马虎 mǎ hu
“careless; sloppy; negligent”
adjective, adjective / nounHSK 4Traditional 馬虎
新HSK等级2025 HSK 3.0 syllabus level
马虎 appears in the November 2025 exam syllabus in the following numbered entry. Levels refer to the listed reading and use, not every meaning.
- Entry 4483: 马虎 mǎhu — Level 6; official annotation 6 (形). PDF page 192
Separate from the HSK 2.0 and 2021 list labels above. Compare the three lists.
用法How to use 马虎
马虎 describes someone being careless or sloppy, not paying enough attention to details. It is usually used as an adjective after 很/太/别 or in patterns like 做事很马虎 and 马虎的人. It often criticizes how someone does work or handles something.
例句Example sentences
- 他做事太马虎，常常忘东西。tā zuò shì tài mǎ hǔ, cháng cháng wàng dōng xi.He is too careless when doing things and often forgets things.
- 这个表格很重要，你填写的时候别马虎。zhè ge biǎo gé hěn zhòng yào, nǐ tián xiě de shí hou bié mǎ hǔ.This form is very important; don't be careless when filling it out.
常见错误Common mistakes
-
✗他做事很马虎地。
✓他做事很马虎。
马虎 is an adjective used as a predicate here, so it does not take 地; 地 is used for adverbial modifiers.