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# bai

noun (Mandarin, pinyin: bái, bǎi, bài); name (Bai)

«bai» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. (Mandarin, pinyin) "bái" (白) means "white"; "bǎi" (百) means "hundred". It sounds like English "by" or "bye". It is not an English word. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bai/#m1)
2. (a name) Bai is a Chinese family name. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bai/#m2)
3. The Bai are an ethnic group of people in Yunnan, China. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bai/#m3)

### In the lessons

In Mandarin lessons and on the street children may hear "bái" in colour words and "bǎi" in counting: yī bǎi = one hundred. In Chinese, the tone changes the meaning, so the same sounds "bai" can mean different words. In stories it may appear as a person's surname, such as Li Bai (a famous old Chinese poet).

### Examples

- "Bái" means white in Mandarin. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bai/#x1)
- "Yī bǎi" means one hundred in Chinese. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bai/#x2)
- My friend's surname is Bai. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bai/#x3)
- In Chinese, "bai" can mean different things depending on the tone. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bai/#x4)
- Li Bai was a famous Chinese poet. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bai/#x5)
- To an English ear, "bai" sounds just like "bye". [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bai/#x6)

### Note

Not an English word: a Mandarin syllable written in pinyin (with tone marks bái, bǎi, bài) or a Chinese name (capital B). Do not confuse with English "by", "buy" or "bye", which sound the same. "Bái" + "tiān" (báitiān) means "daytime".

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «bai» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bai/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«bai» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/bai.html) on Mova free.