noun / verb HSK 4
Traditional 買賣
mǎi mài
business · trade · buying and selling · deal

Meaning

买卖 combines the characters for 'buy' (买) and 'sell' (卖) to mean business, trade, or commercial transactions. As a noun, it refers to business dealings or a specific business venture. As a verb, it means to engage in buying and selling.

Usage

买卖 is commonly used in both formal business contexts and everyday conversation about commerce. It often appears in phrases like 做买卖 (to do business) and 买卖人 (businessperson). The word carries a neutral tone and can refer to both large-scale commerce and small personal transactions.

Examples

  1. 01
    他在这里做了十年买卖了。
    zài zhèlǐ zuòle shí nián mǎi mài le.
    He's been doing business here for ten years.
  2. 02
    这笔买卖对我们来说很重要。
    Zhè mǎi mài duì wǒmen lái shuō hěn zhòngyào.
    This deal is very important to us.

Characters

Measure words

  • 一笔买卖
  • zhuāng一桩买卖

Common collocations

  • 买卖
    zuò mǎi mài
    to do business
  • 买卖
    mǎi mài rén
    businessperson, trader
  • 买卖合同
    mǎi mài tong
    sales contract
  • 这笔买卖
    zhè mǎi mài
    this deal/transaction

Origin

This compound directly combines the two fundamental actions of commerce: buying and selling. The pairing of opposite actions to create a broader concept is a common pattern in Chinese word formation.

Related