Chinese is a group of Chinese varieties spoken around Shanghai. It is not an English word. tree →
sense in the lessons
In Mandarin lessons it is learnt early because of counting: yī, èr, sān, sì, wǔ (one to five). Pinyin uses tone marks, so one written «wu» can be several different words. In English you meet it in names and in the martial art «wushu».
examples
- In Mandarin, «wǔ» means five. tree →
- We counted «yī, èr, sān, sì, wǔ» in our Chinese club. tree →
- «Wǔfàn» means lunch in Mandarin. tree →
- My classmate's surname is Wu. tree →
- In Shanghai some people speak Wu Chinese at home. tree →
- Wu sounds like «woo», but the tone matters. tree →
note
Not English. Without tone marks «wu» is ambiguous in pinyin: wǔ (five, dance), wú (none), wù (thing, fog, mistake). Do not invent meanings for a person called Wu: it is a name.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «wu» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.