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# wu

word (Mandarin, pinyin «wǔ», «wù», «wú»); proper noun (Wu — a Chinese surname and dialect group)

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

## Everyday

1. (Mandarin, pinyin) «Wǔ» means «five»: «wǔ» 五. It sounds like «woo» to an English ear. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/wu/#m1)
2. (Mandarin, pinyin) «Wǔ» can also mean «dance» or «noon» (wǔfàn, lunch), and «wú» can mean «not have, none». [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/wu/#m2)
3. (a name) Wu is a common Chinese family name. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/wu/#m3)
4. Wu Chinese is a group of Chinese varieties spoken around Shanghai. It is not an English word. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/wu/#m4)

### 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 →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/wu/#x1)
- We counted «yī, èr, sān, sì, wǔ» in our Chinese club. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/wu/#x2)
- «Wǔfàn» means lunch in Mandarin. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/wu/#x3)
- My classmate's surname is Wu. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/wu/#x4)
- In Shanghai some people speak Wu Chinese at home. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/wu/#x5)
- Wu sounds like «woo», but the tone matters. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/wu/#x6)

### 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.

## On Mova

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