公牛 (gōngniú): bull

Measure Word

一头公牛 tóu

Meanings

1 bull
2 male cattle

Characters

公

gōng

male (of animals); public

牛

niú

cow; cattle; ox

Examples

那头公牛非常凶猛。

Nà tóu gōngniú fēicháng xiōngměng.

That bull is very fierce.

公牛在田里跑来跑去。

Gōngniú zài tiánlǐ pǎo lái pǎo qù.

The bull was running around in the field.

芝加哥公牛队是NBA的著名球队。

Zhījiāgē Gōngniú duì shì NBA de zhùmíng qiúduì.

The Chicago Bulls are a famous NBA team.

Tips

usage

公 as a prefix marks male animals: 公牛 (bull), 公鸡 (rooster), 公猫 (tomcat). The female counterpart uses 母: 母牛 (cow), 母鸡 (hen).

In Pop Culture

芝加哥公牛队 Zhījiāgē Gōngniú duì

Chicago Bulls

NBA basketball team — literally 'Chicago Bull Team'

Stroke Order

公 gōng

牛 niú

Related Words

公 gōng HSK 6 #4,244

public; communal / fair; just / male (animal); metric (prefix)

牛 niú HSK 3 #1,407

cow; ox; bull; cattle / awesome; impressive (slang) / stubborn

公爵 gōngjué #4,434

duke

公车 gōngchē HSK 7-9 #4,370

bus; public bus / government vehicle

公布 gōngbù HSK 3 #4,321

to announce / to make public / to publish

公里 gōnglǐ HSK 2 #3,790

kilometer

公正 gōngzhèng HSK 5 #3,520

just / fair / equitable

公子 gōngzǐ #5,384

young master / son of a noble or wealthy family / gentleman (archaic/literary)

公民 gōngmín HSK 3 #3,070

citizen

公共 gōnggòng HSK 3 #2,850

public / communal / common