Chinese IMEs - Wubi, Cangjie There is no learn Chinese website so I figured I should ask here. Please let me know if this is not the right place to ask.

I'm learning Chinese and I aim to be able to type fast. I am considering learning one of Wubi or Cangjie (EDIT: or Zhengma now). My ultimate goal is to be able to read and type Mandarin, Cantonese and Japanese. Can I get the pros and cons and comparison of Wubi based on this. (comments on any other input method, if helpful for typing speed are welcome too)

Specifically

Which is "easier" to learn. I'd like to know which one's rules are more intuitive than the other based on some pre-existing associations.
Which takes less time to learn? One may have simpler rules to decide components but have too large a number compared to ther
Which is faster to type? I'm not talking about the extreme case where that super character with 99 strokes can be typed using only 2 characters in Cangjie and 23 in Wubi or some such. I'd like if the relative frequency of the Chinese characters themselves is considered. I'm looking for a weighted average.
Which is more versatile. I am given to understand that both Cangjie and Wubi (recent versions) can type both Simplified and Traditional characters. Are there any major differences there? Also, is either good for typing the Kanji characters that Japan uses exclusively (I don't know how many of them there are)?

EDIT: There's also Zhengma which I hear is capable of typing the entire Unihan set.

Also, Wubi I believe is licensed on Windows so that's not an issue for me.

Mods: this can be seen as a discussion question but I think its a good question that some may like information on and removing it just because only one person will get those 15 points doesn't seem like a good idea to me.

Wubi is indeed very fast, but the cost and benefit makes it less worthwhile. In fact, I'd like to argue most of the professional typewriting systems aren't worth learning. You get AI support on major sound-based IMEs and AI advances a thousand miles a day, soon they will be at least as fast as Wubi and its peers. I'd like to think Wubi is as dead as all those stenotype systems. You shouldn't use them if you want to be some sort of professional.

Also Wubi is a copyrighted system, though the copyright owner, 王江民, reluctantly gave out an earlier version for free (after losing a copyright lawsuit, which is kind of ridiculous because he should have won), the later versions are again copyrighted. No software company takes interest in buying the copyright and develop an IME for it, which means you're stuck with the so-called classic version which only supports a subset of simplified Chinese characters(it can support a bigger charset, but you have to work around a lot of issues, making it less of a choice for traditional Chinese). 王江民 made IMEs with his own company, but apparently he knew neither software nor business. Last time I checked, the company had only 2 part-time employees maintaining the website, nothing else.

The business is later transferred to 王's daughter-in-law, but she has her own business to take care of. Last year I wrote a tirade on the status of Wubi. She said she will do something about it, but nothing happened since then.

By comparison, the Cangjie inventor had made it to the public domain, and now it has a livelier ecosystem.

In general, Wubi takes less strokes to form a character, but Wubi's rule has more exceptions and therefore more difficult to learn.


How to translate "雲兒" into English? In the lyrics of a Chinese translation of the song "Dana Dana (דאַנאַ דאַנאַ)"/"Dos Kelbl (דאָס קעלבל)", we find the line:

  藍天高高雲兒飄飄

I presume that "雲" (ㄩㄣˊ / yún) stands for "clouds" in this context, but then how to translate "雲兒" as a whole please?

兒

  http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/characters/90/

  [4] final particle / suffix, placed after many commonly used nouns to avoid employing one-syllable terms in speech (very common in the Beijing dialect 北京話, see: 兒化, 兒化韻)

~

  "藍天高高雲兒飄飄" --> "High, high blue sky, little cloud float around"

The dictionary only mentioned 兒 can be used as a suffix, placed after many commonly used nouns to avoid employing one-syllable terms in speech.

In my opinion, adding the 兒 suffix to an object, can also humanize the object. For example, calling a goat '羊兒' or '羊羊' instead of '羊' give it a hint of youthful, human character. (like in typical baby talk)


What does 土 mean in this sentence 这个名字有点土? I heard this mentioned about someones name recently. Can someone explain the meaning and any connotations of "土" in the sentence:

这个名字有点土

土 has serveral meanings, one of which is 不合潮流 (out of the swim, out of fashion, out of step, old-fashioned, etc.).

So in your example, 土 means old-fashioned.

I guess it is because the core meaning of 土 is earth or dirt, which we can't say is fancy.


What's the difference between 遭到 and 遭受? The verbs 遭到 and 遭受 both mean to suffer harm. Which one is the most commonly used?
Are these two sentences both correct?
生态平衡遭到破坏。
生态平衡遭受破坏。
What's the difference between this two sentences? Can I use them interchangeably?

遭: encounter; suffer; receive

到:  verbal particle to indicate the result of an action.

遭到 (receive; encounter) is a verb 遭 (encounter) +  a verb particle 到. There is only one verb 遭.

~

遭: receive; encounter; suffer

受: receive

遭受 is a compound word (single word) for 'receive; suffer; undergo'

Since 遭受 is a single verb, you can add verb particle 到 after it to indicate the result and write 遭受到.
On the other hand, 遭到 is a verb and its verb particle, you can omit the verb particle and only write 遭 when you don't need to emphasize the result of the verb
The following are all valid sentences. They all mean the same:

生态平衡遭受破坏。(the compound word verb 遭受 is more specific than the single character verb 遭)

生态平衡遭受到破坏。 (the verb particle 到 indicates the verb 遭受 is completed/ received a result

生态平衡遭破坏。(using the literary single character verb 遭 make it sounds more classical/ literary)

生态平衡受破坏。(using the colloquial single character verb 受 make it sounds more modern/ colloquial)

生态平衡遭到破坏。(the verb particle 到 indicates the verb 遭 is completed/ received a result, also make it sounds more modern/ colloquial)

You can replace 遭到 (more literary) with 受到 (more colloquial)


Confused with the use of 的 with respect to '住在上海旁边的一个小村子里’ I came across the phrase '住在上海旁边的一个小村子里’... I cannot understand the use of 的 in this phrase.

Any help is greatly appreciated :) If you have the time to fully break down the sentence that would also be helpful :D

"住(live)在(in)上海(Shanghai)旁边(beside)的(indicates attributive)一个(a)小(small)村子(village)里(used together with 在 to mean in)" can be translated as 'live in a small villiage beside Shanghai.'

的 is used between an attribute and the head noun it modifies. That is, an attribute must be followed immediately by a 的 in order to modify a noun.

The question lies in the different word orders between English and Chinese.
In English, the word indicating the location of A is usually placed after A, together with a preposition such as in/at/beside and so on. While in Chinese, the word indicating the location of A is usually placed in the attributive position (before A), followed immediately by a 的. So "a church in Washington" is translated as "在(in) 华盛顿(Washington)  的  一所(a)  教堂(church)" or just "华盛顿的一所教堂", "a church beside Washington" is translated as "华盛顿(Washington) 旁边(beside) 的 一所(a) 教堂(church)"

As for "住在上海旁边的一个小村子里", 住 means live, "在...里" means in, "上海(Shanghai) 旁边(beside) 的 一个(a) 小(small) 村子(village)" means "a small village beside Shanghai".

上海旁边(beside Shanghai) as a whole is used as attribute to modify 一个小村子.


When "to be" should be used? When omitted? There are cases in which "to be" is translated with 是 ( shì ), while in some other cases it seems not to be translated at all.
When should 是 ( shì ) be used? When omitted?

Here some examples:
我很好
wo hen hao
 I am very well

我是英国人
wǒ-shì-yīng-guó-rén
I am English

Wo hen kuai le
我 很快乐
I'm happy

我 25 岁 了
Wǒ èrshíwǔ suì le
I'm 25 years old

Disambiguation 1: I landed in a similar question: When should I use the 是...的 construction?
Note that it addresses the usage of 是 and的 !

Disambiguation 2: This question has been marked as oossible duplicate of: Why is (是) shi4 dropped in this sentence："我很好"?

Indeed the subject is similar. I think that this question is more General, while the other targets a specific case (I was not able to find it before posting my question!). To be noted that some answers are quite similar.

是 in the first context is only used to say:

Noun1 是 Noun2

You never say 我是很好, because 好 isn't a noun. You can say

我是美国人
他是男孩子
我是李红

because all those relate one noun to another. In the case of 我25岁了, 25 years old isn't a noun, it's a state, and so we don't use 是.
For a simple summary, 是 only relates 2 nouns to each other. If it's not a noun, don't use 是.
You can find more info and examples here, which I find is a good site for beginners to learn chinese, and gives lots of examples to help you understand.


What is the difference between 将来 and 未来？ The dictionary translation is essentially the same. From the example sentences I've looked up, it seems the two can be interchangeable (though I could certainly be wrong).

Also, I was told that 未来 is further in the future than 将来. Is this true?

Please help differentiate the two.

I was told that 未来 is further in the future than 将来. Is this true?

Not necessarily:

我将来要买辆车。-- Several years.
我将来要成为音乐家。-- Several decades.
人类将来会灭绝。-- Several millennia, to be optimistic.
宇宙将来会热寂。-- Several billion years, probably.

In these cases 将来 works as adverbs, it can be used for the most distant future. You can use 未来 in all these examples, but it would sound slightly pretentious. So if you are doing adverbs, 将来 is often be a better choice.
If you use 将来 and 未来 as nouns, then it's a different story. Here 未来 do seem to mean a more distant future:

台湾的未来究竟会怎样？-- Sung by Zheng Zhi-hua.
教育要现代化，面向世界，面向未来。-- Said by Deng Xiaoping.
在不远的将来……-- Idiom.
在遥远的未来……-- Idiom.

The thing here is 将来 is seldom used as a noun. I could hardly think of an example besides the one above.
Let's talk about adjectives. When you use 未来, you often imply something big or grandeur. 将来 is less so, and sounds slightly less formal. The difference is not big and in many cases you can use them interchangeably:

未来的汽车不需要人驾驶。-- 将来 means the same but sounds more casual.
美国是我们将来的合作伙伴。-- 未来 may sound more formal but 将来 is also OK.
你是我未来的妻子。-- 将来 sounds less formal. You want to treat your marriage seriously, so 将来的妻子 is less idiomatic.

未来 is used together with another noun to form futuristic concepts, as in 未来世界, 未来城市, 未来时代. The 的 can be omitted. The same doesn't apply for 将来. In fact if you want to use 将来 as an adjective, you should always add 的 in between.


Is it correct to say 人在中国喜欢乒乓球比踢足球, 但是人在美国喜欢踢足球比乒乓球? 你们好！

I'm a student currently studying Chinese. We have an oral assessment where we will need to compare Chinese culture and China to the culture of the Western world.

I was wondering if it is grammatically correct to say:

  人在中国喜欢乒乓球比踢足球, 但是人在美国喜欢踢足球比乒乓球.

If it is not correct, how could I change it so that it becomes right?

I understand what you mean, but this might be a better way of saying it:

中国人喜欢打乒乓球，而美国人更喜欢踢足球。

Or, if you really meant people living in China/USA (and not Chinese people), then you can say:

在中国，人们喜欢打乒乓球。而在美国，人们更喜欢踢足球。


What do 风、雅、颂 refer to in 《诗经》 《诗经》共有风、雅、颂三个部分，

Are they just chapter titles? Do they have more significance?

風 is general mood (風氣), or social custom (風俗).

in ancient times, there're regional differences between vassal states (諸侯國); after confucius's editing, fifteen "lessons from the state" (國風) were preserved. each groups of poems from the vassal state, shown that particular state's social custom.

雅 is odes of the kingdom (周朝), where the ruler were.

頌 is odes for the purpose of praising in the ancestral temple (宗廟).

the contents, styles of these three groups of poems / odes are significantly different.


What is the difference between 通常，经常，and 常常？ What is the difference between 通常，经常，and 常常？

I hear them a lot in conversational Chinese, but I can't pick out the difference in meaning. The dictionaries I've checked don't seem to agree on their chosen English translations.

Generally, 经常 is used ahead of action, like 我经常加班

通常 is used to describe things happened frequently. like 事情通常是这样的

常常 can be used for both of the cases.

----- Edit -----

他通常说的都是对的.

我通常都是晚上开始工作.

both are okay to me too, you can see the differences.

常常 can always take place of 经常 (anyway, I cannot recall any examples now that cannot replace it).

通常来说， 常常 can also take place of 通常, but we just don't say 常常来说 :)


她离开了三年了 vs. 她离开三年了 Is there any difference between the two? 她离开了三年了
她离开三年了

My two different textbooks say those two sentences respectively for the one same meaning: "It's been three years since she left." but I'm still not sure because my books are too old and meager in terms of contents. Do they really have the same meaning? If so, can I take the 她离开三年了 as an abbreviated version of 她离开了三年了 which leaves out the aspectual particle 了 after 离开? If there's a difference between the meanings of the two sentences, please let me know.

Thanks for your help in advance!

她离开了三年了: She had been away for 3 years. (She could have been back now or could have not been back.).
她离开三年了: She has been away for 3 years (have not been back).

她离开了三年了 could be the abbreviated version of 她离开三年了 and is used to describe the same thing, and it could also be different.


台 tái = term of address? Is this address? The dictionary has a meaning like this:
台 tái = platform, unit, term of address
What does “term of address” mean? Does tái mean address?

When 台 means 'platform', you may see it in 月台 (train platform), 舞台 (stage), 電台 (radio station), 電視台 (TV station) etc.

When 台 is a unit, you may see it in 一台貨車 (a truck), 一台電腦 (a computer); it is a counter for bulky objects.

台 may also be an abbreviation for Taiwan, as in 台式 (Taiwanese style).

台 as a term of address (address here means speaking or writing to someone, not a location) is possible, although somewhat archaic / formal. In the past it is very common to attach ～鑒 after the addressee's name in letters. Depending on their status relative to yours, you choose the correct character before 鑒: e.g., 台鑒 for peers, 鈞鑒 for reverent people, and 雅鑒 for ladies. You also end the letter with salutations like 即候台安 or 順頌台祺, again depending on your status. Put simply, 台 is a general term of address for peers. If you're interested you may refer to this link to see an exhaustive list on the correct terms of address in various situations.


What is the meaning behind 川皇, which is some kind of slang for "Donald Trump"? On Reddit's r/China_irl, I saw a poll about the US election in November.  What surprised me is that Donald Trump seems to be called 川皇.  Searching for 川皇 on Google indicates it's not just a typo, so I'm fairly confident it's some kind of slang expression.

Question: What is the meaning behind 川皇, which is some kind of slang for "Donald Trump"?

I noticed it looks visually somewhat similar to 川普 which is a transliteration of Trump (along with 特朗普), so maybe the 皇 ("emperor") is an insult aimed at his authoritarian tendencies (along the lines of "Emperor Trump").  Just my guess at this point.

Screenshot:

Chinese people use *皇 to describe the dominant person in some areas, 詹皇(LeBron James), but this kind of name can either be adoring or irony, each individual would interpret it subjectively.

So you would see that both supporters and haters all use 川皇.


Help in identifying an object I have an item with Chinese writing on it.  Can anyone help me identify it / how old it is?

any help would be greatly appreciated...

Jonah

札所 is a Japanese term

札所: 仏教の霊場の称。巡礼者が参詣のしるしとして札を受けたりおさめたりするところ
The name of a Buddhist sanctuary. Where pilgrims accept tags as signs of pilgrimage.

和州, 芝村  is a place's name, but 和州 in Google search doesn't seem to  exist in today's China
The names at the bottom are all Japanese names
You should post this question at the Japanese StackExchange section


Which sentence is correct? Wondering where to put a time frequency word in a Chinese sentence?

Which one of the following sentences is correct?

我每个星期去四次大学 or 我每个星期去大学四次?

Thanks!

Both are correct.

You can say 我每个星期去四次大学 or 我每个星期去大学四次.


Can anyone translate the Chinese text on the picture attached? Can anyone translate the Chinese text on the picture attached?

第一，我们可以看到买家已经安装了产品，我们在发货已经明确告知买家收到包裹后，不要马上安装，一定要先测试再安装，并全程用视频记录，这么做就是为了防止因为买家自己安装错误导致的问题把责任推到我们身上，我们本来就不能控制买家怎么安装！！

第二，从专业的角度分析出现买家视频中的问题有以下因素：１。买家在安装过程中，灰尘进入了排线，而要用牙刷和酒精刷一下排线；２。买家没有扣好排线；３买家在安装过程不小心扯断了排线。

请Aliexpress小组明察，谢谢！！

First, we can see that the buyer had already installed the product, we had notified the buyer upon delivery, not to install it immediately, the buyer should test it before installing, with the whole process being video recorded, this is to prevent buyer from installing it incorrectly and blaming us for responsibility, we can't control how the buyer is going to install it!!

Second, by analyzing buyer's video with problem from professional perspective, the problem occurs with the following reasons: 1. Dust has got into cable during installation, the cable would need to be brushed with toothbrush and alcohol; 2, Buyer does not buckle or connect the line/cable properly; 3. Buyer accidentally broke the cable during installation.

We hope/request that Aliexpress Team will investigate the details clearly to prevent reputation damaging to us. Thank you.*

*The last sentence is a bit long compare to the original sentence as I couldn't come out with a proper word to translate 明察, so I tried to make it understandable.

Hope this helped.


Could you please explain me a difference I am writing one project about an aspect in Chinese, but I have some difficulties in the Chinese variant of Continuous.

Could you please explain me a difference between the meaning of there 3 sentences:
1. 他在吃饭呢。
2. 他在吃饭。
3. 他吃饭呢。

Thank you for helping! :)

The difference is due to 在 and 呢.

在 here is an adverb.
It means "in the process of doing something".

呢 is a modal particle.
Since you use period instead of the question mark, they are declarative sentences.
呢 indicates the notion that an action is in progress.
呢 also expresses the confirmation or emphasis on the facts.

他在吃饭呢。 What he is doing is eating meal.
This sentence indicates that the action of eating is in progress, and emphasizes the action.
他在吃饭。 He is eating meal.
This sentence simply shows that the action of eating is in progress.
It does not emphasize the action.
他吃饭呢。 He eats meal.
This sentence emphasizes the action of eating.
It does not indicate that the action is in progress.


Does anyone know what these symbols mean? Cantonese? They appear in a tray marked "Hong Kong" Does anyone know what these symbols mean? Cantonese? They appear in a tray marked "Hong Kong"

Hong Kong as the name for the islands started around 1810 during the Qing dynasty (嘉庆十五年) This is to point out these marking are misleading.
like 水巷孑蠻 pointed it out, its "至正之寶" in the typeface of 小篆

the above image is coming from typeface converter - http://www.diyiziti.com/zhuanshu


When did "妳" become the second person singular feminine pronoun? In Kangxi Zidian, "妳" is listed as an alternate form of "嬭". "嬭", on the other hand, has three meanings: breasts/milk, mother, and feminine given name.

On Zdic.net, there is no classical reference to "妳"'s usage as a personal pronoun.

Considering that the third person feminine singular pronoun "她" is a modern invention by Liu Bannong in 1930s, it is plausible that "妳" only became a pronoun in relatively recent times.

Therefore, when did "妳" become the second person singular feminine pronoun?

Short answer: Before modern times, ‘妳' already existed, but it was pronounced nǎi, and was a somewhat rare variant of 奶, which primarily means milk and by extension breasts, grandmother. Starting in the early 1900s, reformers in China used the same character as a female version of the second person pronoun 你, as it replaces the 人 (person, man) on the left side of 你 with a 女 (woman).

From Wikipedia:

Following the iconoclastic May Fourth Movement in 1919, and to accommodate the translation of Western literature, written vernacular Chinese developed separate pronouns for gender-differentiated speech, and to address animals, deities, and inanimate objects. In the second person, they are nǐ (祢 "you, a deity"), nǐ (你 "you, a male"), and nǐ (妳 "you, a female")... these distinctions are only made in Taiwanese Mandarin; in simplified Chinese, tā (它) is the only third-person non-human form and nǐ (你) is the only second person form. The third person distinction between "he" (他) and "she" (她) remain in use in all forms of written standard Mandarin.


The difference in meaning between 俺 and 我 I stumble upon the word '俺' when my mom was talking to someone from a different region of China but the dialect was still the same. 俺 and 我 both mean the same thing right?

俺----- ǎn, means "I, we (俺们)", is a personal pronoun  in Northern dialect.


How to say "totally it was a good day"? How to say "totally it was a good day"?

Can I use 一共 for "totally"?  For example: "一共我有了好天"?

Normally I would express that in Chinese as "今天簡直是太好了"


How euphemistic is 傢伙? 傢伙 (an example of a Chinese lexeme that does not map bijectively between simplified and traditional characters, the simplified word being 家伙) is translated, in the only translation Wang Xiaobo's work has received to date, as 'tool.' Which would indicate that the word is a euphemism (委婉语) for penis in the following.

从派出所到居委会，都认为他是个好贼，舍不得送他进监狱，只可惜他偷得太多，最后只好把他枪毙掉，这使派出所的警察和居委会的老大妈一齐掉眼泪。这个贼临死还留下遗嘱，把尸体捐给医院了。我有个同学考上了医科大学，常在福尔马林槽里看到他。他说，那位贼兄的家伙特别大，躺在水槽里仪表堂堂，丝毫也看不出是个贼，虽然后脑勺上挨了一枪，但不翻身也看不出来。

— 2015 by 王小波.
But how euphemistic?
Because the English word 'tool', while euphemistic, is also a bit cheeky. It's even an insult. It's not detached, scientific-sounding, or fantastical, like other euphemisms for things.
Does 傢伙 carry those nuances? (I have to admit, it sounds just a bit scientific-sounding and detached to me. But obviously I'm not a native speaker.)
In other words, has the pair of translators captured something of a nuance here? Or has meaning been added, or lost?

I don't know the nuance carried the English word "tool". But according to your description, I don't think there's such nuance in Wang's article. It is just a normal euphemism, with no added meaning to the original word (penis).

Basically, 傢伙 would carry a similar connotation as "manhood" or "member" (maybe without the informality associated with "member").


How to interpret a sentence with two clauses but no conjunction? In macOS' Dictionary app, the result of 允许 shows the following example sentence:

不得到领导的允许，你不能走。
You can’t go without the permission of the leaders.

However, I wonder how the sentence can be valid without a conjunction. Specifically, I can understand it if it uses a conjunction, like:

如果你不得到领导的允许，你就不能走。

But the sentence above doesn't use a conjunction. In this case, is the sentence valid in grammar?
Also, in these cases, how can I interpret it as a sentence that uses a without preposition? If I were to see just the sentence, my understanding would be something like the follows, with the comma functioning as a resultative:

You couldn't get the permission of the leaders, so you cannot go.

, which slightly differs in meaning.
I have much difficulty in reaching the correct translation used in the dictionary...

But the sentence above doesn't use a conjunction. In this case, is the sentence valid in grammar?

Conjunctions are often omitted in Chinese and English. The example sentence is valid.

不得到领导的允许，你不能走。
(如果)不得到领导的允许，你(就)不能走。

These two sentences express the same thing. Just the first one omitted 如果 and 就.

You can also omit only 就 and write "如果不得到领导的允许，你不能走。" ; or you can omit only 如果 and write "不得到领导的允许，你就不能走。" . Both sentences are valid.

If you want to express "You couldn't get the permission of the leaders, so you cannot go." the conjunctions would be different- (因為) 你得不到领导的允许，(所以) 你不能走

You can omit 因為 and write "得不到领导的允许，所以你不能走" ; or you can omit 所以 and write "因為得不到领导的允许，你不能走"

but you cannot omit both and not affect the sentence's meaning.

The point is:

You can omit conjunctions if it doesn't affect the sentence's meaning.
When a conjunction is needed to clarify the sentence, leave it un-omitted.

Side note:

Beside conjunctions, you can also omit subjects and objects. As long as it doesn't affect the meaning of the sentence. For example: The full reply to "你認得我?" should be " 我認得你" since it is a Q and A between two people, the subject and object can be omitted to make it cleaner, just reply: "認得" is enough.


What is 異 doing in the Cantonese translation of the movie title “Us”? I asked a similar question here:
What is 剋 doing in the Cantonese translation of the movie title “Widows”?

The Cantonese title of the film Us has been translated as:

香港譯《我們·異》

Wikipedia also mentions that:

中國大陸、台灣譯《我們》

So, it seems that the Cantonese title is quite different here.

Guangzhouhua-Putonghua only mentions Mandarin definitions.
While Words.HK only gives the following:

語素
1
有分別；同其他嘢唔一樣
different
異口同聲
ji6 hau2 tung4 sing1
saying something together; literally, different mouths but same voice
差異
caa1 ji6
difference
2
唔正常嘅
unusual; extraordinary
異味
ji6 mei6
peculiar smell
異常
ji6 soeng4
abnormal

I'm still not getting the pun, though.
Any ideas?

異 here short for '靈異' (supernatural) or 異形 (alien)

《我們·異》 means "Us - Supernatural" or "Us -Alien" ('alien' here might refer to alien from outer space, but it can also refer to the concept of 'non-native'. In the context of this movies, it implies "unearthly or supernatural being")


Chinese sentence when only object is mentioned I am wondering is there any rules for sentence structure when only object is involved.
For instance: 他的成绩一直是我们班最好的 (what rule is for this sentence) why in this case the object is not place in the end of the sentence following the SVO structure.
Thank you!
Best wishes

Grammar books seem to split the 是……的 grammar construct into a whole bunch of cases (and here and here) using jargon like distinguishing words.  I prefer to simplify, and think about this grammar construct as meaning:

X 是 Y 的
X (noun phrase) has the property Y (adjective phrase)

It's perhaps linguistically imprecise, but all we're really doing is applying some kind of adjective (described by Y) to some kind of noun (given by X).
So:

这是真的。
This has the property of being true.
This is true.

那辆车是红色的。
That car has the property of being red.
That car is red.

这个消息是昨天发布的。
This news has the property of being released yesterday.
This news was released yesterday.

我们是2011年认识的。
We have the property of having met in 2011.
We met in 2011.

我是坐飞机来的。
I have the property of coming by plane.
I'm coming by plane.

And finally...

他的成绩一直是我们班最好的。
His grades always have the property of being the best in our class.
His grades are always the best in our class.


How and when is 做 used as the verb "to be"? Can someone please clarify how and when 做 is used to mean "to be" e.g.

  不愿做奴隶人们

I am familiar with 做 meaning "to do" or "to make", and I would expect that if I was saying "I am a slave", “我是一个奴隶“ would be preferable to “我做一个奴隶“

Why is 做 used in the first instance?

"做" has a meaning of "充当，担任" (serves as, work as) (from 现代汉语词典 Modern Chinese Dictionary). It is different from "是" (to be).

The nuance of English and Chinese here is a little different. In Chinese, we don't say "I don't want to be [a slave]" (我不愿是[奴隶]). It is always "I don't want to serve as (become, etc.) a slave" (我不愿做(成为)奴隶).


"Today" in Spoken Singaporean Mandarin Is "今日" or "今天" more appropriate to use when speaking Singaporean Mandarin? Is it different than the one that is used in writing?

今天 is both the right answer for speaking and writing in modern society.

今日 is more in drama of old time story.


缓解 vs. 缓和 - are the true synonyms/同义词? So, one can 缓解压力 and one can 缓和紧张局势. Can you 缓和压力 or 缓解紧张局势?
If not, why not? :-) I guess if you say it enough, it becomes true, right?
Many thanks,
Hashamyim (incidentally, not my real name lol)

Funnily enough《规范》has a note on its entry for 缓解 that says:

  注意 跟“缓和”不同。“缓解”侧重指“减轻”或“使减轻”; “缓和”侧重指“平和”或“使平和”。

A rough translation:

Note: it is different from “缓和”. “缓解” emphasizes alleviation or mitigation; “缓和” highlights “calming” or  “mildness.”

Oxford provides some examples that we can compare:

  缓解食品短缺状况
  alleviate the food shortage

  缓解痛苦
  allay a pain

and

  缓和紧张局势
  relax the tension

  形势有所缓和。
  Things have eased up a bit.


What is the difference between 整个 and 全? The dictionary definitions for 整个 and 全 both use "whole" and "entire". However, 全 additionally has definitions of "all" and "complete".

I have a homework assignment that asks me to distinguish their usage in various sentences, but I don't recall there being any significant difference between the two.

My intuition tells me that 整个 would be used for something with obviously discrete parts, such as 整个美国人. I would use 全 for other things like 全身体.

Is this the right intuition?

Thinking of the literal translation helps.
整 is 'entire, whole'. 个 is a widely applicable singular measure word, hence 'unit'. So 整个 is, literally, 'the whole unit (of), the entirety (of)', as opposed to 'a proportion (of)'.

我整个身体都不舒服。My whole body feels sick.

However, I don't think 'whether the object is having parts or not' matters for applying 整个 (on the contrary, it matters for 全). In the following examples, 'the ground' and 'the afternoon' are not 'obviously decompose-able':

白雪覆盖了整个大地。The entire ground is covered by white snow.
他一整个下午都在看书。He was reading books for the entire afternoon.

全 means 'all, every'. It is applied to a collection, or a unit that has 'obviously discrete parts'.
In this sense, as the other answers already mentioned, 整个身体 means 'the entire body' and 全身 means 'all parts of the body'.

我全身都不舒服。All parts of my body feel sick.

(As for why 全身 is used instead of 全身体, it's probably because 全, 身 and 体 are all bound morphemes, and people tend to construct words with the least number of bound morphemes necessary.)
As you may notice in this example, although 全 is applied to a collection, the word after 全 is not always a 'group noun'. Actually in most cases, it is only in the semantic but not the syntax/word formation. For example:

全球金融危机 The global financial crisis
他全天都在工作。He is working all day long.

In these phrases, the knowledge (in the extent of Chinese language, not philosophy) that 'the globe' and 'the day' can be further broken down is implicit. On the other hand 'The afternoon' is considered atomic, so you can only say 整个下午 but not 全下午.


what exact image is the basis for the 圭? The Hanzi meaning for 圭 guī = (old) jade tablet (a ceremonial badge of rank)
I checked the images, not sure based on what jade tablet 圭 is drawn, can any one point to the correct image? Thanks

「圭」 does not come from a depiction of a tablet. That meaning of jade tablet is a semantic extension.

時期字體
字形
參考資料

—
A
—

商甲

乙6776合集11006

—
B
—

商玉璋

殷墟玉璋

西周金

師遽方彝集成9897

春秋金

旨於賜戈集成11310

戰國・秦石刻文

詛楚文

東漢隸

華山廟碑

楷

「圭」 (Baxter-Sagart OC: /*[k]ʷˤe/, jade implement) had two origins: A) the blade-head of a ceremonial jade dagger-axe 「戈」 (/*kʷˤaj/), and B) semantic 「士」 (bladed weapon > soldier) with simultaneously semantic and phonetic 「戈」.

For reference, Shāng-era forms of 「戈」 inscribed with an emphasised blade-head:
商甲屯南2194　商金戈觶集成6054

Series A) doesn't survive in the modern writing system; for Series B), later on, 「士」 was doubled, and 「戈」 was omitted. The 「士」-shapes were eventually corrupted into 「土」, forming 「圭」.

References:

季旭昇《說文新證》
李學勤〈從兩條《花東》卜辭看殷禮〉
陳劍《說殷墟甲骨文中的「玉戚」》
小學堂

字形演變
金文

王輝《殷墟玉璋朱書「⿹戈士」字解》
國學大師

郭沫若《甲骨文合集》
中國社會科學院考古研究所《殷周金文集成》


Etymology/meaning of character 绍 and its relation to 介绍 According to the dictionaries, the character 绍 means "to carry on, to continue". Looking at its etymology, I found nowhere saying nothing else from it being composed of silk (纟) and the sound 召 [zhao]. Even back in the days it had the meaning "to inherit, to carry on a tradition" and I can't see where the silk comes in.

Apart from that, where does the meaning "to carry on, to continue" relates to the word 介绍? It seems today 绍 is mostly used in the word 介绍 and in city names, like in 绍兴.

Questions:
1 - Why does 绍 have a silk in it?
2 - What's the meaning of 绍 in 介绍?

Thanks!

Just my opinion after a quick look!

1 - Why does 绍 have a silk in it?

http://www.zdic.net/z/21/xs/7ECD.htm

绍: (1) (形声。从糸( mì),召声。本义:继承;紧密连续)

I would say, 糸( mì) is not really silk, just a figurative thread, band or bond.

Doesn't a thread, for example, in chinese.stackexchange.com, carry on? The idea is not new.

形声: 召声 is the sound of 绍.

2 - What's the meaning of 绍 in 介绍?

http://www.zdic.net/z/15/js/4ECB.htm

介：在两者中间: 介于两者之间。between both sides (friendship)
绍: 连续 go on without stopping

introduce: the etymology is not clear, but may be:
intro- means in (between)
ducere: lead (the one to the other perhaps)

Overall: 介绍： between (2 or more people) tie a bond which (hopefully) lasts.


中国有的地方都下雪了 some places in China 中国有的地方都下雪了

How may translate this sentence, why the translation is “some places are ...”?

中国有的地方都 means “all the places which are in China...”, doesn’t it?

Thanks in advance.

中国 - China
有的 - some
地方 -  places
都 - already

(As an adverb, 都 has many meanings, including: [all; both; without exception; even; already; also; too] In this context  "already" is the most logical choice)

下雪 - snowing
了 (final particle - indicates sentence ends, emphasize the verb, soften tone)

  "中国有的地方都下雪了"  =  "Some places in China are already snowing"

It would be less confusing if we use "有些"  instead of "有的". They both mean "some". But "有的" in some context could means "owned" or "have". For example: 我有的是钱 (what I have plenty of, is money); 中国有的是人民 (What China has plenty of, is people)

To make it even more clear, you can replace "都"  with  "已经" (already)

  "中国有些地方已经下雪了"


Is it not correct to use 逗号 (punctuation) in a place where 顿号 should be used? In so many cases I have used 逗号（，） to enumerate a list, which 顿号（、) should be used instead. For example:

  我要去食品杂货店买苹果，香蕉，和西瓜。

However, the correct punctuation should be 顿号:

  我要去食品杂货店买苹果、香蕉、和西瓜。

The reason is just that I could not type in it in my Mac.

So my questions are:

Is it not correct to use 逗号 to enumerate a list? Or even though it is not correct, nonetheless is it actually used frequently among natives?
What kind of impressions would I make if I use 逗号 in cases where 顿号 should be used?
Does it have a chance of making a confusion if I use 逗号? In what kind of cases is it acceptable, and in what kind of cases should I refrain from using it?

Technically, 顿号 should be used to punctuate for words enumerating.

As we all text on computers today, it's more convenient to just type a comma, instead of 顿号. Most of time, it's acceptable nowadays unless some would nitpick.

In theory, 顿号 would pause shorter than a comma.


What is the verbatim meaning of the phrase 了不得了? I stumpled upon this phrase, unfortunately the verbatim meaning was not explained, only how it is used in a sentence:

sentence pattern: 了不得了, sentence.
(first 了 read as liao2, second 了 as le)

了不得了 expresses, that the following sentence is a serious matter.

for instance:

了不得了, 你儿子被蛇吃完了。

So, I understand the purpose of this phrase, but i can not understand what the very meaning (ethymology) of this phrase is. Is this phrase modern or classic Chinese, what is the verbatim translation of it?

It's rare to use "了不得了" in Chinese, but using "不得了了"(Bu4 De2 Liao3 Le0) is more common.

So, "不得了"(Bu4 De2 Liao3) means that cannot be ignored and even extremely serious/important. The "了"(Le0) at last does not have any real meaning but just a short pause of the phrase.

It's proper to say "不得了了, 您儿子被蛇吃了!"

The verbatim meaning of the sentence above:

  It can't be ignored that, your son have been eaten by a snake.

Be careful don't confuse "不得了"(Bu4 De2 Liao3) with "不得了"(Bu4 De2 Le0) and "得了"(De2 Le0) and "了不得"(Liao3 Bu4 De2).


Why is George 乔治 in Chinese? I've always been puzzled at the origin of the translation of "George" into Chinese. It's probably the only (pardon me if there are more) name that does not sound like its English counterpart.

About the "乔" part of "George[dʒɔ:dʒ]", you can find some material in the 译音表(the Form of Ttransliteration). Besides, "奇" should be instead of "治" following the form.

However, "约定俗成(the convention)" is one of the important rules of 《英文人名翻译准则》. Everybody often use "乔治" refer to "George", so that "乔治" is agreed upon gradually. Anyway, I don't know why did the first person call "George" "乔治".

Download 英语姓名译名手册(商务印书馆 第四版).pdf


How does 平均 differ from 均匀? I already knew that 平均 means "average", 均匀 means "even" or "evenly distributed". But how to distiguish these two phrases? Can you give me some examples? Thanks a lot!

if i have 10 apples , i give you 5 and keep the another 5 myself , it called "平均";

Here "picture 1" is called “均匀”, while picture 2 is called “不均匀”.

 [picture 1]

 [picture 2]


Does China have any website like Youtube? I want to let learn about Chinese and I want to watch some short video to begin with. Is there any website like Youtube in China and can be access from USA?


Placement of 在 in the sentence Why is 在 usually placed before the verb but in other cases can come at the end of the sentence?

For example, what is the difference between:
(1) 她在北京出生。
(2) 他出生在北京。

Normally  the 'relative phrase that indicates location (在+ location)' is always placed before the verb

Example:

他在北京旅遊 cannot be changed to 他旅遊在北京

他在北京探親 cannot be changed to 他探親在北京

他在北京被捕 cannot be changed to 他被捕在北京

  Why is 他出生在北京 and 他在北京出生 both correct?

You can treat the sentence as [topic + comment] structure

['他出生' (his birth)]  is the topic ['在北京' (was in Beijing)] is the comment

In other words, "他出生在北京" is short form of "他的出生 是在北京"

or you can treat it as simple [S+V+O] structure

['他' is the subject] ['在北京' is the relative phrase] ['出生' is the verb] (no object)


Saying 不是很多人 or 没有很多人 sounds clunky; how can I say "not many people" smoothly? Sometimes I say 不是很多人 to mean "not many people"; it's basically a direct translation from English.  But it feels clunky to me, and I don't recall a native-Chinese speaker saying this.  I found an example of it used on Line Dict:

  绿腰带不是很多人喜欢佩戴的。
  Not many people like to wear green belts
  lǜ yāodài bùshì hĕnduō rén xĭhuān pèidài de

I've heard native-Chinese speakers say 不多, but I wouldn't know how to adapt that.

I also found an example with 没有很多人 at Line Dict:

  似乎这里没有很多人会手语
  I don't meet a lot of people who sign here.
   sìhū zhèlĭ méiyŏu hĕnduō rén huì shŏuyŭ

(Google Translate also suggests this.)

But this is just as clunky.  There's 很少人 (hěnshǎo rén) = "very few people", but it doesn't feel like it means "not many people".

Question: How can I say "not many people" smoothly?

In fact IMO 不是很多人 and 没有很多人 both sound pretty natural to me, and I think they are the right translation of "not many people".

"绿腰带不是很多人喜欢佩戴的" sounds a bit odd but mainly that's because you would usually say "不是很多人喜欢佩戴绿腰带" or “喜欢佩戴绿腰带的人不多".

"似乎这里没有很多人会手语" sounds perfectly natural to me.


Difference in MEANING (NOT structure) between 得 vs 地 Please, don't explain when to use 得 or 地. I already know that the grammar difference between them both, which is:

V 得 adjective (老师话说得很快。)
adverb 地 V (老师快快地说话。)

Also there are many posts on this forum related to the above issue.

What has been bothering me for a long time is if there is any (tiny) difference in meaning between both sentences.

Can I use both structures interchangeably anytime?

他跑步跑得很快。 vs 他很快地跑步。

你字写得很漂亮。 vs 你漂亮地写字。

他汉语说得很流利。 vs 他流利地说汉语。

Thanks a lot!

Actually, yes. there are some differences.

for example , the differences between 他跑步跑得很快。 vs 他很快地跑步。
are exactly differences between "He runs fast!" vs "He is running fast".

他跑步跑得很快 emphasize quickly or fast while "他很快地跑步" emphasize the verb "run".
So. if no context, when you say "他跑步跑得很快", you probably are describing the man's speed, and when you say "他很快地跑步", you probably mean that he is running or he was running.

But this is not absolute.you could still say 他正在跑步,而且他跑步跑的很快. It's still correct.


How do you say "we only have one carrot left"? I'm practicing sentence writing and want to say

We only have one carrot left.

Imagine looking in the cupboard, and seeing there is only one carrot (although lots of other vegetables).
I'm fairly sure the needed words are: we [我们] only [只 or 才] have [有] one [一个] carrot [红萝卜] left [剩下], but I'm unsure on how to construct this sentence.

Attempt 1: 我们只有一个红萝卜剩下。  [this feels like "we have only one carrot to leave behind"]
Attempt 2: 我们只有一个剩下的红萝卜。  [this feels like "we have one leftover carrot (although maybe we have non-leftover carrots)"]
Attempt 3: 我们只有一个剩下着红萝卜。  [maybe this?  although it seems peculiar]
Attempt 4: 我们只剩下一个红萝卜。  [I'm uncertain---it sounds like 剩下 has an agent 我们 here]
Attempt 5: 我们剩下的只有一个红萝卜。  [this feels like "what we have leftover has one carrot (although maybe we have non-leftover carrots)"]

Question: How do you say "we only have one carrot left"?

她可怜巴巴地向我哭诉，“我们只剩下一根胡萝卜了！”
She plaintively cried, "We only have one carrot left!"
我回答道，“你到底要什么， 那根胡萝卜还是这根棍子？
I replied, "So, what do you want, that carrot or this stick?"
(I need a break from learning Python!)
I think 只有 is more 'we only have', not so much 'we only have blabla left'.


How to translate "曖昧" into English? I found there is no exact word to translate this phrase. Is there a way to describe this status?

曖昧 = ambiguous romantic relationship

This phrase is in reference to a romantic relationship. Its usually from outsiders commenting on the relationship between a guy and a girl who are friends but may be more than that.

You can kind of thinks about it as the sort of weird stage before you've had the DTR (determine-the-relationship) conversation. If you don't have that convo, then you may be perpetually 曖昧.


，如禮何？，如樂何？= rituals according to what? 子曰：「人而不仁，如禮何？人而不仁，如樂何？
Hello, this is Confucius:
I have translated it into: man without virtue, rituals (manners) according to what? man without virtue, music according to what?
this would mean: what's the value of rituals without virtue in heart? what's the value of music, without virtue?
Am I right?

about 論語﹒八佾　子曰﹒人而不仁﹒如禮何﹒人而不仁﹒如樂何

james legge's translation:

(子曰) the master said
(人而不仁) if a man be without the virtues proper to humanity
(如禮何) what has he to do with the rites of propriety
(人而不仁) if a man be without the virtues proper to humanity
(如樂何) what has he to do with music

traditionally, there're several ways to explain:

one is to expand the verses to "子曰﹒人而不仁﹒何以為禮樂"

(子曰) the master said
(人而不仁) if a man has no benevolence
(如禮何) how can he perform ritual
(人而不仁) if a man has no benevolence
(如樂何) how can he perform music

another is to treat it as "子曰﹒人而不仁﹒禮樂沒奈何"

(子曰) the master said
(人而不仁) if a man has no benevolence
(如禮何) what can ritual do
(人而不仁) if a man has no benevolence
(如樂何) what can music do

have fun :)

edited, add links.

the internet archive has some james legge's books, these two are english translation of the classic four:

the four books

註釋校正華英四書


Why does 我是长头发 mean "I have long hair" and not "I am long hair"? I was just chatting with a teacher here at LTL Mandarin, and she said:

我是长头发。
I have long hair.  (Not: I am long hair.)

This is perplexing for me, since it's inconsistent with e.g.

我是人。
I am human.  (Not: I have a human.)

She didn't use 有, and I specifically asked her if it needed a 的 at the end, but it didn't.  I searched for this on Baidu and indeed plenty of people are using it, but... how does this even make sense?  I feel like I'm missing something important here.
Question: Why does 我是长头发 mean "I have long hair" and not "I am long hair"?

There is no "why". "是" in Chinese does not equal "be" in English.  This is just how languages work.
In Chinese, almost anything can follow "是". The part after "是" is just a description or explanation of the part before "是", not an equivalent.
Some examples:

他们回国的日期都定了，老张是明天，老李是后天。
我来中国是学习汉语，不是旅游。

You will encounter many more like this in your study of Chinese. Good luck!
PS: If you happen to know Japanese, thinking about how the part before and after "は" are not equivalent may help you understand (though of course the two languages are very different).
Edit: Since this simple answer gets quite a few upvotes, I think I could add a little more content.
I find the book 实用现代汉语语法 by 刘月华 et al. a useful book about modern Chinese grammar. Though the book is entirely in Chinese, it is aimed at learners of Chinese as a second language and covers many things that learners often find difficult.
The book devotes a whole section to sentences with "是", from page 675 to 689. More than a dozen usages of "是" are listed. Some more examples:

他夏天总是一件T恤。
他总是这么一辆破自行车。
老王是个慢性子。
问：你们俩喜欢什么运动？答：他是足球，我是乒乓球。

The book argues that these sentences may seem "illogical" superficially and you can often add some words to the sentence to make it seem more logical (eg. "老王是个慢性子（的人）" ), but the changed sentence is often more cumbersome and less succinct. This kind of sentences with "是" (是字句) express ideas more vividly and vigorously while using less words, and Chinese love that.


How is 那还用说！translated as "Of course!" or "That goes without saying!"? Could anyone please tell me how these characters mean "Of course!"/"That goes without saying!" when placed together?

Because when it's translated one by one, the characters don't seem to correlate to one another at all.

那 : that
还 : still
用 : use
说 : speak

I'm just curious though.

The point is 用 doesn't mean "use", but "need" here.

  （多用于否定: 需要） need:

There's no need to turn on the light.
不用开灯。

I don't think you need to worry in the least.
我看你一点也不用着急。

And 还 is used for emphasis,

  （用以加强语气）:

That goes without saying.
那还用说!

This is the limit!; This is simply atrocious!
这还了得!

那还用说 is a rhetorical question (echo question), it literally means ”need to say that?!", i.e. "no need to say", then "of course" or "that goes without saying".


Why do 可不 and 可不是 by themselves imply agreement? It seems a little strange that

  可不 and
  可不是

(by themselves) imply agreement (something like 就是).  The textbook 标准教程HSK4上 has some examples, e.g.:

  A: 没想到咱们毕业都已经十年了。
  B: 可不是！时间过得太快了，真想大家。

I'm expecting there's an underlying reason for this I'm unaware of.  Perhaps it's a rhetorical question  like "Is it not?"

Question: Why do 可不 and 可不是 by themselves imply agreement?

It seems like they should both mean "but no" (i.e., disagreement).  Indeed, they also mean this, e.g. (sourced from YouDao):

  然而，这可不那么简单。
  This will not be easy, however.

可不，可不是，可不是吗，可不就是吗，etc are colloquial phrases to agree what the other has just said.

I'm not quite sure of the exact underlying reason, but I echo your suspicion -  perhaps it's a rhetorical question like "Is it not?".

However, we should be cautious that sometimes it can mean negation too as in the OP's example: 这可不那么简单. In this case, we read as 这可/不那么简单. If you add 就 and 吗 in the sentence: 这可不就那么简单吗，it becomes a rhetorical question, meaning Isn't it that simple=it is that simple.

So, the way to determine (negative or positive) is based on the syntax and context. If 不 goes with 可，then it's positive. If 不 goes with the other part, then it's negative.


How to translate this conversation? 就是那种又泡又回吃的那种 Hi, I just watched a street interview where girls are asked "when is a man most useful?" 男人什么时候最有用

There is a response that I don't understand: 暖被窝吧 暖被窝最有用 . 就是那种又泡又回吃的那种

Can someone help me clarify it?

哈哈，这是一个玩笑。原文应该是“暖被窝吧 暖被窝最有用就是那种又胖又会吃的那种”。


Is there any difference between 重大 VS 重点 (used as adj.)? Is there any difference between 重大 VS 重点 when they are used as adjective? Or is it just a thing to remember: this time use 重大 and that time use 重点:

重大事件 (and 重点事件?)
重大进展 (and 重点进展?)
重点工程 (and 重大工程? - this version sounds correct, but still is there any difference?)
重点扶持 (and 重大扶持?)

重大 means "important (adj) / serious (adj)"
重点 means "focused (adj)/ focal point (n)"
Important thing might not be focused at the moment; focused thing at the moment might not be very important in the grand scheme of things
For example, stopping gun violence is an important issue, but Americans just don't focus on it at the moment; On the other hand, American is focus on the issue of 'should the football players kneel during the national anthem.' It is not an important issue compare to other real issues, but it is the focal point at the moment nonetheless.

重大事件 (and 重点事件?)
重大进展 (and 重点进展?)
重点工程 (and 重大工程? - this version sounds correct, but still is there any difference?)
重点扶持 (and 重大扶持?)

重大事件 (serious incident) and 重大进展 (important development) are valid

重点事件 (focused incident) and 重点进展 (focused development) are not valid

重点工程 (focused project)  and 重大工程 (important project) are valid.

重点扶持 (focused support) is valid;  重大扶持 (serious support) is not valid


Why 又 is used in 今晚又要加班? My friend who's a native Chinese speaker told me this "今晚又要加班". I wonder why he used 又 instead of 再 since (as far as I know) 又 indicates a repetition of an action in the past, while in this case, I don't think he refers to the past because he is just about to work overtime again tonight (cmiiw). Could someone please explain to me?

Although he is not referring to a past action, it is a recurrent past action that is going to happen again. The idea of a pattern firmly established in the past, plus the emotional colouring, means that 又 is more appropriate than 再 here.

There's some contention about whether 了 is required after 又. I think with 要, as it's not as much an action verb (in this context) as some other verbs, 了 is not as required as in other contexts.


Are there satirical news sites in Chinese, like The Onion? Sometimes I like to have a laugh and read satirical news sites, like The Onion, e.g.

  Experts Concerned Pale Russian Mystic Constantly At Trump’s Side May Attempt To Influence 2020 Election

It'd probably be beneficial for me to read in Chinese, but I can't find an equivalent.

Question: Are there satirical news sites in Chinese, like The Onion?

Maybe they don't exist, as it's not really a typical Chinese behavior to "take the piss".  The relevant Baidu search is 讽刺新闻 but I didn't find anything.

That kind of news is called “洋葱新闻” in Chinese. I don't think there is such kind of news sites, but you can find some account named by it on weibo.


Proper translation of 妖怪? What is the proper translation of 妖怪? Let's take the context of Journey To The West for instance.

妖怪 consists of two parts 妖 and 怪 - 妖 is short for 妖精 and 怪 is short for 怪物.

妖怪 often gets translated as:

monster, goblin, demon.

Should it not be a combination of spirit and monster?

For my information, 妖 is related to ...uhm temptress? Which means an alluring woman who seduces or exploits men OR a woman considered sexually attractive by men. Often being used on female. Normally 妖 is able to control someone's (male's) mind.

While

怪 means something is really peculiar or weird.

妖物 or 妖怪 was born from a temptress and a peculiar thing, it does have its own mind or negative thoughts and extraordinary abilities. Hence, we called them monster, goblin, devil and so on，while spirit is just a force or energy which does not have a physical or virtual body and cannot do anything (don't confuse with ghost).

Should it not be a combination of spirit and monster?
Answer: Well, it's so so. People may say yes, while people may say no.

Spirit is meant by 靈魂 / 幽靈 (meaning approached to "ghost").

Well, a combination of spirit and monster, I can't actually explain in full in English. But you can watch this movie: See Here

to know more about the spirit and monster hybrid.

A combination of spirit and monster, something like a spirit (more like ghost) conquers a monster's body which the monster's body does not have mind / thoughts.

Hope I did answer your question.


Why isn't 四 four lines? (the origin of 一 二 三 四 五 六 七 八 九) A common experience of beginner hanzi students is their raised hopes and expectations when they learn 一 二 三 - "what a wonderfully elegant language!" - which are promptly crushed when they encounter 四.
So where did these characters come from anyway? Were they once more elegant and morphed in time? Or were the characters representative of other things?

一 二 三: horizontal lines, easy!
四: this is kind of like a square I guess, but what's that in the middle?
五: ok this is like 5 strokes, why in this particular shape though?
六 七 八 九: now I have no idea what's going on!

I apologise if the answers are easily found online; I think the answers would be very interesting and useful to have in one place.

This is an interesting topic; it touches one of the core idea of the Chinese language.

The Chinese language and all its dialects have not been designed by one inventor at one specific day. Instead, they were created and evolved at different regions through thousands of years at least.

Evidences (see below) showed that some of the Chinese characters from four to ten (四, 五, 六, 七, 八, 九) evolves as the type of 轉注 (轉注者，建類一首，同意相受。考、老是也。) or 假借 (假借者，本無其字，依聲託事。令、長是也。) instead of 象形 (象形者，畫成其物，隨體詰詘。日、月是也。); and one and ten (一, 十) evolves as the type of 指事 (指事者，視而可識，察而見意。上、下是也。) or 會意 (會意者，比類合宜，以見指撝。武、信是也。) instead of 象形. Any reference, say, 《鐵雲藏龜》by 清 劉鶚 in 1903 (清光緒二十九年), or the one below, can only act as possible explanations at their intellectual best.

Reference

《說文解字》by 漢 許慎.
《鐵雲藏龜》by 清 劉鶚 in 1903 (清 光緒二十九年).
《白魚解字》by 流沙河 in 2014, ISBN 9787514317329.

One Possible Explanation

一: one bar. May mean the whole, the universe. Reference.
二: two bars. May mean the positive and negative. The upper may refer to the heaven, the lower the earth. Reference.
三: three bars. The upper may refer to the heaven, the lower the earth, and the middle the human. Reference.
四: First |||| (four bars), then combines with 二 to avoid ambiguity: , like being mistaken to be two ||. Reference.
五: First a 二 with X in between: . The two bars are sky and earth, the X being the intersection between them, to mean all positive number greater than four. Reference.
六: ￼, a house with four sides plus roof and ground giving six. Reference.
七: Designed originally to be 十 (meaning all number greater than six) with a twist on the bottom: . Reference.
八: Opposite bracket-like curve  meaning "divide", used to be greatest number. See 八卦.  Reference.
九: Designed originally to be a right arm () reaching for something. Nine bears a meaning of great, the number of categories for many things. Reference.
十: | (a rope overhung) combines with a knot on it: . Using ten to mean "all" may be because of the fact that we have ten fingers. Reference.

Another possible explanation

At first, people may invent those most frequently used: one, two, and three, as put by 老子 in 「道德經」: 道立于一, 一生二, 二生三, 三生萬物. ("The Tao produced One; One produced Two; Two produced Three;
Three produced All things." translated by James Legge )


Would 反駁 be the Mandarin equivalent to 駁嘴? 駁嘴 in Cantonese means to "answer back" or "argue" often in a disrespectful way. URL: http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/words/16019/

Would 反駁 be the Mandarin equivalent to 駁嘴?

駁嘴 means 'to talk back' (reply defiantly or insolently),  usually against someone has authority over you (like parent, teacher, boss)
Example of 駁嘴:

Father: "Son, you must have a good education to get a good job"
Son: "Oh, yeah? How about Bill Gates? He didn't finish college"

反驳 means  'to rebut' or 'to refute' . You are trying to prove that someone's statement is wrong or to expose the falsity stated by someone
Example of 反驳:

A: "Give the corporations a huge tax cut will create a lot of jobs"
B: " No, it will not! The corporations will just buy back their stock to make more money for themselves. You can check the history, it happened many times"
A: " To stop bad guys with guns you have to have good guys with guns"
B: " No, having more guns in people's hands doesn't solve the gun violence problem. Almost no Japanese have guns and gun related death in Japan last year was three"

*駁嘴 in Cantonese is same as 顶嘴 in Mandarin


How to say "I live at the bottom of a hill"? I've only ever people say something like 我住在山坡上 but to me 山坡 sounds like the side of a mountain. Google translate gives me 我住在山脚下.

In English we use, I live at the bottom of a hill, not I live at the bottom of a mountain or I live on the side of a mountain; mountain sounds too majestic.

So is 山坡 or 山脚 a good choice for side of a hill or is there a better word to describe where I live?

I want to say something like: Because I live at the bottom of a hill it is hard to ride my bike to work. 因为我住在山脚下，骑自行车上班很难。

山, in general, refers to a mountain or a hill.

  坡 refers to a slope.

  Therefore, 山坡 refers to the side (or slope) of a hill (or mountain).

  脚 refers to the foot.

  So, 山脚 refers to the foot of a hill (or mountain).

Depending on what bike you are referring to, it could be a motorcycle (摩托车) or bicycle (自行车).

I think the translation provided by Google is okay:

  Because I live at the bottom of a hill it is hard to ride my bike to
  work.

  因为我住在山脚下，骑自行车(or 摩托车)上班很难。

If you are staying in a valley, 山谷 will be more appropriate.


知識分子 - can it be translated as `intuitive person`? 知識 - means knowledge
分 - point
子 - son (or person of)

Now 知識分子 is generally translated as intellectual, person of intelligence.

What I wonder if the words can be interpreted in different conjunction.

Intuition is subtle, 'pointed' knowledge, so why not?

And what is the general rule of translating complex words - is that appropriate way to pick them apart giving them slightly different meaning?

分 - point 子 - son (or person of)

No, '分子' is a compound word. It means 'elements'

You already knew 知識 means 'knowledge'. Most Chinese words are compound words like it.

The literal meaning of  知識分子 is 'intellectual element'

The term 'element' here refers to 'element in the society' which refers to 'people'

'Intellectual'; 'person of intelligence' are correct translation for '知識分子'

When describe the make up of a society, we often group people into fields or classes. For example,  工人(worker) are the majority of the population, therefore we would call them 工人階級(worker class) or 工人社群(worker group). The number of scholars in comparison, is quite tiny. That's why we don't usually see intellectual as a class or group in a population, but rather, as individual elements.

*Similarly, the number of criminals among the population is also very small,  that's why we call them 犯罪分子 criminals elements


Why is 挺 used in the following sentence? I recently took a Chinese test on EasyMandarin website. One of the question was the following:

  我看你红光满面，___精神的。

I answered 好 but the correct answer was 挺. The other candidates are 太 and 多么.

However, why is 挺 correct here? I also don't understand the sentence, either. How is the two sentences connected together? It is like "I saw your face was red due to happiness, too spiritual...?

太 is usually a compound with 了. So if 太 was the correct answer it would be: ___精神了。

好 would work in dialect/topolect in place of 很 - but is incorrect in MSM.

多么 is just weird. maybe it work work with 啊 like ___精神啊 - but now were moving away from MSM again.

挺 is pretty much interchangeable with 很

Spiritual is not the correct translation here for 精神.
MDBG defines it as:

精神
jīngshen
vigor / vitality / drive / spiritual

红光满面，挺精神的。
glowing with health - looking full of vigor (energetic/lively/spirited)


What rules are there for combining characters in couplets? (对联) So I want to practice writing Chinese couplet poetry. I have been reading about the character count matching in each line, with parallel meanings, etc.

However, my question is, are there limits to what characters can be combined in couplets to be understandable?

For example, I tried writing

明月
明思

or

明月
明脑

This is supposed to translate to "Bright moon, Bright mind".

Would these character combos be allowed? Are there any limits?

The general rule is simple, you just need to make sure the type of characters in same position be the same. But in good couplets characters need to be filtered carefully to make it poetic.

for instance:

明月

清风

“明” and “清” here are all adjectives, “月” and “风” are all nouns，so this couplets have a correct format. Also the characters are beautiful, too. They together create a scene of lonely night.

see this example:

海阔凭鱼跃

天高任鸟飞

海-sea， 天-sky; 阔-board，高-high;

凭 and 任 here are all acts as verb, means let someone do something freely. But
do what? do 跃-jump and 飞-fly

So in English:

| sea | is board | allows | fish | jump |

| sky | is high  | lets   | birds| fly  |

and it implies the world is large allow me do something great!

another interesting one, hope you like it :) :

海水朝朝朝朝朝朝朝落

浮云长长长长长长长消

I know you want to cruse now, but actually it is pretty neat!

Lets decompose it. This couplets is written by ancient people, and they were allowed to write wrong words! Which is knew as 通假字. you can use character with same pronunciation to replace another one. Not sure why, maybe that time it is hard to learn every characters? Anyway, here 朝 actually has two pronunciation and three meanings, holy crab!

朝(chao2) replace 潮(chao2), means tide.
朝(zhao1) just means day, and you can think it as 天.
朝(zhao1) means daytime.

Also 长 here has several meanings:

长(zhang2) replace 张(zhang2), means rise
长（chang2）replace 常(chang2), means often
长(chang2) replace 常(chang2), means long period.
// yes, the meaning of 长 didn't be used! I guess it just because 长 is simpler.

But even when know the meaning of characters, we still don't know which one means what. What should we suppose to do??

We can separate the sentence in to pieces:

海水朝 朝朝朝 朝朝朝落

浮云长 长长长 长长长消

read as:

hai2  shui3  chao2  zhao1  zhao1  chao2  zhao1  chao2  zhao1  luo4

fu2   yun2   zhang3 chang2 chang2 zhang3 chang2 zhang3 chang2 xiao1

and then replace them with original characters:

海水潮 朝朝朝 朝潮朝落

浮云涨 常常涨 常涨常消

And now the meaning is much easier to grab.
PS: there are tons of other way to separate, but I just make one example here.

海-sea.

水-water --> 海水-sea.
//just for simplicity. 海 here suppose to be an adjective to describe a lot.

潮-tide. here used as verb means high-tide.

朝-daytime

朝-day

潮-tide, also used as verb

朝-day, here means everyday.

潮-tide, used as verb again.

朝-day, means everyday.

落-down, here used as means low-tide.

浮-flowing.

云-cloud --> 浮云-could

涨-rise， here means spreading

常-long period

常-often

涨-rise, means spreading here

常-often

涨-rise， means spreading here

常-often

消-disappear.

So translate in English is:

| sea | rise tide | everyday | daytime | rise tide | everyday | rise | everyday |fall

| cloud | spread | in long period | often | spread | often | spread | often | disappear

In human language is:

Sea tides up, tides up daytime everyday. tides up everyday, tides down every day.

cloud spread, spread quite often all the time. spread often, disappear often.


Is 去 (qù) pronunced /tɕʰu/ or /tɕʰy/? I'm a struggling very beginner having difficulties with both pronunciation and Pinyin.

I dabble in linguistics so I'm accustomed to dealing with IPA pronunciations. For this reason I have been looking for a table related syllables in Pinyin and IPA. I found this one on talkbang.org, which I thought was just what I was looking for.

When I found my pronunciation of 去 (qù) "go" wasn't good I found on this site that the pronunciation would be /tɕʰu/, with the "u" sound similar to the one in Engish "food".

But my native Chinese speaking friend didn't understand me and the pronunciation he demonstrated for me sounded like /tɕʰy/, where /y/ is the IPA symbol for the "ü" sound not found in English but similar to a sound found in French and German.

I know in Pinyin the spellings and sounds for "ü" and "u" are not totally obvious for new learners and I haven't got a grip on this yet.

So is the chart on this website wrong, thus being part of what's hindering my progress, or am I just not hearing or understanding things at all?

I think it is a terrible mistake that the website has made, because there is no occasion when qu is pronounced tsʰu in Mandarin. Since you can actually tell the difference between u and ü, things should be easier for you now. You can just memorise that after (pinyin) j, q, x, y, ü is always written as u, and if you see u after j, q, x, y, it's always pronounced as ü. It shouldn't cause any confusion at least to native speakers because these consonants are never followed by a vowel sound u but only by a ü.


Can anyone reccomend me a Chinese female first name? I want to choose a Chinese name for myself, but I really have no idea how to choose a name that won't be weird.
Here is some information that might be helpful: I am a female and I chose 范 as my surname.
My preference is names that are nature themed, but any other good sounding names will be great too.

There are a lot of common nature-themed given names for females. The listed names are all for females if not further explained.
Flower-related: 芳，英，荣，华，芬，莉，萍，梅
Tree-related (mostly unisex): 楠，梓，桐，竹
Weather-related：雪 (often 瑞雪)，晴
Water-related (female are often referred by waters): 溪，汀

In choosing a name, my suggested formula is
surname + Characteristic + noun or surname + noun
The surname can be one similar to your original surname or from a historical or legendary person you admire.
The characteristic is some virtue that you value. Examples for females are，淑，慧，睿，婉，丽，婷，俊
The noun is an object that can represent you, maybe a nature-related object in your case.
For example:
范淑芬 fan + kind and gentle + flower

范丽华 fan + beautiful + flower

范晴 fan + good weather

范瑞雪 fan + lucky + snow

This formula can be used when one has almost no idea of what a regular name should be like. However, there are not many limitations to name choosing. If you have a better idea, you can ignore this formula.


Understanding "當地的頭腦" What does "當地的頭腦" mean? I saw a shirt with that written on it. I'm pretty sure it has something to do with the earth and brain.

Does "当地的头脑" mean the same thing? Even if it doesn't make sense, would it matter if I bought it because it looks cool? I'm just worried it means something inappropriate.

当地的 -> local
头脑 -> head

当地的头脑 means the head, i.e. the person having real power in local place. e.g.

  而且当在国外在一些不发达的地区和当地的头脑打交道的时候，往往会需要因地制宜，使用一些非常手段，比如现金贿赂等等。

  在洛阳北大街的万景楼饭店宴请祝绍周、警察局局长等洛阳当地的头脑吃饭。


What is the variant bā character for 巴掌? I'm working through the entry for 耳巴 in《四川方言词语续考》and I don't have my paper copy around.

The problem is I only have my crappy OCR'd digital version which is giving me �� where a proper character should be.

Here's the part I'm struggling over:

  或作“耳��”。民國十八年《榮縣志·禮俗》： “《說文》： ‘獸足謂之番。’ 附袁切。古無輕唇音，番讀如班，今音如板， 手掌謂手番， 足掌曰足番，雙聲轉��。《說文》： ‘��， ��擊 也。 ’ 今��掌、耳��，北人强以刮字當之， 非也。”

A variant bā character for 巴掌 I figured would be quite easy to find, but nothing is showing up in searches for 北人强以刮字當之, etc.

The only variant I know for 巴 is  but I can't seem to find any《說文》material for .

Can anyone fill in the blanks (read: question marks)? What is the variant bā character for 巴掌?

「」 fulfils the statement 《說文》：‘��，��擊也。’ (check the Shuowen entry on zdic), and also everything else.

  耳巴，或作 “耳「」”。民國十八年《榮縣志·禮俗》：“《說文》： ‘獸足謂之番。’ 附袁切。古無輕唇音，番讀如班，今音如板， 手掌謂手番， 足掌曰足番，雙聲轉「」。《說文》： ‘「」，「」（批）擊也。’ 今「」掌、耳「」，北人强以刮字當之， 非也。”

Note,

Zdict lists「」with the third tone, not the first tone (bā). I can't confirm with an external resource about this tone.
北人强以刮字當之 is saying that there are multiple words for「耳巴」, like「耳光」,「耳摑」,「耳刮子」, etc.


Difference between 检索 and 找 I'm interested in what the exact difference is in usage between 检索 and 找 －  I know that we can saying 检索资料  but I'm wondering if we could "检索" something that is a bit more concrete.

For example, could I say “检索例句“ or would only 找 work in this context?

Also, is  检索 too formal to use in spoken conversation?

Thanks again for all of your help guys!

As @Stan said, 檢索 is usually used with database(資料庫) or library catalog(圖書目錄).

You must have some reference (a catalog, or a list...etc) to be able to 檢索. It's not only formal but more restricted. Whereas 找 can be used very widely.

For example one would say "在資料庫裡檢索資料", "在圖書目錄裡檢索資料", and "在網路上找資料", "在圖書館裡找資料", ...etc.

So you can search (or find) (找) for information  in any suitable places (or under certain conditions). But you would look up (檢索) for information only in restricted places like database.


⿺走巳 or ⿺走己: Can 起 be written in two different ways? Whilst typing the character 起 on my Mac, I notice that the character appears differently, illustrated in the picture below.

On some programs, the character appears with an extra stroke, on others it doesn't. I am more familiar with the character without the stroke, as I've seen in previously in textbooks.

What is the difference between the two characters (or are they the same), what is the reason for this difference and does its usage depend on different contexts?

These two are completely the same, they are just two different writing systems. 起 without a stroke is the simplified Chinese which is used in mainland China and Singapore while the character with a stroke is the traditional Chinese form which is mainly used in Taiwan and Hong Kong.

Above is an image from Baidu, it illustrates the different forms of this character in different countries and regions. From left to right is: China mainland, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and the old form (which appears in 康熙字典, a very comprehensive Chinese dictionary compiled in Qing Dynasty).


Most common/well known translation (transliteration) of “pizza” in Chinese? Results for pizza in Chinese are numerous

比乍
披莎
比萨
匹萨
批萨
皮萨
披薩

I'm never sure which to use.

Is there a most common/most well-known translation or transliteration for Pizza in Chinese?

批萨 and 匹萨 are the most common ones.

比萨 only used to reference the tower - Leaning Tower of Pisa.


Tricky Chinese Poetry Verse About Hotels And Celebrations In a Chinese poem I'm working on, there's a tricky pair of lines I'm having trouble wrapping my head around:
"在走之前迎春日为由的索菲亚酒店
在伟大的欢歌晚宴上，各自献出绝技
拿出月入十分之一的盈余营造一个盛况"
My translation:
"Before going to welcome the spring day at the Sophia Hotel
The guests at the merry banquet all showed off their talents.
offering a tenth of their monthly earnings to fund this spectacular event."
Is my interpretation (a group of people at a hotel banquet fundraising with a talent show) correct?

The part "在走之前迎春日为由的索菲亚酒店" has some grammar mistakes. What is the title of this poem and where was it published?


What does 餅乾 mean in Taiwan? I'm unfamiliar with the variety of Mandarin spoken in Taiwan, so I was surprised to see a chilli-snack 香脆椒 referred to as 餅乾:

http://mall.tw100years.com/goods.php?id=9
真不敢相信這真是美味的餅乾！看起來是紅紅的辣椒，吃起來是香、脆外加點淡淡的鹹，不但能幫您排去宿便，還能養顏美容！

The definition of 餅乾 that I'm familiar with is biscuit or cracker, a baked pastry food. This snack doesn't fit that definition; it is made of fried chilli peppers:

I am Taiwanese, and I have even had this "餅乾" once.

Generally, we can refer to almost every snack that is made with flour and "cracks" in your mouth as 餅乾. So when you say you want some 餅乾, people will not only give you crackers, but also cookies, potato chips, wafer cookies, wafer rolls, mille feuille, etc. These things have their own specific names, of course!

Even these are 餅乾: Jagabee Fries, and Pocky.

I would also like to clarify that this sentence is not in Taiwanese. It is in Standard Chinese, but we have our own accent and wording. Just like the differences between American English and British English. We normally speak two languages in everyday life, i.e. Chinese and Taiwanese, a Min dialect.


Why 福 is often used upside down? On Chinese houses, people often place scriptures for luck, health, wealth, etc.
Often, they use the word 福 [fú] turned upside down, like this:

What is the reason for it?

福 [fú] character means "fortune" or "good luck".

Posting the "福" character is a tradition for Chinese people during 春节 [chūn-jié] Spring Festival each year.

The "福" character is often posted upside-down. It is said that this is because the character for "upside-down", "倒" [dào], is a homonym of the character for "to arrive", "到" [dào]. So this means that "福" (happiness, good fortune, etc.) is "arriving". (source)

  It also said that Emperor 朱元璋 (Zhu Yuanzhang), a founder of Ming dynasty, once used the character "福" as a hidden signal to prepare killing someone.
  The kind-hearted Empress Ma decided to eliminate the tragedy of killing, so she ordered everyone in the city to put a label with the character "福" on the door of their house before the sun rises the next day. Everyone followed Empress Ma´s order, but one family is illiterate and pasted the label with the character "福" upside down.
  On the second day, the emperor ordered his officer to go to the city and found that every family had pasted the label with the character "福", and with one family having the character "福" upside down. The emperor was very angry and ordered that family be executed. Empress Ma realized the incidence and told the emperor, "that family knew you´re coming today, so purposely turn the label upside down. Isn´t that the same meaning as Luck arrives?"
  After hearing this, the emperor immediately released the family and a tragedy was averted. From then on, people began to paste the label with the character "福" with the purpose of hoping for auspiciousness, and another to honor Empress Ma.


What does Shih Dao name and tiles mean? Once upon a time there was a logical game Shih Dao - I liked it and got curious: what does the game title mean and what are the signs on tiles? Unfortunately, game help doesn't say a word about it.

There are six different signs used, by browsing Chinese signs lists I managed to identify 中 and 大 but failed to find the other four. As I have no idea about Chinese alphabet, I think of them as "house" (several ones in top-right of the screen), "zigzag" (one purple in top-right), "dancer" (several in the center) and "basket" (four in bottom-right), which probably has nothing to do with their actual meanings.

the link you provided already shown the answer:

  shih dao is a clone of ishido: the way of stones

so shih dao is 石 (stone) 道 (way)

the six characters on the tiles are:

大 - big

中 - middle

小 - small

春 - spring

由 -cause

東 - east

have fun :)


Third tone sandhi: when (if ever) does 3 3 become 3 0 instead of 2 3? All of the books and materials I've seen talk about the tone sandhi that changes two third tones to a second and a third, as in "你好."

I had a question about the word:

  寶寶

Some materials I've seen list this as "bao3 bao3". Based on the sandhi, I'd assume that this would be pronounced as "bao2 bao3." However, some materials have the word's pronunciation as "bao3 bao0" instead.

姐姐 is the only other word I remember seeing with this characteristic.

Is this a separate sandhi that says that a reduplicated character is always normal tone, neutral tone, that overrides the "3 3" sandhi? Is it a weird exception I just have to memorize? Or is there something else I'm missing?

"bao3 bao0" is actually not a third tone sandhi here.

It is because the tone of second bao3 got neutralized.

Usually a second character of a two-character word would get neutralized, I would say it is a accent thing that depends on people from different places of China.


Are these two Chinese words the same ( 更容易，才能) Could someone tell me if these two words in the image below are equivalent? The top word I grabbed from an image, the bottom word I am creating in photoshop by typing in what I believe is the correct characters: 更容易，才能 but can't seem to precisely match the 2nd to last character when it renders.

Is this a significant difference, or perhaps just a font-issue?


Are there online resources for learning the Chongqing dialect? I'd like to learn the Chongqing dialect or chongqinghua. If anyone can help me to find resources like phrasebooks, differences with putonghua, or any article on this topic, I would be thankful.

As a form of Southwestern Mandarin, you can approach the Chongqing dialect with resources designed for Sichuanese in general. The English Wikipedia gives a lot of resources on "Si4cuan1hua4", including a good overview of the phonology, and a introduction to Sichuanese Pinyin. The Chinese Wikipedia gives a little more detail on the Chengdu-Chongqing dialect.

As for books, most will naturally be in Chinese. In English, there is the Lonely Planet China Phrasebook, which includes Sichuanese, but with a very idiosyncratic romanisation. Otherwise, there are only academic papers (e.g. Malmqvist's Syntax of Bound Forms in Sïch'uanese), although there are quite a few that mention Sichuanese or one of its constituent topolects.

Of the free papers that I was able to find in Chinese, there is this on the evolution of the checked tone from Middle Chinese through early Southwestern Mandarin to the modern Chongqing dialect.

There are naturally quite a few books about Sichuanese and the Chongqing dialect in Chinese, among them the 四川方言詞語考釋 (ISBN: 7806593713), the 四川方言词汇研究 (ISBN: 7500488165), both about vocabulary; and 四川方言与普通话 (ISBN unknown; published 1982) compares it to Standard Mandarin. Sichuanese-to-Chinese dictionaries include this one from 1987; there is one for the Chongqing dialect in particular (ISBN: 7562113378, apparently); also, one for the related Chengdu dialect from 1998, 成都方言词典 (ISBN: 7534334209 apparently), was one of the rather epic 现代汉语方言大词典 series. There is also a course, 四川方言会通 (ISBN: 7807521880), apparently published in 2008.

Elsewhere on the Internet, there are quite a few websites in English based on Chengdu Sichuanese rather than Chongqing Sichuanese. Among them, this Chengdu diary has an entry concentrating on dialect; there are a few guides to the phonology on gochengdoo.com; and there is an interesting Sichuanese primer on the blog Long Legged Fly. There is a now (in)famous video of a white American person speaking some Sichuanese here on YouTube; the Tudou version is here. Also some here on Tudou. Plus a few courses on the Chongqing dialect can be on fyan8.com.


Help translating the phrase, "was seen as." The sentence I am trying to translate: "Revolution was seen as desperate and dangerous."
I am aware of the grammar pattern, sb 把革命视为危险的 for "see as." However, this usage is incorrect because the object following 视为 needs to be a noun, and the subject is unspecified.

Any help would be appreciated.

I think "be seen as" can be translated as "被视为"/"被看作"/"被认为"/"在...眼里看来是".

As you mentioned, there should a noun following "视为", so we need to add it, however, in some informal situation, like in speaking Chinese, without this noun it's still ok.

In some case of English-Chinese translation, it is very common to change passive voice into active voice to indicate the subject by context, which is more close to Chinese language. In the translation below I use "People"(人们) as the subject, which can be changed in the certain context.

Here is my translation of "Revolution was seen as desperate and dangerous."

（过去）变革在人们眼里看来是铤而走险的举动。

（过去）搞革命被人们视作是铤而走险的举动。

（过去）人们认为变革是铤而走险的举动。

（过去）人们视搞革命为铤而走险的举动。


What is the difference between 没有 vs 了没有in sentence? Is there any difference the following sentences? They seem the same to me:

你吃饭没有?

vs

你吃饭了没有?

你吃饭没有?

  你吃饭了没有?

You are correct! Both are natural and mean the same thing.

You could also say 你吃饭没?, 吃饭没？， 吃饭了没？, 吃完饭没？，... Those colloquial sentences are used in daily life.


Identify Mandarin word - "kiāng" Have seen this word in video comments and cannot find a reference for it anywhere??

Some details:

Always rendered in zhuyin (ㄎㄧㄤ) even in otherwise ideographic text
Doesn't appear to be a native Mandarin syllable (Taiwanese loanword?)
Appears to be gamer slang (frequently appears on game screencasts)
Can seemingly be randomly inserted into otherwise valid sentences with no apparent change in meaning?

As can be gleaned from the fact that it is usually represented in Zhuyin, ㄎㄧㄤ is a bit of slang used primarily in Taiwan, especially among young people.

ㄎ with ㄧ (or k + i in Pinyin) is not a legitimate combination of sounds for modern Mandarin, so it's not likely to have originated there.

Its primary meaning is hard to pin down, but "goofy" (see for example this Reddit thread but also its use in this blog name), "tipsy", "dazed", "in awe" are all possible interpretations. The images on this AppleDaily post might be helpful.

This Reddit thread suggests that it is not a feature of older Taiwanese people, and probably does not come from the Taiwanese varieties of Minnan (i.e. Hokkien). However, this sound (in a high level tone) does exist in Taiwanese, meaning "to steal or snatch". Dictionaries generally write it as 勍; it is also written as 鏘 by some sources. Whether this could have conceivably been extended to the meanings of this slang term - that is something less well defined.


I need help with a Chinese phrase I'm trying to translate the following sentence into Chinese:

My friend has invited me to New Years in Copenhagen. Im taking the train and I will be there at 5 pm.

Google Translate gives me,

我的朋友邀请我参加哥本哈根的新年活动。 我坐火车，我将在下午5点到那里。

Is that correct?

I wasn't too happy with the English, so I changed it a little, hope you don't mind.
Which New Year are you talking about, the Chinese New Year or the Western New Year?
My friend invited me to spend New Year's Eve with her/him in Copenhagen.
我朋友邀请我和她/他一起在哥本哈根度过除夕/元旦前夜。
I'm going by train, so I should be there at 5 pm, all being well.
我要乘火车去，一切顺利的话, 我会下午5点到了。


"or" usage for choices In English (and Spanish), "or" ("o") can be between things.  In Spanish, if negating, both items are preceded by "ni".

I'm looking at sample sentences in Chinese, and sometimes I see

或____或____

but in others, the first 或 is not there.

Is this arbitrary, or is there a simple or complex rule to know which to use?

I was about to write 我沒有或姐姐或哥哥。

"____或____" = "____or____"

Example :

我沒有姐姐或(者)哥哥 (I don't have sister or brother)

  "是____或是____" = "is ____or____"

Example :

來的是姐姐或是哥哥都不要緊 (It doesn't matter the one who comes is sister or brother)

~

  "或____或____" = "either____ or____"

Example:

全部隊員或(者)死或(者)傷，我们已經沒法再戦 (All team members either died or injured, we can fight no longer)

  "或是____或是____" = "is either____ or____"

Example:
來的或是姐姐, 或是哥哥, 總之不會是父母 (The one who comes is either sister or brother, in short, will not be parents)

  I was about to write 我沒有或姐姐或哥哥。

As user6065 stated:

我既沒有姐姐也没有哥哥 (I have neither sister nor brother)

我既有姐姐也有哥哥 (I have sister and also brother)


How to say: subway line is not in operation How to say in Chinese:

  Today part of the blue subway line is not in operation.

Should it be 在操作? Or another word?

今天部分蓝色地铁线路中止/暂停运行。

Operation has a lot of similar meanings. But 操作 is not appropriate here since it's usually used with machines or computers. For a subway line, 运行 is much better because 行 means moving. 运营 is OK but it's usually used for companies or long term activities.

And in Chinese there is no predictive so you need to add a predicate like 停止、中止、暂停.


Do acronyms borrowed from English use neutral tone (aka tone 0 or tone 5) for all syllables? I was just reading a Q&A here about Chinese words for DVD and the discussion also included other acronyms from English.

It struck me that nobody wrote the pinyin for any of the terms which made me think it means the tones must be obvious so the logical conclusion was that they are all neutral tone.

But is this assumption correct and is it always the case? Also are such words ever affected by tone sandhi?

It seems this question is not clear to all readers. I'm specifically asking about tones, not about writing, though Pinyin is a good way to illustrate the tones. I couldn't find the pinyin for DVD but if the Wiktionary entry for CD is correct then it in fact uses the fourth, falling, tone for each syllable:

  CD (sìdì)

So maybe I should change the question to ask if they always use falling tone for all syllables?

I'm interested in both viewpoints: prescriptive (what, if anything, Standard Chinese has to say about borrowed acronyms) and descriptive (how various Chinese speakers pronounce them in their natural speech, especially those who do not know English).

In short: the standard pronunciation is the English pronunciation.

There's no Chinese standard way to pronounce English letter (how they are pronounced when they are used as pinyin should not be counted here, I think). Tone does not exist for English letters, as they are English, not Chinese. English intonation should take effect(in English, when 'DVD' is pronounced, some letter would be falling, others not).

However, as only few can pronounce English very good in China, and as the pronunciation is affected by the whole sentence(which is in Chinese), what mostly used is in fact Chinglish.

And the pinyin 'sìdì' for CD in wikitionary is definitely wrong. I've never heard anybody talk like that. Pinyin cannot be assigned to English letters.


Please explain 要不了多久 Please help me explain how 要不了多久 is translated into "It won't be long"

Literal meaning would be "Could not demand how long?"
I am not sure how 多久 works in this context.

Your confusion came from only thinking 多 as "how" as in:

多少? (how many?)
多快？(how fast?)
多久？ (how long?) * time

However, 多 can, and mostly means "many/much" as in:

多日 (many days)
多人 (many people)
多時 (much time)

In 過不了多久, you don't see a question mark, which mean it is not a question, and 多 here means " much" and 久 means " long time"

The structure of this phrase is:
要不了(would not take) 多(much) 久(long time)

多 here function as "very"


What is the difference between 主菜 and 主食? What is the difference between 主菜 and 主食 in terms of food items?

主菜 is typically the best dish in a banquet, in biological terms, the proteins.

主食 is referring to carbohydrates, namely noodles or rice.

In China, we usually eat 主食 with some dishes, and the dishes are called 菜。The dishes could be meat, vegetables, seafood and so on, but not carbohydrates.


How do you phrase XXX number of people have Internet addiction in Chinese? I have a phrase： XXX number of people are addicted to the Internet.

I wrote this as: xxx 个人有（InternetAddiction.

Or could I use the phrase 上瘾用网络?

However I am not sure if it is correct grammatically.

XXX 个人上瘾用网络.

A more formal form to say it:

幾千萬人有互聯網依存症 - 'ten of millions of people have Internet Addiction'

A more colloquial way to say it:

幾千萬人上網成癮 - 'ten of millions of people getting online so much it became an addiction to them'
or simply
幾千萬人有上網癮 - 'ten of millions of people have internet addiction'


How to say "behind schedule" in Chinese? What I would like to know is the proper way to say "I am behind schedule" in the general sense, similar to "I am running two hours late for the meeting" or "this project is two weeks overdue".
When I searched for a translation for "I am behind schedule", Google gave:

我是落后于计划

Yet when I search for "behind schedule", the translation is:

进度落后

I don't recall learning "behind schedule" when I took Chinese, so I don't know which one is correct, or if both of them are just poor machine translations.
Could someone please help with this?

I am running two hours late for the meeting.
这个会我已晚到2个小时了。

There are various ways to say "behind schedule" in Chinese, depending on the context.

I am **behind schedule**.
我的**进度晚**了。(or **进度拖后** or **进度滞后**)

This project is two weeks **behind schedule**.
这个项目已**拖延**2个星期了。(or **拖后**)

Any borrowing country must be aware of the hazards of refusing to repay its foreign debts,
or of paying them **behind schedule**.
任何借款国都必须意识到拒绝偿还或**拖延**偿还外债的各种危险。

Owing to various delays en route, we arrived two days **behind schedule**.
由于路上的种种耽搁,我们**比原计划迟**到了两天。

The project is **behind schedule** again.
这项计划的**进度又耽搁**了。

I am sorry to say that we are three months **behind schedule** .
很抱歉,我们**比计划晚**了3个月。

Programmes are running a few minutes **behind schedule** this evening.
今晚的节目演出**比预定的时间晚**了几分钟.

The train's ten minutes **behind schedule**.
列车**晚点**十分钟。

The flight is **behind schedule**.
班机**误点**了。(or **晚点**)

This project is 1 year **behind schedule**.
这项目已**超期**1年了。

For "on schedule":

I am **on schedule**.
我的**进度正常**。

Please try to sail **on schedule**.
请尽量**按时**开船。

He could have finished it **on schedule**, but somehow he fell behind.
他原本能**按预定进度**做完这件事的，但不知怎地却拖后了。

He was bidden to finish the work **on schedule**.
他被要求**如期**完成工作。

The train arrives at the station **on schedule**.
火车**准点**到站。

The bridge was finished **on schedule**.
大桥**如期**竣工。(or **按期**)

All trains are running **on schedule**.
全部列车均**正点**运行。(or **准点**）

For "adhead (of) schedule":

I am **adhead schedule**.
我的**进度超前**了。

The plane arrived **ahead schedule**.
飞机**提前**到达了。

The task was fulfilled **ahead of schedule**.
任务**提前**完成了。

The train arrived at the station **ahead of schedule**.
列车**早点**了。(or 列车**提前**到站了)

The train arrived at the station 3 minutes **ahead of schedule**.
列车到站**早**了3分钟。(or 列车**早**到站3分钟 or 列车**提前3分钟**到站)


How to express this idea in a better way? I'd like to say something like "...but my heart belongs to Hong Kong" as a possible response to "where do you live?" So the full context might be "I live in X but my heart belongs to Hong Kong". Meaning I'd always prefer to be in Hong Kong. Is there a way to say this that does not sound weird in Chinese?

Google Translate gives me:

  但我的心脏属于香港 (Is this a good way to phrase the idea ?)

I am hoping someone can provide a better way to say this (especially if the direct translation sounds awkward).

Please feel free to follow-up if any clarification required.

One possibility would perhaps be:

住在X城但是香港一直在我的心中


What's wrong with saying 染眉毛 (rǎn méimao) to mean "color eyebrows" when 染头发 (rǎn tóufa) means "dye hair"? It's common for Western women to get their eyebrows tinted.  The process basically involves dying your eyebrows (although it varies from place to place).

I found it difficult to get this done in China.  I attempted to describe it as 染眉毛 (rǎn méimao) thinking it's the same as 染头发 (rǎn tóufa) literally "dye hair", but with "hair" replaced by "eyebrow".  (Jukuu.com examples: 染头发, 染眉毛.)

It seems that 染眉毛 is plain wrong, but I'm wondering why.

Question: What's wrong with saying 染眉毛 to mean "color eyebrows" when 染头发 means "dye hair"?

Google Translate gives 着色眉毛 (zhuósè méimáo) as the phrase to use, combining 着色 ("tint") with 眉毛 ("eyebrow").

I see nothing wrong with 染眉毛. You could also say 给眉毛染色 and everybody would understand.

着色眉毛 sounds odd. The common way to say 着色 is 给...着色, and 给眉毛着色 for this case.


How do I know whether to write the written character or printed character? I'm often finding differences in the printed form of the character than the written form, and I'm not sure which one to use. For example, in 窗, the typed character sometimes contains legs 儿, but the written character (shown in stroke diagrams) contains these 丷, or possibly 八.

And then 隔, in its typed form sometimes contains 儿 and 丅, and sometimes contains 丷 and 丅. ...It seems mostly to do with the legs.

Anyway, the question is, which version is right, and how do I know?

This question is a tautology - of course you would write the written character and not the printed character!

The written characters and printed characters nowadays are both typeface/font variations of Regular Script (楷書), originally a style written using a calligraphy brush, and which is what that stroke diagram shows:

  Regular script font imitating a calligraphy brush

The written character is now written using a pen, but still largely follows the stroke order of the original calligraphy styles, so it mainly just appears thinner than calligraphy-based fonts, and should look like the following:

  Japanese textbook font (教科書體, きょうかしょたい), designed specifically to imitate pen handwriting in regular script.

The printed character in your example originated in the 1100's CE Song dynasty, when movable type was first invented, and is called Song or Ming typeface (宋體/明體):

  Characteristics of this typeface are:

  Thick vertical strokes and thin horizontal strokes
  Triangles at the end of single horizontal strokes
  Geometrical regularity

It is the emphasis of Song/Ming typeface on geometrical balance that makes it divergent from natural handwriting, and there are deliberately introduced strokes in Song/Ming typeface characters that don't actually exist in regular handwriting.

The correct form of the character always defers to a calligraphy brush or pen based font, but there are also regional variations in what is considered 'correct'; that is, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, and Japan all have different ways of writing Chinese characters, so you need to be clear as to what standard you're following and follow that closely.


What is the grammar of : 除非，你堅持躲在潮濕的甲殼裡更快樂。 I recently encountered: 除非，你堅持躲在潮濕的甲殼裡更快樂。in an email.

The context is that the writer was telling me to cheer up.

I can recognize some of these words.

It seems to start off with "unless you persist", but beyond that I'm not very sure what to make of it.

"Unless you persist in making yourself sad, you will become more cheerful" is one guess, but I can't make that out of the remaining words.

"Unless you persist in trying to be happy, you can't hope to be happy" would be another reasonable guess, but again I don't see how to get that from the remaining words.

It's quite possible that both of the above guesses are completely misguided.

First off, this is not well written Chinese since it could lead to different interpretations.
One:

除非，你堅持(認為)躲在潮濕的甲殼裡更快樂。
Unless, you insist that hiding in a moist carapace is happier.

Two:

除非，你堅持躲在潮濕的甲殼裡更（讓你）快樂。
Unless, keeping your self hidden in a moist carapace (makes) you happier.

Although the essential meaning is similar. There are different interpretations because 堅持 used in the sentence is not clear enough.
堅持 could have two different meanings in the sentence:

persist in: Basically, it means keep doing something persistently.

insist (that.../on):
In this case, it's actually means 堅持（認為）、堅持（覺得）、堅持（要）and the words in the brackets can be omitted if there is no ambiguity.

With appropriate pauses in speaking, this ambiguity can be avoid. In written, normally, such ambiguity is avoided by proper punctuation. However in this case, additional words might be necessary to avoid misinterpretation.


What denomination does 穆斯满教依祥派 refer to? I found a Rénmín Rìbào article from May 14th 1950, called 《南疆妇女开始揭下面纱》, which requires login to read. It describes some abusive imam:

  喀什城内的大地主、穆斯满教依祥派阿訇苏皮禾加，利用他的特权和巫术，压迫和欺骗人民，尤其是百般地蹂躏妇女

From the title 阿訇 and the similarity between “Musulmán” and  穆斯满 it must be a Muslim denomination, but neither did I find Chinese material on 穆斯满, nor on 衣祥派. I read several Rénmín Rìbào articles from the period and all use 伊斯兰。

There's a copy of the text here:

  南疆妇女开始揭下面纱

  第3版()
  专栏：

  南疆妇女开始揭下面纱

  今年二月间举行的南疆喀什噶尔（即疏附）市各族各界人民代表会议上，妇女代表们打破了几千年封建传统的桎梏，响亮地喊出第一声：“揭下面纱，婚姻自由”。现在很多妇女都已经揭下了过去不分冬夏都罩着的面纱，当地的封建统治者也已经不敢再骑马扬鞭，对她们实行鞭笞了。

  南疆的妇女，尤其是维吾尔族的妇女，多少年来一直在这一层面纱后过着牢狱一般的生活。她们没有婚姻、人身、教育的自由。在婚姻方面，这里盛行着早婚和多妻的陋习。十二岁的少女，还没有发育健全，便离家成婚。十四、五岁的女子，已是怀抱婴儿的母亲了。老夫少妻的现象也很普遍，许多五、六十岁的老年人，往往与十二岁的幼女成婚。一般富豪和特权者把妇女当作玩具，今日结婚，明日抛弃。

  喀什城内的大地主、穆斯满教依祥派阿訇苏皮禾加，利用他的特权和巫术，压迫和欺骗人民，尤其是百般地蹂躏妇女。喀什中学主任伊不拉英士尔逊说：“苏皮禾加的结婚和离婚，象开玩笑一样。他才三十岁，至少娶了一百五十个老婆。他娶老婆并不花钱，利用他禾加（圣裔）的地位，别人不敢违抗，就得把女子送去。他离了婚的女子，无人再敢娶。”挑水老头子买买提明说：“苏皮禾加娶老婆象喝凉水一样，隔三间二，不是听说他‘抓秧哥’（结婚），就是听说他‘洋度’（离婚）。曾遭苏皮禾加离弃的女子拜儿哥孜汉愤恨地叙述她的遭遇说：“一九四五年，苏皮禾加要娶我。我哥哥说：‘苏皮禾加娶女人如同到马市上骑别人的马一样，既不出钱，又不负责，结果是抛弃。’我也不想嫁。苏皮禾加就叫媒婆则那甫汉转告他的话说：‘我是圣人，她若不嫁我，我念咒把他（指女父）咒死；念穷，叫他发不了财。念的叫她跛了，瞎了，一辈子没有人要她。’我父亲害怕，就许了他。结婚后六个月，有一天他对我说：‘你的期满了，你请假吧，我准你的假，你回去吧。’我向他深深的鞠躬，同时说：‘谢谢禾加。’同他结婚的女子都是：他要娶，不敢不去；他要离，不得不走，还得谢他，不敢向别人说什么话。”

  妇女在婚后的生活更是痛苦和不自由的。奴尔尼沙汉与皮山县乡长艾买提伯克阿吉结婚后，她的丈夫时常将村里的女人招引到家中弹弦作乐，有时还留宿。次日得给他们烧洗澡水，稍有迟慢就是一耳光。还有最野蛮的是所谓“耀把什”，这就是婚前男方提出条件，不准妇女与十二岁以上的男子见面。苏皮禾加每天早起就将他的妻子们锁进黑屋子里，不让她们知道他的家庭里的事，也不让她们和外面的任何男子见面。除此以外，做妻子的还要伺候丈夫吃饭，等丈夫吃完后才能吃他的残汤剩饭。妻子不能跟丈夫并肩在街上走，总要跟在他后面几步。

  妇女既是这样受压迫，因此女子受教育的机会就很少。疏附县共有妇女十二万六千四百五十人，据本年初当地文化教育机关统计，受教育的情况是：中等学校仅有一百三十名女生，小学校也仅有三千九百三十八名女生，其余百分之九十七以上都是文盲。这是号称南疆文化中心的喀什的情形，其他各地情况就可想而知了。

  新疆解放后，广大的妇女同胞们开始走上了光明幸福的道路。新疆省人民政府最近发布的施政方针第四项中明确规定：“妇女与男子享有平等的权利，实行婚姻自由。”在中国共产党领导下，各族各界妇女组织了自己的民主妇女联合会，正为着妇女的权利而奋斗。
  （新华社）

I believe Ishan is the equivalent of 衣祥派.

History of Xinjiang: In the People’s Republic of China (1950s-1980s)

  Besides the majority Sunni Muslims in southern Xinjiang, there were various other sects, including Isma’ilis among the Tajiks in Tashkurgan, Shi’ites in Yarkand (Twelve Imam sect descendents of seventeenth-century Punjabi immigrants) and various Sufi orders. These orders were collectively known as Ishan, from a Persian word meaning ‘them’ and referring to the orders’ hereditary leaders, believed to be descendents of the orders’ founders and of the Prophet. (Chapter 3 discussed the introduction of these mystical orders into Xinjiang and the secular power achieved by the Naqshbandiyya in particular). Despite the wars and political upheavals from the mid-nineteenth through the mid-twentieth century, many ishan groups remained active during the first half of the twentieth century.

You'd think a guy who'd taken over one hundred and fifty wives by the age of thirty and was a massive landlord would be more well written about, but I can't seem to find much info on him.


what is difference using of "地" and "得" I have been learning Mandarin since 6 months ago, but i have problem with my title, could you guys make me clear about the difference between them?

if i have example of sentences like below is wrong:

很快地吃

but it i think if I make sentences like below right

她吃得很快

Because sometimes I was confused when I use "地" and "得" in above sentences, so please kindly help me. Thanks

There are three confusing words in Chinese: "的", "地", and "得".

For "的", it is usually used to describe the words following it. The structure is adj. + 的 + noun, for example, 勤劳的妈妈.

For "地", it is usually used to describe the action following it. The structure is adv. + 地 + verb, for example, 积极地回答问题. So 很快地吃 is correct. In a whole sentence, it might be 他正在很快地吃苹果.

For "得", it is usually used to describe the action before itself. The structure is verb + 得 + adv., for example, 回答得很好, or 吃得很快.