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# mei

«mei» in Mova's school dictionary: **«not» or «don't have»: «méiyǒu» is «there isn't» or «I…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

Mandarin pinyin (méi = not have; měi = beautiful, every; Měiguó = America); name (Mei) — not an English word

### meaning for a pupil

1) (Mandarin, pinyin) «Méi» means «not» or «don't have»: «méiyǒu» is «there isn't» or «I haven't got». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mei/#m1)

2) (Mandarin, pinyin) «Měi» means «beautiful» and also «every»: «měitiān» is «every day». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mei/#m2)

3) (Mandarin, pinyin) «Měiguó» means «America», the USA, literally «beautiful country». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mei/#m3)

4) (a name) Mei is a girl's name, used in China and Japan. To an English ear it sounds like «may». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mei/#m4)

### sense in the lessons

In Mandarin lessons pupils learn «méi guānxi» (it doesn't matter, no problem), «méiyǒu» (haven't got) and «měitiān» (every day). In stories and anime Mei is a character's name. Heard on the street in Chinatowns and Chinese families, «méiyǒu» is a common short answer meaning «no, there isn't any».

### examples

- In Mandarin, «méi guānxi» means «never mind». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mei/#x1)
- «Wǒ méiyǒu gēge» means «I haven't got an older brother». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mei/#x2)
- «Měitiān» means «every day». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mei/#x3)
- «Měiguó» is the Mandarin name for America. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mei/#x4)
- My friend Mei is learning the violin. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mei/#x5)
- Pinyin «mei» sounds like the English name «May». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mei/#x6)
- «Méiyǒu!» the shopkeeper said — there were none left. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mei/#x7)

### note

Not an English word. In pinyin the tone mark changes the meaning: «méi» (rising: not have) and «měi» (dipping: beautiful, every) are different words. As a name it takes a capital: «Mei». Do not read it as «me» or «my».

### In the corpora

- [Mei says the First Emperor was the greatest ruler ever; the teacher says he was a tyrant.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/52-china-the-first-emperor-the-terracotta-army-and-the-great-wall/0/)
- [Mei also says the Great Wall is one wall you can see from space.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/52-china-the-first-emperor-the-terracotta-army-and-the-great-wall/5/)
- [Mei says China built the Silk Road and only silk went along it.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/54-china-the-silk-road-and-the-tang/0/)
- [Mei says it has 9,999 rooms because only Heaven may have 10,000: a lovely legend, but surveys count about 8,700.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/56-china-the-ming-and-zheng-he-s-voyages/1/)
- [Mei once read that China discovered America in 1421.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/56-china-the-ming-and-zheng-he-s-voyages/4/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «mei» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mei/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.