多

duō

Pinyin
duō
Pinyin (Plain)
duo
Tone
1
Strokes
6
Radical
夕
Readings
duōduoTone: 1many; much; more; a lot of; too many; in excess; (after a numeral) ... odd; how (to what extent) (Taiwan pr. [duo2]); (bound form) multi-; poly-Order: 0Primary
Stroke Order Code
Speed
Stroke Order Data
["M 371 636 Q 419 669 477 726 L 493 742 Q 512 761 532 779 Q 545 788 535 806 Q 502 848 476 850 Q 466 851 464 836 Q 449 728 308 638 Q 274 617 256 603 Q 244 590 260 592 Q 278 592 352 625 L 371 636 Z", "M 477 726 Q 476 726 477 725 Q 502 698 593 715 Q 612 716 618 708 Q 621 701 605 681 Q 553 605 464 527 Q 389 463 247 377 Q 231 367 246 364 Q 336 364 535 524 Q 538 528 543 531 Q 604 583 666 650 Q 690 677 729 701 Q 747 710 742 721 Q 741 731 681 764 Q 666 776 611 755 Q 512 743 493 742 C 463 739 458 739 477 726 Z", "M 352 625 Q 355 618 373 599 Q 391 580 411 555 Q 420 545 432 543 Q 441 543 445 553 Q 449 563 446 587 Q 443 603 421 616 Q 400 625 371 636 C 343 647 339 648 352 625 Z", "M 400 284 Q 499 359 524 381 L 552 409 Q 588 446 606 461 Q 616 471 614 481 Q 613 493 589 502 Q 564 512 551 511 Q 544 510 541 498 Q 511 405 285 251 Q 264 238 290 240 Q 324 243 375 270 L 400 284 Z", "M 524 381 Q 564 360 646 388 Q 671 392 681 385 Q 688 378 658 323 Q 529 64 193 -47 Q 181 -50 182 -56 Q 182 -62 191 -62 Q 219 -66 283 -52 Q 344 -39 410 -4 Q 489 36 569 111 Q 648 184 734 311 Q 756 341 788 358 Q 807 365 808 376 Q 809 391 779 414 Q 742 445 725 447 Q 712 447 698 439 Q 641 424 552 409 C 522 404 495 389 524 381 Z", "M 375 270 Q 375 267 460 175 Q 470 162 485 162 Q 495 161 501 173 Q 507 186 501 214 Q 495 247 400 284 C 372 295 358 294 375 270 Z"]
Meaning
In Chinese, 多 (duō) mainly means “many” or “much,” describing a large quantity (e.g., 很多书 “many books”). It can also be used in questions about quantity (“how many/much,” as in 多少 “how many”) and to mean “more” when comparing amounts.
Metadata
Locale: en
Cached At: 3/26/2026, 9:13:31 AM

Usage

In modern Mandarin, 多 (duō) most commonly means “many/much” or “a lot.” Learners first meet it in basic quantity phrases like 很多 (hěn duō, “many/a lot”), 太多 (tài duō, “too many/much”), and 不多 (bù duō, “not many/much”). It’s used with both countable and uncountable nouns: 多人 (“many people”), 多水 (“a lot of water”), or in questions like 多少？ (duōshǎo?, “how many/how much?”). You also see it in time and frequency expressions, such as 很多次 (“many times”) and 很多年 (“many years”). 多 is also used in comparison and degree. In structures like 多一点 (duō yìdiǎn, “a bit more”), 多一些/多一点儿 (“a little more”), or 多了 (duō le, “a lot more / much more”), it indicates an extra amount. In comparative sentences, it appears after an adjective: 高多了 (gāo duō le, “much taller”), 好多了 (hǎo duō le, “much better”). Learners frequently see it in everyday patterns like 多喝水 (“drink more water”), 多休息 (“rest more”), or 多练习 (“practice more”), where it expresses “do more of X.”

Handwriting Notes

多 is visually compact and a bit top‑heavy: it looks like two similar “pieces” stacked, each with a short horizontal, a diagonal stroke, and a small hook/turn. In careful handwriting, the upper part is usually slightly smaller and tighter, and the whole character leans very gently to the right, giving it a sense of motion. The diagonals tend to be the most visually prominent strokes, so learners often remember it as “two slanting components, one above the other.” In everyday handwriting, people simplify and merge lines: the horizontals may be shortened, angles can become curves, and the bottom part sometimes looks more open or loosely written than in printed fonts. Some writers connect strokes slightly, making the character more fluid and less boxy than the standard typeface. Despite these variations, readers and AI handwriting recognition systems are trained to detect the key structural pattern—two similar slanting components stacked vertically—so they can still identify 多 accurately even when it is written quickly or informally.

Description

多 is a common character meaning “many,” “much,” or “a lot.” It is used to indicate a large quantity or degree, and appears in words like 多谢 (thank you very much) and 多少 (how many / how much).

Common Words

  • 很多hěn duōmany; a lot
  • 多少duō shaohow many; how much
  • 多么duō mehow (used in exclamations, e.g. how great)
  • 多谢duō xièmany thanks; thank you very much
  • 多余duō yúsuperfluous; unnecessary; extra
  • 多数duō shùmajority; most
  • 多次duō cìmany times; repeatedly
  • 多元duō yuánpluralistic; multiple elements
  • 多种duō zhǒngmany kinds; multiple types
  • 多半duō bànmost; the greater part; probably
  • 多情duō qíngaffectionate; sentimental
  • 多样duō yàngdiverse; varied
  • 多彩duō cǎicolorful; rich and varied
  • 多变duō biànchangeable; variable
  • 多次方duō cì fāngpolynomial (in mathematics)
  • 多媒体duō méi tǐmultimedia
  • 多功能duō gōng néngmulti-functional
  • 多角度duō jiǎo dùfrom multiple angles; multi-angle
  • 多方面duō fāng miànmany aspects; in many respects
  • 多元化duō yuán huàdiversification; to diversify
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