Today’s word of the day is: 猫 (māo) which is a noun that means cat. Let’s practice by making different words, phrases and sentences with 猫 (māo).
熊猫 (xióngmāo) Panda
The first word is 熊猫 (xióngmāo) which is a noun that means panda. Let’s look at each character of this word, 熊 means bear and 猫means cat. A way of using it in a sentence is 熊猫是中国的国宝，非常受人们喜爱。(Xióngmāo shì Zhōngguó de guóbǎo, fēicháng shòu rénmen xǐ'ài.) The panda is a national treasure of China and loved by many people.
猫头鹰 (māotóuyīng) Owl
Another word we can create with 猫 (māo) is 猫头鹰 (māotóuyīng). This is a noun that means owl. Let’s again look at each character of this word, 猫 means cat, 头 means head and 鹰 means eagle, so it literally means cat headed eagle. A way of using it in a sentence is 晚里，猫头鹰在树上静静地观察着周围的动静。(Yèwǎn lǐ, māotóuyīng zài shùshàng jìngjìng de guānchá zhe zhōuwéi de dòngjìng.) In the night, the owl quietly observes the surroundings from the tree.
猫粮 (māoliáng) Cat food
Finally we can create the word 猫粮 (māoliáng) which means ‘cat food’. The 粮 here means grain. A way of using it in a sentence is 我要去买猫粮，给猫补充食物。(Wǒ yào qù mǎi māoliáng, gěi māo bǔchōng shíwù.) I'm going to buy cat food to replenish the cat's food supply.