Word information
Simplified马后炮
Traditional馬後炮/馬後砲
Pinyinmǎhòupào
Part of speech名
HSK 3.07-9
HSK 2.0Not listed
Chinese word dictionary
马后炮
mǎhòupào · (Chinese chess) moving the cannon after moving the horse away; (fig.) a useless action or comment; sth done after it's too late; variant of 馬後炮|马后炮[ma3 hou4 pao4]
Character breakdown
Study each Hanzi separately, then return to the complete word so pronunciation, meaning, and movement stay connected.
How to learn 马后炮
Listen once without reading, repeat the pinyin with its tones, then write every character in sequence. Finally, recall the complete meaning instead of memorizing each character as an isolated translation.
When the word appears in a sentence, check whether its part of speech and meaning match the definition shown here. Chinese words can change nuance with context.
Related vocabulary
Words with the same characters
Compare how a familiar Hanzi changes meaning inside another word.
后hòu
back; behind; rear; afterwards; after; later; post-; empress; queen; (archaic) monarch; ruler; surname Hou
后面hòumiànthe back; the rear; the last bit; behind; near the end; at the back; later; afterwards
后来hòuláiafterwards; later; newly arrived
后年hòuniánthe year after next
后天hòutiānthe day after tomorrow; life after birth (the period in which one develops through experiences, contrasted with 先天[xian1 tian1]); acquired (not innate or congenital); a posteriori
马mǎhorse; CL:匹[pi3]; horse or cavalry piece in Chinese chess; knight in Western chess; surname Ma; abbr. for Malaysia 馬來西亞|马来西亚[Ma3 lai2 xi1 ya4]