‘动词’ (dòng cí) literally means ‘action word’ — ‘动’ (dòng) means ‘to move’ or ‘to act’, and ‘词’ (cí) means ‘word’ or ‘term’. Together, they refer to the grammatical category of verbs: words that express actions, occurrences, or states, such as ‘跑’ (pǎo, ‘to run’), ‘是’ (shì, ‘to be’), or ‘喜欢’ (xǐhuan, ‘to like’). In Chinese grammar, 动词 is a foundational term used when teaching sentence structure, verb aspect markers (like 了 or 着), and verb-complement constructions.

Unlike English, Chinese verbs don’t conjugate for tense or person, but they frequently combine with aspect particles, directionals, or resultatives. Learners encounter 动词 early in grammar study — for example, identifying the predicate verb in a sentence like ‘她吃饭了’ (She ate). It’s also commonly used in language instruction materials, textbooks, and classroom explanations about how sentences are built around action words.