吃午饭了, should 了 be right after 吃？ I saw this sentence from a text book:

你吃午饭了没有？
Have you had lunch yet?

Does the 了 have to be right after the verb 吃 though?

你吃了午饭没有？
Have you had lunch yet?

I learned that 了 with verb represents tense, only when 了 is with verb.
However in the sentence given the 了 is after object of 吃, which is 午饭。

EDIT

吃（Verb) + 了 + 午饭（Noun) = Past tense, Correct.
吃 (Verb) + 午饭（Noun) + 了 = NOT Past tense.

I believe that the text book should've used the first one to indicate the past tense, unless the text book has some error, because it does say something like this.

你吃午饭了没有？ ： PAST TENSE

EDIT 2

As I wrote some comments under, I think I should make an additional edit here again.

There are a lot of articles about the usage of 了 I've read many times since I started learning Chinese.

But I'm not really curious about what 了 works here, but whether the translation of 了 is correct or not because this one looks quite suspicious to me.

I believe it is NOT correct to consider it a completion of a specific action, when 了 is used at the end of the sentence.

I believe it is correct to consider it a completion of a specific action, when 了 is used next to the verb and only next to the verb.

From that understanding, I believe it is NOT correct to translate 你吃午饭了没有 into "Have you eaten lunch?" because 了 is not used next to the verb, rather at the end of the sentence.

Am I right about it? or is there anything I am missing?

First of all,
“吃午饭了” is usually used for "someone" to ask "someone" to have a lunch. Besides, it also can be meant that you already ate the lunch.

While "吃了午饭 ” just mean that you already ate the lunch.

Plus, there is no such thing like "吃了午饭没有“ It should be "你吃午饭了吗？” The "吗” is used for asking something.


Why is 叫 ("call") in 叫我马上到北极? In the children's book 七色花, the girl 珍妮 (Jenny) instructs the magic flower as follows:

  吩咐吧，叫我马上到北极！
  Fēnfù ba, jiào wǒ mǎshàng dào běijí!
  Command it, call me to the North Pole right away! [Google Translate]
  (See DouBan for text.)

From context, the girl is asking the magic flower to teleport her to the North Pole.  However, I'm perplexed as to why 叫 (jiào; "call", "cry") is used here.  Google Translate also seems perplexed.  I have never seen it used in this way before.

Question: Why is 叫 ("call") in 叫我马上到北极?

Searching for 叫 到 at YouDao gives sentences like

你最好叫他们到这儿来 ("you'd better ask them round here"), and
他把我叫到他的办公室 ("he called me into his room")

so it looks like 叫 has a meaning I'm not aware of, something between "instruct" and "invite", comparable to "called for dinner".  But it seems strange for the girl to "call" herself to the North Pole.

叫 (call/ tell) also contains the meanings of "order/ command/ make"
"吩咐吧，叫我马上到北极！" can be translated as:

"Give the order, command me to go to the North Pole immediately!
"Give the order, make me go to the North Pole immediately!


Are there transitive/及物动词 or intransitive/不及物动词 verbs in Chinese? Problem: Lately I started to get concerned if there are pure transitive or intransitive verbs in Chinese. At first look, there are many verbs that do not require an immediate object/宾语 like 睡觉 or 吃饭. These are mostly called separable verbs/离合动词, these verbs already contain an object within and can be easily checked by some quantifier insertion: 吃一个饭, 洗一个澡.... Do we call them intransitive?

What about such verbs as 参加, 游泳 or 去, 回, 走? A noun used after these verbs is considered to be an adverbial of place not an object. It looks like in Chinese such linguisitc property as transitivity / intransitivity heavily relies on verb semantics in constrast to other languages.

Question: Are there transitive / intransitive verbs in Chinese?

I don't think "What do you think" is really a suitable question here... So I'll address the question in the title instead ("Are there transitive/及物动词 or intransitive/不及物动词 verbs in Chinese?"):

Sure there are. And I really doubt they are "mostly" separable verbs.

For instance: 他走了 "he left", or 花開了 "the flower blossomed". There are a large number of such verbs that seems quite clearly intransitive. There are also many that goes both ways like in English. The character 吃 for example is by itself also a verb (in contrast to your example of 吃飯), and it can be both intransitive: 我吃了 "I ate", as well as transitive: 我吃派了 "I ate pie".

You claim regarding 參加 or 游泳 taking adverbials of place instead of objects seems highly suspect to me. I fail to see what is adverbial about 比賽 in 我參加了比賽 "I joined a tournament".


What did you think? 你觉得呢 vs 你觉得啥 What is the difference between the following translations?

你觉得呢？
你觉得啥？
你觉得怎么样 ?

Do they all roughly mean the same thing? Which one is most appropriate for spoken, written, and texting?

No they don't mean the same thing.

你觉得呢？

This translates to "What do you think? (about the topic we just talked about)"

你觉得啥？

This does not sound natural. It can mean "What did you just say (about your opinion / feeling)?" but its not common usage.

你觉得怎么样?

This is almost the same as 你觉得呢？, but is slightly more polite. They are equally appropriate for spoken, written, and texting.

Or, in certain context, this can mean "Are you Ok? do you feel sick?".


What does 着急 mean in 我们不能太着急 in the context of exam-oriented education (应试教育) versus all-round education (素质教育)? This text is talking about 应试教育 versus 素质教育。In this sentence the last phrase is a bit unclear.

  应该说已经推动了应试教育向素质教育的转变，但是这个转变非常艰难，是一个痛苦的漫长的过程，我们不能太着急。

Dictionaries say ‘着急’ means 'worry, feel anxious'

我们不能太着急。I'd like to translate this as 'we shouldn't expect quick results' or 'we shouldn't fret'. Does that catch the Chinese meaning??

I suggest: "We shouldn't rush the process" since it's a long and painful process you're talking about.


Translating the shortcomings of a primary school student 我是许晨曦，一个活泼开朗的小男孩，圆圆的脑袋，一头乌黑的短发，明亮的眼睛，大大鼻子，还有一张不怎么会说话的嘴巴。

  我喜欢打羽毛球，溜冰、下棋……但我最喜欢的是打羽毛球，每次和小朋友打得汗流浃背，痛快极了。

  我也有缺点，做作业马虎，有时不直接看节目就直接写下去。

  这就是我，我想在这个学期改掉这个缺点，做一个好学生。

Source: http://www.zuowen8.com/a/275384.html (third text)

I study Chinese by translating children's essays. In this particular essay, the meaning of the emboldened phrase eludes me.

The students begins the paragraph by saying: "I also have weaknesses: I am carefree when it comes to school assignments...". I lose it shortly afterwards.

I am confused by:

直接 - immediate, direct, personal
就
下去 - go down, continue (among others)

I am guessing there's a typo here. "节目" is meant to be "題目" - question.

I agree that having two "直接" in a row is no good. So here's what I'll go with:

"有时不看題目就直接写下去"

Sometimes I don't read the question before writing (my answer).

This flows well with the rest of the essay, and illustrates his sloppiness when doing his homewwork.


Are there readings exclusive used only for people name? When reading songyuanyao's answer on Are people names always pronounced the same in Mandarin?, I suddenly wonder if Chinese has something similar to nanori in Japanese.

Basically, nanori is a special reading for a Japanese Kanji used in a name. Examples according to Wikipedia:

  希 usually has the pronunciation ki (or sometimes ke or mare). However, as a female name it can be pronounced Nozomi.
  飯田 (Iida) uses the special nanori reading of 飯 (ii) and a standard kun'yomi reading of 田 (da)

Now, taking the first example from songyuanyao's answer, for Hanzi 費, Wiktionary stated,

  fèi with 6 meanings + 2 historical placenames + surname
  bì with 1 historical placename + surname

Taking from this example, I concluded that it's used as a surname since it's preceded by a place name.

So I wonder, are there readings exclusive for a name without any preceding usage (meaningless/not used in historical names)?

So I wonder, are there readings exclusive for a name without any preceding usage (meaningless/not used in historical names)?

I think it is very unlikely to have a reading in a name with no meaning at all.

Take a look at the character 樂

The pinyin of 樂 in 快樂 (happy) is /le4/ ; in 音樂 (music) and surname, is /yue4/

Which mean when reading 樂 in a surname, it is different from the 樂 in 快樂, but is the same as the 樂 in 音樂.

As a surname 樂 also has a second pinyin /yao4/. (It means 'to love; be fond of; to delight in') 樂進 /yao4  jin4/ is an example.

Although the /yao4/ pinyin can only be seen in classical text nowadays. For example:'仁者樂山，智者樂水', we can't say 樂/yao4/ in 樂進 has no preceding usage.


What does 开 mean in 会开完了 ("the meeting is over")? When I was looking for a word in my dictionary, I found this sentence: 会开完了, which (in the dictionary) is translated as "the meeting is over".

I wonder what 开 means here... because when the sentence is translated word per word, 开 doesn't seem to have anything to do with the whole sentence.

Does 开 serve as something else (like grammatical expression or particle) here?

Will it be alright if I say: 会完了?

This is a good example of a V.O. (verb + object) word and it’s flexibilities.
If we take a look at Tuttle Learners Dictionary’s entry for 开会, we have;

[v+obj: 开 open up + 会 meeting]
VERB
attend a meeting, hold a meeting

and example sentences:

我们最好开个会, 讨论一下这个问题。
Wǒmen zuìhǎo kāi ge huì, tǎolùn yíxià zhège wèntí.
We'd best have a meeting to discuss this issue.
王老师在开会。
Wáng lǎoshī zài kāihuì.
Teacher Wang is at a meeting.

The order of V.O. words can be switched around. In your example for instance it starts with the object and then uses the verb later.
You might see similar expressions like:

话说完了

饭吃完了

字写完了


What do I say when a friend tells me about the death of a loved one? I never know what to say/write in Chinese when a friend tells me that one of their relatives or friends has passed away. I'm aware of the terms of politeness for referring to the death itself:

Politeness in referring to a recent death
What is the polite way to say a grandparent has passed away?

But I don't know what to say to the person who has just told me that someone they know just died. It is hard enough in English to know what to say, but I might say something like "Oh, I'm really sorry to hear that." or "I'm sorry for your loss." What can I say in Chinese that will be comforting, culturally appropriate, and won't sound trite?

I'd like to know for both the situation of a very close friend/relative dying and also for a more distant friend/relative dying. I assume one might say different things depending on how close they were.

Recent example of a more distant relative passing away:

Friend: "我们去【某地方】参加我四舅的葬礼去了，明天晚上十点左右才回来。谅！" (We had originally planned to meet the next day.)
Me: ?

If you are notified a distant relative of someone has just passed away, you don't need to say much, just a simple "這樣啊" (Oh, I see) and/or "那真不幸" (that's really unfortunate) to acknowledge you have just learned the bad news.

If you are notified a close relative of someone has just passed away, you should add an condolences, and the most common phrase for offering condolences is 節哀順變 or 節哀

"這樣啊... 那真不幸，希望你能節哀順變" (Oh, I see... That's really unfortunate, hope you can restrain your grief and accept the change)
"這樣啊... 那真不幸，請節哀 (Oh, I see... That's really unfortunate, please restrain your grief)


Say time in 24 hour format I've never seen in Chinese study materials that time could be said/written in 24 hour format. It is always in 12 hour format with addition of description like 早上, 下午... E.g.:

早上八点半
晚上九点四十五分

And never like:

二十一点四十五分

Is it ok to say/write time in 24 hour format?

It's no problem to use either in practice, though people used 12 hour format more (because 6 is easier to say than 18 ). When being asked: 现在几点, I might answer either 6点半 or 18点30. 18点30 sounds a little bit formal or "verbose".


Are there any online etymological dictionaries of Mandarin (not for characters but for spoken words) tl;dr Are you aware of any dictionaries that explain word etymologies (not merely character etymologies)?  Some links/references would be useful.

This is actually a collection of related questions, but I thought it would be good to keep them together.

Are there any online etymological dictionaries of Chinese?  All such dictionaries I can find deal with character etymologies, which is not at all the same thing as the etymologies of the real spoken language (which can do just fine without a writing system at all, I'm sure that not more than a 100 years ago literacy rate in China was far from great).

Generally, how well do character etyomologies reflect the true etyomologies of words?

Let me give a motivating example, which made me curious about it.  Yak in Mandarin is 牦牛 / 氂牛 / máoniú, i.e. when spoken sounds just like "hairy cow" 毛牛, a very fitting description.  If it weren't for the characters, one would be tempted to suspect this is not an accident.  Yet if we look up the character (not word!) online, we only get "signific cluster, an ox 牜牛 that requires couxing 攵攴 from a branch 未", which suggests otherwise.

To avoid an all too common misunderstanding, I'd like to point out again that although a writing system can leave a deep mark on the oral language, a language can exist just fine without it.  I am sure that a 100 years ago the literacy rate in China was far below great, yet people could use the language just fine.  So again, when I say Chinese in this question, I mean the spoken Chinese language (take whichever variety you prefer), not the character based writing system (I have the impression that often answers about Chinese consider written Chinese first).

The ABC Etymological Dictionary of Old Chinese is searchable online here:

http://edoc.uchicago.edu/edoc2013/digitaledoc_index.php

Go to 'EDOC: Linear Output', select 'All' on the right-hand side (under 'ABC Etymological Dictionary of Old Chinese'), type in your characters, and click 'Display Phonetics'.  For more complicated searches, go to 'EDOC: Search'.

Also, to give a simple example to help clarify what the OP is referring to as "character etymologies" vs. "word etymologies", the ABC dictionary gives the following for 蜜 (mì):

  ‘Honey’ [Chuci]. || [T] MTang mir < mir, ONW miit — [D] PMin *mit || [E]
  Thought to be borrowed from IE-Tocharian B mit ‘honey’ < PTokharian *mjət
  (Behr Oriens 1999 / 2000: 36).

The above is a word etymology.  It is a loanword, of Indo-European origin, and is in fact related to English "mead", Lithuanian "medus", Greek "μέθη", Russian "мёд", and Farsi "می", for example.

A character etymology would decompose this character into 虫 (insect radical) and 宓 (phonetic), which is in turn decomposed into 宀 (roof radical) and 必 (phonetic). Both 虫 and 宀 can be traced back to the oracle bone script, while 必 can be traced back to the bronzeware script. (Source: hanziyuan.net)

The character and word etymologies are quite distinct - while all of the components of the character are of Chinese origin, the word itself is Indo-European.


How do you say "this article was originally published in German? How do you say "this article was originally published in German?

本文原載於德文

？

This article was originally published in German.
这篇文章最初是以德语出版的。


How to understand "喝茶"？ In northern China, we can say "喝茶了吗？" to ask someone if they have already eaten.

However, there are also 3 means of "喝茶":

     1. drink hot water
      2. drink hot water with tea
      3. arrest the offender

I start with 2. It's the literal meaning of 喝茶. 喝 = drink, 茶 = tea, so "have some tea" is a perfect translation of 喝茶.

To explain 1, you should think it as an interpersonal communication. In some cases, 喝茶 means "sit down and have some drink", usually after a guest visit. In this case, 茶 does not necessarily be 茶 and may be any drink. It's usually when people have something to talk or discuss that the host serves some drink first.

The 3rd one as recognized by 神秘德里克, is an internet slang. When one talks about something politically-sensitive (like the Tiananmen Square Massacre) in mainland China, local police would ask them to “来警察局喝点茶” (come to the police office and talk seriously), which then boils down to the above paragraph (serve drink before discussion).


How is 由此 (yóucǐ) = "herefrom" used? I see this sign near one of the cafeterias at Nankai University.

It says:

二楼新宇餐厅由此上楼
èrlóu xīnyǔ cāntīng yóucǐ shànglóu
second floor Sinew cafeteria; herefrom go upstairs

Where 新宇 (xīnyǔ; Sinew) is the company name.
I'm interested in 由此上楼, and particularly how 由此 is being used.  I guess it makes sense, effectively meaning "go upstairs here", although I would expect some combination of 这里 (zhèlǐ; here） and 上楼 (shànglóu; go upstairs) to work.  The question Are there any online resources for learning Chinese 4-character idioms and its top answer makes me think it might be something special.
Question: How is 由此 used?
I'm seeking just the general idea about how 由此 is used, ideally with some other short examples.  The linked question gives this example

由此可见
yóucǐ kějiàn
from this, it can be seen that ... (dict.cn translation)

It seems to be quite different usage to 由此上楼, however.

由(from)

此(this)

由此 = from this

此 here is an adjective (this),

  Question: How is 由此 used?

由此 (from this) can be used to modify many different omitted object

For Example:

由此上楼 = '由此(處)上楼' -  'from this (location) go upstairs'
由此可见 = '由此(事情/ 事实)可见' -  'from this (affair/ fact) we can see'
由此出发 = '由此(地/ 点)出发' - 'set off from this (place/ point)'
由此终结 = '由此(时)终结' -  'end from this (moment)'


Is there a difference between 他这是 and 他就是? A graded reader (for foreigners learning to read Chinese) has this sentence: 他们这是在做坏拿！

I think this means the same as: 他们就是在做坏拿！And I think both are just emphatic ways of saying 他们是在做坏拿. Google Translate treats all these sentences alike.  But I would like to hear from people who know.

Is 他这是 just another way of saying 他就是?

I only use 這是在 when I actually see it. Like "他們這是在做什麼?". But for the similar "他們是在做什麼?" without the 這, you can use it regardless of the place or time of the object.

For 就是在, it just basically means "It IS" or "They ARE", when you emphasize the aux verb.


How do we reconcile the different definitions for 弊端 in the HSK Standard Course 6上 ("disadvantage" etc.) and CC-CEDICT ("malpractice" etc.)? The HSK Standard Course 6上 textbook (p.45) definition for 弊端 is inconsistent with the definition from CC-CEDICT:

HSK6上: n. disadvantage, drawback
CC-CEDICT: malpractice / abuse / corrupt practice

The sentence they use is:

我的学习方式绝对对学习效果有利，当然弊端也不少：有利的方面如上所说，弊端在于高兴了拼命学一阵子，不高兴了就搁在一边。

The above usage doesn't suit the translation "malpractice" etc.  The HSK6上 definition was re-used in this video, with these examples:

现行制度存在诸多弊端，已到非改不可的地步。
疫情使殡葬行业原本就存在的诸多弊端浮出了水面。

Here, 弊端 is translated to "shortcomings" and "disadvantages", respectively.
Question: How do we reconcile the different definitions for 弊端 in the HSK Standard Course 6上 and CC-CEDICT?

I suggest we have a look at some Chinese dictionaries.
现代汉语规范词典 (GF) has this:
弊端
bìduān
名 由于制度上或工作中的漏洞而引发的有害的事情
管理不严酿成弊端。

I don't find this particularly helpful. Whereas 现代汉语大词典 (XHD) has this:
弊端
bì duān
1 弊病产生的原因。如：消除弊端。
2 弊病。如：种种弊端, 不胜枚举。

My TL;DR translation is: "that which causes 弊病; 弊病" (omitting the sample sentences which again aren't so helpful here). So this definition is based around 弊病. From this we can fairly safely say that 弊病 and 弊端 have similar meanings and are near-synonyms (近义词). It turns out that CC-CEDICT has this for 弊病:
弊病
bìbìng
1 malady
2 evil
3 malpractice
4 drawback
5 disadvantage

And so we have both meanings: drawback/disadvantage, and malpractice.
My conclusion is that here we have some 弊端/shortcomings in both the HSK 6 definitions and in CC-CEDICT.
It seems that 弊端 is poorly translated in general. The only Western dictionary I have on my Pleco that has both of these meanings is CC-CFDICT (Chinese to French).
Edit (2021-03-27): The CC-CEDICT definition has been updated. The new definition is simply: "systemic problem (sometimes refers specifically to corrupt practices)". The CC-CEDICT  editor gave some interesting analysis in the change log for the updated CC-CEDICT definition, and commented: "
I think our current definition was probably adequate for the way 弊端 was used 50 or 60 years ago, but the meaning has evidently become broader over recent decades, and dictionaries haven't kept up with the change."


Result complements used with 买: 好，到 and 上 I have come across three different result complements that can be associated with the verb 买: 好，到 and 上.
My broad understanding is that all three of them somewhat convey the idea of "managing to buy", but I am confused as I do not understand the nuances and I don't know which one can be used in which context.
Can you please help me differentiate them and their use?
Many thanks!!

The nuances I see in the usage of these three result complements are subtle.
好 as a result complement is similar to 完 and 到 as it describes the completion of an action, but it also adds that the action has been completed properly. As 好 itself means "good", you see how this nuance comes about.

我今天已经买好菜了 = today I've already bought groceries (all those you needed; the task is properly done)

到 means that the successful completion of the action was not entirely sure. It follows from an attempt or intent. There is more volition, and sense of purpose. As 到 itself means "to arrive", as a result complement the nuance is like reaching a target.

我今天已经买到菜了 = today I've already bought groceries (the outcome wasn't sure, but you still made it; you managed to buy them)

上 is relatively more rare in the sense of completion. I suspect it might be even non-standard, but spread among native speakers enough to be considered acceptable. The result itself is more often used to describe that something is on (literally and figuratively), or that the action has successfully started, and ongoing e.g. 穿上衣服 (put clothes on) 带上东西 (bring/carry things with you).

今天我一天超累，终于吃上饭了 = today I'm super tired, I finally could eat something (likely still eating at this time)

So with 买：

我今天已经买上菜了 = today I've already bought (started buying?) groceries (you got to buy them, maybe still in the process)

That's why 买上 is used less often, it doesn't always work with 买, since "buying" as an action in progress can be expressed just better with 在 （我在买菜 = I'm buying groceries). However it can be used just like 到, and some native speakers do use it like that.
Yet if you Google 买到了 and 买上了 in quotes (adding 了 to force search results to be verbs, and not some other part of speech), 买到 returns 5 times more results than 买上.
As a final remark, 买上 may have an additional nuance of being able to afford something. Note that the proper way to say "afford" is with the 起 result （买得起 / 买不起）. The result 上 may suggest that you could successfully buy something because you are financially capable to do so.

我买上房子了 (I bought a house = I was financially able to get "on top of the price", or something like that)


What does 生命诚可贵 爱情价更高 若为自由故 二者皆可抛 mean? 生命诚可贵 爱情价更高 若为自由故 二者皆可抛

I think it means "life is expensive, but love is even more so.  However, both are not as good as freedom."

It's a little different from yours at the latter half of the sentence:

  Life is dear, love is dearer. Both can be given up for freedom.

Reference:

This is the poem written in 1847 by the Hungarian poet Sándor Petőfi. Here is the original:

  Szabadság, szerelem!
  E kettő kell nekem.
  Szerelmemért föláldozom
  Az életet, Szabadságért föláldozom Szerelmemet.

Here's the translation by 殷夫 in 1929, which adopted Chinese classic five-character poem style, but not totally faithful to the original text:

  生命诚可贵，
  爱情价更高。
  若为自由故，
  二者皆可抛。

Another translation by 孙用 in 1957:

  自由，爱情！
  我要的就是这两样。
  为了爱情，
  我牺牲我的生命；
  为了自由，
  我又将爱情牺牲。

Another translation by 兴万生 in 1991:

  自由与爱情！
  我都为之倾心。
  为了爱情，
  我宁愿牺牲生命，
  为了自由，
  我宁愿牺牲爱情。

In English:

  Liberty and love
  These two I must have
  For love, I will sacrifice my life
  For liberty, I will sacrifice my love


What's the significance of 家 in 国家? 国家 and 国 both mean "country" or "nation". However, what's the significance of the character 家 in the word? Does it really add the meaning of "home" or "family"? Is there a cultural or historical basis for this? Or did the words and/or characters mean different things in the past?

Have a look at http://zh.wiktionary.org/zh-hant/%E5%9C%8B%E5%AE%B6, which explains lots of traditional meanings of 国家.

The basic meaning is related to 古代諸侯的封地稱國，大夫的封地稱家. In the classical age of China, there were vassal states and the land of a vassal was called 国. There were also officials titled 大夫 who were given land as well, and a 大夫's land is called 家. Later 国家 was used to mean 国 in some situations (for rhythmic reasons, I suppose). The meaning also got extended to mean the court, or the emperor, or the capital. None of these was  today's concept of 国家.

When Chinese and Japanese were finally exposed to the Western world in 19th century, they had to create new words or re-use old words to translate the concepts and notions which were not existed in their traditional culture. Eventually 国家 was picked to be the translation of the modern concept of a state.


How to distinguish between 吧 and 嘛, 罢 and 嘛 At the end of a sentence in a conversation, how does one distinguish between 吧 and 嘛, 罢 and 嘛?

Well, in our normal life, 吧 is usually used for the moments when you are guessing/questioning/acquiring/normal words ending/agree....
吧 can be used in many situations.

But 嘛 is a little kind of "spoiled", totally used between friends and girl/boy friends, also used for acquiring, not used for guessing. It's sometimes used when you are angry. “好嘛，你竟然骗我！”

罢 is a little kind of "compromise", or "have no choice". It's usually used in literature; it's not normal to use it in daily life.


Differentiating between 收 and 受 I've noticed a lot of people have trouble differentiating between 收 and 受.

Both their pronunciations and meanings are similar.

How to differentiate between the two?

What tricks and tips are there to remember when to use which? (Instead of the other.)

You may see the definitions of these two characters on zdic.net (maybe you already know), an online dictionary which is convenient for looking up the characters.

As a native speaker, I think (subjectively) the main difference of these two characters is that 收 emphasizes the action of receiving, gathering or reducing, and 受 emphasizes the finish of receiving an action, which is something sort of similar to the perfect tense.

I guess that your doubt comes from distinguishing 接收 from 接受? In some sentenses these two words are almost the same, for example:

  他接受了这份礼物。
  他接收了这份礼物。

But I still feel that there is a tiny differece as I said above, 接收 puts more significance on the action of receiving.

Another differece may be that, 收 is usually used with "concrete" things like gift, data, signal, while 受 is usually used with abstract things like suggestion, training, offer, and only some "concrete" things.

Hope it helps.

Reference

收 on zdic.net
www.zdic.net/z/1a/js/6536.htm

受 on zdic.net
www.zdic.net/z/16/js/53D7.htm


等待 vs 等候 - dengdai vs denghou Sorry guys, but here is another instance to two very similar verbs, both meaning 'to wait for sth'.
等待: you can 等待 for 比赛结果/六年/这个天/孩子的降生
等候: you can 等候 for 出租车/飞机的旅客/两个小时/客人/上级的命令
There doesn't seem to be an obvious difference...
Anyone got any insights here? Thanks in advance,
Hashamyim

Simple answer is : they are interchangeable
Both 等待 and 等候 are compound word verb with the same meaning, just coined differently

等 = wait; 待 = stay
等待 = stay (passively) and wait (for thing to happen or people to come) = 'to wait'

~

等 = wait; 候 = wait/ expect
等候 = wait and expect (thing to happen or people to come)= 'to wait'

As of the minor difference in usage:
Since the component 候 has the meaning of (expect), whatever you 等候(wait for) is very likely to happen. e.g. 等候春天到来 (waiting for the arrival of spring)- Spring will certainly come
While things you 等待 (wait for) may or may not happen,
For example:
等待春天到来 (waiting for the arrival of spring) - Spring will certainly come
等待耶稣再臨 (waiting for Jesus to come again) - Jesus  may or may not come again, so just wait and see
If you say 等候耶稣再臨, then you are kind of expecting he will.


Parts of speech question. Parts of speech are always dicey in Chinese. What is a verb, what is an adjective etc. So, In the sentence 你好！， what part of speech is Hao?

Never think of parts of speech when learning Chinese, since Chinese has such concept no earlier than Tang dynasty, which is very short history comparing with Chinese. In fact Chinese parts of speech also have nothing to do with their functions in sentence. Noun could be predicate, verb could be objective, even prep. could be subjective, which is totally different with western languages.


Translation for "things you don't agree on" I attended a wedding last weekend and wanted to say something along the following lines:

"In the first year you will probably find there are many things that you don't agree on".

I couldn't think of what to use for the "things that you don't agree on". I want to find a word or words that mean don't agree, I don't want something that means argumentative, I am looking for something that is more neutral that means they don't agree.

I'm thinking maybe something like 想法是不一样. Do you have any better suggestions?

Here's some off the top of my head...

In the first year...

你们有时候会有不相同的看法 (Nǐmen yǒu shíhou huì yǒu bù xiāngtóng de kànfǎ)

你们有时候会彼此不同意 (Nǐmen yǒu shíhou huì bǐcǐ bù tóngyì)

有的事你们不会有相同意见 (Yǒu de shì nǐmen bù huì yǒu xiāngtóng yìjiàn)

会有一些事情，你们会不同意 (Huì yǒu yīxiē shìqíng, nǐ huì bù tóngyì)

有的时候有些事情是你们不赞同的 （Yǒu de shíhou yǒuxiē shìqíng shì nǐmen bù zàntóng de）


Can someone recommend a good book that can explain chinese characters and how they came to have their meaning My mind is so literal that I think it would help me to understand  and memorize the characters and their meaning. I recently found on this site an explanation for the difference between sun and speech. It included pictograms and explanations.  With all that detail I will never forget it.

I am perhaps intermediate level.  I studied intensely in college for two semesters before heading to Beijing where I lived for a year. That was in the late 90's.  Unfortunately I haven't had the time to use it or study it since.  Now that I am quarantined I can go back to this language that I love to learn.

I just want some help learning. Some tools to help me remember.

this one talked about the early chinese characters from ancient inscription, in english:

early chinese writing, by frank herring chalfont

though it was printed in 1906, imo, the info is precise & correct; most important, it’s a free download, provided you’re not in “you-know-where”


Correct the sentence I'm trying to say: "It's not true. You are sitting the fourth from the right side"

那不是真的。 你坐在第四个右边。

Is it correct?

As @user6065 suggested in the comment:

你坐在第四个右边 is weird in its word order.

By your context， I think you should say 你坐在右起第四个（座位） or 你的座位是从右数第四个.


How do I parse 天津图书馆园区馆 (tiān jīn tú shū guǎn yuán qū guǎn)? I saw the road sign photographed below, but I'm confused about how 天津图书馆园区馆 (tiān jīn tú shū guǎn yuán qū guǎn) makes sense.

I'm mostly familiar with the components:

天津 = Tianjin, the city I live in.
图书馆 = library
园 usually refers to a park
区 = district (what we would call a suburb in Australia)
馆 = ???

I don't recall seeing 馆 by itself before (always part of something else: 宾馆 （hotel), 博物馆 (museum), 体育馆 (gym), etc.), so I'm surprised as to what it's doing here.  This contributes to my confusion.

I'm also unsure of how to piece these together.

Question: How do I parse 天津图书馆园区馆?

Yes this is confusing. If you search it you'll find the (complete) name should be 天津图书馆海河教育园区图书馆.

(天津)海河教育园区 (Tianjin Haihe Education Park) is used for specifying the location of the branch library here. Note that 园区 is usually used as a term, which means "集中发展某种事业的地区" (key development area for some kind of enterprise).

I guess that the name 天津图书馆海河教育园区图书馆 is just too long to write on the road sign so it's shorted.

At last to answer your question directly the sentence should be parsed as

天津 = Tianjin, the city you live in.
图书馆 = library
(海河教育)园区 = (Haihe education) park
馆 = branch library


What words or expressions could be used to say someone is/looks handsome? Either words or expressions, formal ones or informal ones.

These are some idioms which may be an answer to the question:

眉清目秀 (mei qing mu xiu) This literally means: "(His/this Man's) eyebrows are clear and (His) eyes are beautiful."

玉树临风 (yu shu lin feng) This literally means: "(Men are/He is like a) grown jade tree which has faced the wind."

英姿挺拔 (ying zi ting ba) This literally means: "The handsome appearance (of Him/this Man) is outstanding."

帅气逼人 (shuai qi bi ren) This literally means: "The handsome attitude (of Him/this Man) is daunting."

Chinese idioms, usually, only consist of four characters. And all of the above given examples can be used to refer to a handsome man.

Be aware, though, that these are formal expressions, so, they are literary and are likely to be interpreted as being corny when used in an informal context.


Uses of interrogatives as pronouns In English, interrogatives are occasionally used as not as interrogatives but as adverbs and relative pronouns. For example: I don't know why we moved; I don't know how that machine works; I know where she lives; I don't know what she does for a living； I don't know whom she married. Could you use 为什么，怎么，哪里，什么，谁 here, and if not, how would you structure these and similar sentences? 谢谢!

You'll never be able to map one to one English to Chinese, but some things are expressed in a very similar manner in both languages, simply because that is convenient and efficient, I believe.

Relative clauses in Chinese don't follow the English pattern though.

That is the dog [that bit me].
这是那条[咬我的]狗。(Just stick the relative clause content in front of the noun)

I don't know why we moved.
我不晓得我们为什么搬家。
I don't know how that machine works.
我不知道那台机器怎么运作。
I know where she lives.
我不知道她住在哪里。
I don't know what she does for a living.
我不知道她靠什么生活。
I don't know who she married.
我不知道她和谁结的婚。


What is 'hea' (in Cantonese conversations)? I have been seeing this word 'hea' in YouTube transcriptions involving 'relaxing' or travelling. What is the original word and how has it evolved to 'hea'? (I know it must sound similar to anglicised 'hea', but when did people stop writing the actual Cantonese words code switched?)

the actual Cantonese words

well, some argued that it’s 歇 (u+6b47) in toishan “dialect” (台山話)
<https://jonathanovsky.wordpress.com/2015/02/14/再談「hea」字/>
we just use “hea” to write it, no han-chinese / cantonese character is accepted, as the “original”:

one of the urban myth in hong kong


What's the difference between “问一下”，“查询”， “询问”？ In the context of phone conversations with vendors I often default to either:

我想问一下…
请问…

I'm looking for a possibly more appropriate way to address someone in this context. Would it be appropriate to say any of the following?

我想查询您…
我想询问您…

Would it be appropriate to say any of the following?
我想查询您…

This usage is wrong. 查询 should be followed by the object being asked for, not the person who is being asked. The correct usages are

我想查询[sth]。
我想向[sb]查询[sth]。

Example:

我想（向您）查询从北京到上海的机票价格。

我想询问您…

This one is correct. 询问 can be used in three ways:

我想询问[sth]
我想询问[sb][sth]
我想向[sb]询问[sth]

Example:

我想询问从北京到上海的机票价格。
我想询问您从北京到上海的机票价格。
我想向您询问从北京到上海的机票价格。

Both of them are formal but never too formal to use in daily conversations; I use them from time to time when talking to a service personnel, especially when over the phone.


Mandarin dialect pronouncing sizzling consonants differently Sometimes when people speak Chinese they pronounce "zh" more like "z", "ch" like "c", "sh" more like "s", etc. In other respects (sentence structure, words), it seems to be proper mandarin. An example from Silicon valley:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v201VzV5GIA&feature=youtu.be&t=1m04s

It seems like the person in a shirt is saying "zeige feicang zongyao" where it should be "zheige feichang zhongyao" (这个非常重要)

Is it an accent or dialect? What's it called?

MDBG

  翹舌音

  翘舌音[翹舌音]

  qiàoshéyīn

  retroflex sound (e.g. in Mandarin zh, ch, sh, r)

It could be accent, it could be dialect it could be 大舌头 (a big tongue).

翘舌音 is almost nonexistent in Taiwan, although it should be, so I'd say that's down to accent.
Many topolects, like Sichuanese, don't carry retroflex sounds, and that's dialectical.
Some people do have speech impediments or just a big tongue, as some like to put it.

You can call it lack of retroflex or 没有翘舌音.

The guy in the scene from Silicon Valley seems to be channeling a Taiwanese accent.


What does this mean "封不觉心中这么想着"? I was reading a webnovel and i stumbled upon this and i am confused about the meaning of the phrase.
Does this mean he is thinking in his heart? There is a quote before this by the way.

"封不觉 thought in mind."

Chinese language prefers that the heart thinks, not the brain thinks.


Where can we find the most frequent combination of two Chinese words (搭配)? It's quite difficult to correctly use a Chinese word. Sometimes, when I learn a new word, I don't know how to use it in a sentence, what verb to use.
Besides reading more sentences and Chinese texts, is there a website or an online dictionary, where we can find the most frequent combination of two Chinese words 搭配 (verb + noun, noun + adjective etc.)?

I know there are many excellent learners' dictionaries and collocations dictionaries in English, but sadly Chinese lexicography doesn't seem to have done a good job.
Some resources that might help you:
1）search 汉语搭配词典 here on http://www.ucdrs.superlib.net
2）Look up in general dictionaries
现代汉语词典（download it here https://b-ok.asia/book/3583521/fc4154）
（台灣）教育部重編國語辭典：http://dict.revised.moe.edu.tw/cbdic/search.htm
learner's dictionary: 《现代汉语八百词》
3）Use 语料库（Corpus）
http://ccl.pku.edu.cn:8080/ccl_corpus/
http://corpus.zhonghuayuwen.org/CnCindex.aspx
http://bcc.blcu.edu.cn/
search 中文 语料库 on Google for more corpora


What is the difference between 元 (圓), 幣, and 金? In currency exchange booths, and in conversation, I've noticed this:

US dollar = 美元, 美金.
Hong Kong dollar = 港幣
Japanese Yen = 日元
Singapore dollar = 新幣
Euro = 歐元

There's also 英鎊 for the pound sterling, but I understand where that comes from.

What is the difference between 元 (圓), 幣, and 金? Is there a rule for using one over the other? Or is usage based on historical and/or personal preferences?

I've personally never seen anyone use "日幣", "歐金", etc.

元/圓 (dollar) is a unit of money, 澳洲元/圓 = Australian Dollar; 美元/圓 = US Dollar

圓 is the correct character, 元 is a sound-alike shorthand

Japan only use 圓, therefore, 日圓 = Japanese Yen

幣 means 'coin' , referring to currency, 人民幣(People's coin) = China's currency; 新台幣 (New Taiwan coin) = Taiwan's currency

It is correct that choosing 圓 or 幣 mostly based on historical or personal preferences. Historically 圓 is more colloquial, general public would refer foreign coins as 圓; while 幣 is more formal and literary.

Calling 美元 as 美金 is a unique case. No other country's currency is called 金.

Back in the days when US tried to make US dollar the common currency of the world thus enable America to gain control of the world trade, they announced US dollar's value will be hooked with America's gold reserve . It meant America could only issue the amount of currency with equal value of gold in reserve. That effectively made US dollar as trust worthy as gold. American dollar was in effect, American gold. They could do that because at that time they had the largest gold reserve in the world.

Nowadays it is no longer the case, US dollar no longer hooked up with gold's value, it is now based only upon the trust on America's economy

Hong Kong people also use 紙 (as in 銀紙, meaning banknote) colloquially to refer to currency.

加紙, 加圓 and 加幣 all refer to Canadian currency

港紙, 港圓 and 港幣 all refer to Hong Kong's currency


What is the hidden meaning of 来打我呀? I saw a lot of people using "来打我呀" online, for example in video comments or WeChat stickers.

I was wondering what is the hidden meaning of this sentence (if there is one)? I guess it does not only mean "Come hit me".

来打我呀 (come hit me) is a taunt here.  Since the internet users in WeChat are not physically facing each others, it is impossible to reach over the monitor and hit somebody.

Saying 来打我呀 (come hit me) remind the other person that "Yes, I am pissing you off, and there's nothing you can do about it."  ╮(╯ ∀ ╰)╭

You can taunt people on the web with anything that's impossible to do physically like 來咬我吃呀 (why don't you come bite and eat me), 來砍我呀 (why don't you come hack me up)


What are the earliest examples of "simplification"? It seems that there are many "simplifications" in cursive that have existed for far longer than Simplified Chinese characters have.

There are some mentions of this here: How do I find the rules used to create the simplified version of the characters? between @EnricoBrasil and @droooze.

My question is, what are the earliest examples of "simplification"? Perhaps it can be seen in the standardization of cursive. Ideas?

On a system level, there was never a movement of simplification until the early 20th century. Chinese characters developed from less refined writing techniques and simpler shapes to more standardised writing styles and characters with more complex structures. This is because simple shapes have two (possibly related) problems:

They're too easy to confuse with other simple shapes;
You can only make so many simple shapes, and there isn't enough of them to represent the basic units of the language.

Chinese characters thus naturally piled on more components to existing characters to make enough distinguishable characters to represent the language sufficiently. Simplifications are therefore relatively rare, and are only one kind of process of how characters have changed in general. Exclusive simplifications (which make a former character obsolete) are close to nonexistent.

This being said, one can sometimes find individual characters that were known to be unambiguously simplified at one stage from a previously more complex character. I'll show two examples, the first which people would be more familiar with but doesn't really fulfil the criterion earliest, the second to actually fulfil this criterion (in an approximate sense).

「与」

「与」is ultimately a corruption of「牙」. As is already known,「与」is a simplified variant of「與」.

春秋金⿱止高君鉦鋮集成423戰國・楚簡106曾侯乙墓竹簡篆舁部說文解字今楷

西周金⿸尸⿱罒丌敖集成4213戰國・楚簡語叢3.9荊門郭店楚簡篆牙部說文解字東漢隸斥彰長田君斷　今楷

「與」(Baxter-Sagart OC: /*m-q(r)aʔ/) is comprised of semantic four hands「又又」and phonetic「牙」(/*m-ɢˤ<r>a/).

「牙」was a common phonetic loan for「與」in the Warring States period to the Han Dynasty. Over time,「牙」suffered some shape changes into「与」inside the character「與」(changes outside as a stand-alone character resulted into the modern form of「牙」instead). This leads on to the Shuowen erroneously describing「与」as a component of「與」, and「与」as a separate character from「牙」:

戰國・楚簡語叢3.9荊門郭店楚簡篆勺部說文解字今楷

《說文》：＂與，黨與也。从舁，从与。，古文與。＂ ✘✘ (「与」is not a separate character from「牙」. Should be 从舁，牙聲)
《說文》：＂与，賜予也。一勺為与。此与與同。＂ ✘✘ (Shuowen shouldn't have this entry at all)

The current form of「与」is a result of an incorrect shape analysis from Shuowen (hence why using Shuowen to demonstrate glyph evolution without checking  modern publications on the subject can lead to serious errors), and is really just「與」, inclusive of its corrupted「牙」component, stripped of its four hands「又又」.

  As mentioned earlier, Chinese characters piled on more components to existing characters to make enough distinguishable characters to represent the language sufficiently. 《荊門郭店楚簡》語叢3.9 is an example where「牙」is used as a phonetic loan or rebus for「與」. What happens when you start using phonetic loan characters? You need another character to represent the original meaning, here demonstrated by piling on more components on to「牙」to distinguish its uses.

  戰國・楚簡165曾侯乙墓竹簡隸定「」

  「」is a precursor to「齖」, which has even more components; what looks like「臼」in this character is a shape-approximation of the same picture which forms the bottom part of「齒」.

「⿻人一」(Simplification of「伐」)

Exclusively found in Shang Dynasty oracle bones, the simplified form was dropped relatively quickly.

商甲前7.15.4合集6540商甲佚328合集6363正

「伐」(to behead > kill > attack) is a picture of a person「人」and a dagger-axe「戈」, where earlier forms deliberately drew the blade of「戈」across the neck of「人」, emphasising the meaning to behead.

西周金大保簋集成4140春秋・楚金南疆鉦集成428秦簡日書乙種128睡虎地秦簡今楷

In the simplified form (佚328 and others), most of the shape of「戈」is removed, with only the blade across the neck remaining. The following is a text sample to demonstrate the usage of this shape.

  《殷虛文字丙編》502

  The following text contains both「伐」and its reduced form「⿻人一」, both shown in red. Reading order given by circled numbers ①—⑭.

  甲午卜，爭鼎（貞）：羽（翌）乙未用羌？用。（之）日⿱隹（陰）。

  (Jiǎwǔ [甲午] day divination [卜]) Oracle Zhēng [爭] asked [貞]:

  "On the day of yǐwèi [乙未] in the period of yì [翌], sacrifice [use, 用] a  Qiāng person?"

  (Divined a positive result) "Confirm sacrifice [用]."
  "That [之] day [日] is cloudy/overcast [陰]".

  甲午卜，爭鼎：羽乙未勿⿻⿰目目（瞿）用羌？

  (Jiǎwǔ day divination) Oracle Zhēng asked:

  "On the day of yǐwèi in the period of yì, don't [勿] sacrifice a Qiāng person?"

  鼎：羽乙未用羌？

  Asked:

  "On the day of yǐwèi in the period of yì, sacrifice a Qiāng person?"

  乙未卜，（賓）鼎：以⿱戈止（武）芻？

  (Yǐwèi day divination) Oracle Bīn [] asked:

  "Will the farmers [grass cutters for animal feeding, 芻] be brought over [以] from the land of Wǔ [⿱戈止]?"

  以⿱戈止芻？

  (Asked again:)

  "Will the farmers be brought over from the land of Wǔ?"

  鼎：弗（其）以⿱戈止芻？

  Asked:

  "Will the farmers not [弗] be brought over from the land of Wǔ?"

  㞢（侑）于唐子，「伐」？

  (Asked:)

  "To return favours [侑] to [于] our ancestor Tang [唐子], shall we conduct a beheading [伐] ritual?"

  鼎：乎（呼）取⿱子止，「⿻人一」？

  Asked:

  "Beckon [呼] someone to grab [取] a sacrificial person [⿱子止] for a beheading [⿻人一] ritual?"

  鼎：（燎）于土（社）？

  Asked:

  "Conduct a bonfire [燎] ritual for the regional gods [社]?"

  㞢于父乙？

  (Asked:)

  "Return favours for our ancestor King Fùyǐ [父乙]?"

  鼎：（王）㝱（夢），隹（禍）？

  Asked:

  "The king [王] had a dream [夢], will there be disaster [禍]?"

  不隹？

  (Asked:)

  "Will there not [不] be disaster?"

  鼎：（疒）罒（目）？

  Asked:

  "Will the king suffer an eye [目] disease [疒]?"

  鼎：弗罒？

  Asked:

  "Will the king not suffer an eye disease?"

References:

杜忠誥《說文篆文訛形釋例》
季旭昇《說文新證》
劉翔・陳抗・陳初生・董琨　編　李學勤　審訂《商周古文字讀本》
何琳儀《戰國古文字典：戰國文字聲系》
小學堂
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Does 省亲 only refer to visiting wife’s parents by the wife? I wanted to say I went to visit my husband’s parents and remembered 省亲, but after second thought and searched online and realized that it might only refer to visiting my parents instead of visiting my husband’s. Refer to 元春省亲 in 红楼梦. So, it seems that 省亲 might be the same as 回娘家?? If so, is there a similar word to say visiting my husband’s side? I know I can use 回婆家 or 探望公婆 But is there a two character word for this?

省亲 指探望父母，有时也指其他尊长，但断没有指戚家长辈的。因为中国古时在婚姻关系中男方地位远高于女方，而宗族一般又居住在一起，故女方嫁入男方家以后，自然天天跟公婆生活在一个屋檐下，并没有探望的需要，而男方是不会去探望女方的父母的。这样看来，媳妇探望公婆的事情没有传统的词语也很正常。


Understanding 到 and 去 in the sentence: 今天你把这袋粮食送到河对岸的村子里去吧 I was reading the story "Little Horse Crosses the River" and encountered the following phrase:

今天你把这袋粮食送到河对岸的村子里去吧。

I understand this to mean

Today, take the bag of grain to the village on the opposite river bank.

But I am confused as to what 送到 exactly means and why 去 is at the end of the sentence. I know 送 means to take, but I also know 到 and 去 mean to go and it seems repetitive to use them both to say "Go and take this...." Why are both used and why are they placed where they are?

"今天你把这袋粮食送到河对岸的村子里去吧."

送 is the main verb and 到 is a result complement in this case. 到 might be understood as to in English. I.e. 送到家里: take it to home(inside).

去 here is an indicator of the direction of moving/going, as in 上去，下去，到外面去，里面去， etc. So, 村子里去 denotes going the direction of inside of village.


Is "毁灭" the best word to use here? I am trying to translate this sentence:

Explore a beautiful, vast and ruined world riddled with dangers and lost technologies.

After consulting Google Translate, this is what I came up with:

探索一个美丽，充满危险和丢失的科技，广阔而毁灭的世界。

Is "毁灭" the best term to use here? I found a lot of translations for "ruined" (such as "废墟" & "破败") and I'm not sure which one is appropriate in this context.

毁灭 = 'to destroy'
'ruined' here is an adjective that means '毁灭了的/ 残破的'
'ruined world' = 毁灭了的世界/ 残破的世界

Explore a beautiful, vast, and ruined world riddled with dangers and lost technologies.

探索一个美丽(的)，广阔而残破(的)，充满危险和失落(的)科技的世界。

The term 'lost technologies' is usually translated as 失落的科技 or 遗失的科技. '丢失' is more suitable for a recent event; 失落的/ 遗失的 is more suitable for a distant event
Either 残破的世界 or 破败的世界 is better than 毁灭的世界

美丽的世界

广阔而残破的世界

充满危险和遗失的科技的世界

探索一个美丽，广阔而残破，充满危险和遗失科技的世界。

When putting the three above phrases together to form a single sentence, you can just keep the last 的 and omit the rest. The  的 before 世界 serves as the adjectival marker for all the adjectives in this sentence
More example:

好看的车

贵价的车

全新的车

好看，贵价，全新的车


Is the female name 桂英 outdated? Why? I suggested naming a Chinese baby girl 桂英 after her grandmother but my suggestion was rejected as the name was considered outdated. I know there is a legendary heroine named 穆桂英 and the name 桂英 is commmonly used by many Chinese ladies. The name itself sounds beautiful and bears nice meanings. Is it considered as outdated? If so, why did it lose its popularity?

By the way, if there is any statistics, I would love to know the rank of the name 桂英 by popularity among 2018 born baby girls. May I know how to find it out?

Yes, it is indeed outdated.

Moreover, you may not want to name your child after a super famous character when that person's name is not quite common, for example （武）则天、（毛）泽东、（周）恩来、（朱）元璋 and so on. Especially when you two share the same surname!

However, some more common names, especially one-character names, though may have been used by famous people, could still be used after, for example, （杨）勇、（李）密、（刘）秀、（王）勃 and so on.

Also, it is not a common practice to have children and their elder relatives using same characters in first names. We do not memorize our loved ones that way.

As for the popularity of a certain name, you may not be able to easily access that data as it not the kind of information that a government would like people to get their hands on to.

But there is a way to roughly determine whether a name is popular or not. That is, once a "type" of name is used by more and more people, it gets unpopularized! Because people want their names to stand out.

For example, around 1950s or 1960s, people tended to name their children as 解放、卫星（when the first satellite was launched by China）and then 永强、永平 in the following years. In recent years, life is becoming peace and nice, people started to name their children as 紫萱、梓萱、子轩、梓轩 and so on. But they are soon considered outdated as well! Curious on what people would come up with.


What is 那种带有 doing in 我喜欢喝农民那种带有苦味的茶水? From the third sentence in the book 活着

  我喜欢喝农民那种带有苦味的茶水
  Wǒ xǐhuān hē nóngmín nàzhǒng dàiyǒu kǔwèi de cháshuǐ

This translates to something like

  I [我] like [喜欢] to drink [喝] the farmers' [民那] bitter-tasting [苦味] tea [茶水].

However, I don't understand what 那种带有 is doing in this sentence.  Breaking it up: 那种 (nàzhǒng) = "the sort of" and 带有 (dàiyǒu) = "involve" (and "accompany").  So maybe it means something like

  I like to drink the kind of bitter-tasting tea associated with farmers

but I'm not sure.  YouDao has other examples of 那种带有 being used, and the first of which suggests it means something like "... the kind typical of [something]" but it's not exactly what it translates to.

Question: What is 那种带有 doing in 我喜欢喝农民那种带有苦味的茶水?

我喜欢喝茶水 = I like to drink tea
我喜欢喝 [农民那种]茶水 = I like to drink [the farmers type] tea
"农民那种" is a relative phrase of "茶水" that provide information about the tea
What type of tea is it? It is the famers type
我喜欢喝 [农民那种] [带有苦味的] 茶水 = I like to drink [the farmers type], [which is bitter tasting] tea
"带有苦味的" is the relative phrase of "农民那种" that provide explanation on the famer's type
What is famers type? It is the type that with bitter taste

If you add a comma between relative phrases, the sentence would be easier to comprehend -- "我喜欢喝农民那种, 带有苦味的茶水"
If you remove "农民那种" and write "我喜欢喝带有苦味的茶水", "带有苦味的" would become relative/adjective phrase of 茶水

You can even add relative phrases for 带有苦味 and write "我喜欢喝农民那种, 带有苦味, 但尚未到藥味程度 的茶水"
How bitter is it? Not to the point of medicine like

"带有" (with/ contains) literally means "carry with"


Does the Chinese language distinguish "doubt" and "suspicion"? Doubt expresses a lack of belief due to insufficient evidence.

Suspicion expresses a feeling of belief in the absence of evidence.

If I'm not mistaken, the Chinese language does not distinguish the two.

Yes, it does

Doubt is 疑问, which can be having question about anything, it is a neutral word.
and suspicion is 怀疑, usually means suspecting someone has done something wrong, which is usually negative.


Are the characters for sleep and feel the same? I am learning Simplified Mandarin using Memrise. I just learned the character 觉, to feel. However, I'm pretty sure I learned earlier that 觉 meant to sleep. Is there a difference between the characters?

Chinese characters can have multiple meanings and multiple pronunciations. You figure out the intended pronunciation and meaning based on the context. In the context 睡觉 （Shuìjiào，"go to sleep"), the pronunciation is jiào and the meaning is "(a period of) sleep". In the context 感觉 （Gǎnjué， "feeling"), the pronunciation is jué and it contributes the meaning "feel".


Is it gan3 ding3 she is saying in this sentence? Audio clip https://soundcloud.com/menevets/chinesepod-museum-clip

Around 3 seconds in, it sounds like gan3 ding3, but I can't figure out what it means. I think gan3 is 感. Could ding3 be 顶?

na4 wo3 men jiu4 gan3 ding2 xu4 yu4 zhe4 ge bu3 wu3 guan3 ma.

那我们就 [? ? ] [絮语?] 这个博物馆吗.

I'm pretty sure the gist of the sentence is now let's [something something] this musesum

那我们就 赶紧 去这个博物馆吧！ （Nà wǒmen gǎnjǐn qù zhège bówùguǎn ba） - We should quickly go to the museum now.

赶 gǎn：to catch up; to overtake; to hurry; to rush; to drive away

紧 jǐn：tight; strict; close at hand; near; urgent; tense; hard up; short of money; to tighten

赶紧：hurriedly; without delay


忍不住 vs 忍不了 vs 受不住vs 受不了 - what is the difference, and when should I use each one? 忍不住 ，忍不了 ，受不住，受不了seem to be fairly synonymous in Mandarin, but there does seem to be some subtle differences between them.What exactly is the difference? When should I use each one? Could you give me an example sentence to show when each of these terms would be the most appropriate?

忍不住：「他说的笑话真好笑，我忍不住笑了」
忍不了：「这个人老是室内吸烟，我快忍不了了」
受不住：「这位老人的年岁已大，怕是受不住这种手术」
受不了：「这个辣椒真辣，辣的我受不了」


What is the right translation for "replacement class"? I wanted to say the sentence "I have a replacement class this Saturday". I translated "replacement class" in Google translate and got 替换课程. But when I typed the full sentence on Google translate it is 替补课. So should my sentence be 这个星期六我有替换课程 or 这个星期六我有替补课 or is there any other more appropriate/colloquial way to say it?

The scenario you described is usually called 调（tiáo）课 in Chinese. I am not sure if there is a corresponding noun for replacement class in Chinese, but the sentence you had

  I have a replacement class this Saturday

can be translated to

  我们有一节课调（tiáo）到这周六了


What is the difference between the different words for street: 街，路 etc? Some street names end with 路 and some with 街. I was curious to know if there is any difference in the meaning of the two words. When I look them up in a dictionary both say "street".

Are they the same?
Is one used over another in particular situations?

街 = street

过街 - cross the street

逛大街 - to go window shopping/to have a stroll

路 = road

走错路 -or- 走弯路 take the wrong path (both literally and figuratively)

走投无路 - to be at an impasse/to have no way out/to be at a dead end (again both lit. and fig.)

街 is more like a literal street, while 路 is equivalent to road but it can also be used figuratively for paths/directions in life, etc.


What is the difference between 绝对 and 肯定? Continuing from my previous question, there's another phrase that also makes me confused, the usage of "绝对" and "肯定".

From my textbook, here's the meaning of each word:

  绝对 = [Adj./Adv.] Absolute / Absolutely.
  肯定 = [Adj./Adv.] Sure / Surely.

I'm assuming the level of confidence is different based on the meaning. The degree of "绝对" seems higher than "肯定".

Take a look at these sentences (taken from 汉语口语速成: 基础篇 pp. 91-92):

  老王点点头，给了老董一个肯定的回答。
  这个人这么胖，绝对不是张英。
  事情都有好的方面，也有不好的方面，不能想得太绝对。
  河里的水真清，要是不去游游泳，肯定很舒服。

Are the above sentences correct? Can "绝对" and "肯定" be used interchangeably? I feel sentences #1, #2, and #4 can be changed into "绝对", "肯定", and "绝对" respectively.

The dictionary definition may help you.

肯定 / kěn dìng /
1 （承认事物的存在或真实性） affirm; approve; confirm; regard as positive:
affirm the achievements
肯定成绩
2 （正面的） affirmative:
Her answer is in the affirmative.
她的回答是肯定的。
3 （明确的; 确定的） definite; positive; sure:
We are not sure yet whether we'll go or not.
去不去， 我们还不能肯定。
It's definite that he'll come.; He is sure to come.
他肯定会来。
4 （一定; 无疑问） certainly; surely; definitely; undoubtedly; as sure as eggs
is eggs; dead cert:
We can certainly have the job finished on time.
我们肯定能按时完成任务
绝对 / jué duì /
1 （没有任何条件; 不受任何限制） absolute:
absolute predominance; overwhelming superiority; absolute superiority;
绝对优势
oppose absolute equalitarianism;
反对绝对平均主义
2 （完全; 一定） absolutely; perfectly; definitely:
absolutely reliable;
绝对可靠
Absolute perfection in a dictionary is rare.
绝对完美的词典是罕见的。

Back to your examples:

老王点点头，给了老董一个肯定的回答。// 绝对 can not be used to replace 肯定

这个人这么胖，绝对不是张英。// 绝对 can be used to replace 肯定

事情都有好的方面，也有不好的方面，不能想得太绝对。//  绝对 can not be used to replace 肯定

河里的水真清，要是不去游游泳，肯定很舒服。//  肯定 can be used to replace 绝对.


Difference between Cantonese and Mandarin: using 係/是 to link noun with adjective? This Chinese grammar page states

  是 (shì) is only used to link two nouns. It cannot be used to link a
  noun and an adjective.

For instance, you should not say this in Mandarin: 我是高

But in Cantonese, it seems like you can say 我係高, and it would be considered grammatically correct. This seems like a common way to emphasize some quality as in Yes, I *am* tall.

Is the grammar page correct, that is you cannot use 是 to link a noun and adjective?
If the grammar page is correct, does this mean Cantonese and Mandarin differ in this regard, or is it wrong even in Cantonese to say 我係高?

我(高)是高 in Mandarin and 我(高就)係高 in Cantonese are both common phrases. They are always followed by a contrasting statement

Simply put, you have to follow "我是高" or "我係高" with a "but"

Example:

"我(高)是高, 但還沒高到可以打職業籃球" (I am tall, but not tall enough to play pro basketball)

Same goes to Cantonese: "我(高就)係高, 但仲未高到可以打職業籃球" (I am tall, but not tall enough to play pro basketball)

  Both "我是高, 因此可以打職業籃球" and "我係高, 高到可以打職業籃球" are grammatically incorrect because there are no contrasting statement.

One difference:

  "我高是高"(It is true that I am tall) is not usually reduced to "我是高" in Mandarin , even it is not technically wrong;  on the other hand, "我高就係高" is routinely shortened to "我係高" or even "我高" in Cantonese"


Is there a lot of value in learning to write Chinese characters? I have noticed that a lot of my friends that study Chinese at university spend a lot of their time learning to write Chinese. I would estimate more than 50% of their Chinese study time is spent on memorizing how to write Chinese characters.

I'm considering studying Chinese at university, but I'm unsure because I would have to learn to write, which I feel would be a big investment of my time which could be spent  practicing reading, listening and speaking.

Even with English, I feel I hardly ever write anything with a pen. Everything is done on cell phones, computers, etc. now and I feel this trend is only going to continue.

So, is there a value in learning to write characters by hand, if I know how to write them via pinyin input? Or should I continue to focus my time on learning to read, speak and listen instead?

You're right that most of the time, you use a computer or cell phone when "writing" Chinese characters. In fact, many Chinese will tell you that - beside their own name (used as a signature) - they almost never write any Chinese characters by hand.

Today, writing Chinese characters is more for memorization than for practical purposes. You might know a few characters and you might know how to type them in your computer, but the only way to really keep them in your mind, and being able to read them fluently, is to write them. It is however rather tedious so it works better if you have some interest in Chinese characters to begin with, otherwise it might get boring.

The best way might be to just try. Write a few characters every day and you might find yourself interested in all the subtleties of Chinese characters.

Edit: There's a related question about the relation between writing and memorizing on the Cognitive Sciences Stack Exchange - https://cogsci.stackexchange.com/q/68/63


Tips for pronouncing X vs SH in Mandarin? I'd like to think my Mandarin pronunciation is generally pretty reasonable, but I often get tripped up with X and SH - for example words like 雪 and 水, or 虾 and 莎. Even with different tones, I find these kind of tricky to get right - although obviously context makes the meaning more obvious.

Does anyone have a good tip on how to clearly show the difference in the X sound vs the SH sound? What shape should I have my mouth, and where should I put my tongue for each of these sounds?

'x' is an alveolo-palatal fricative, while 'sh' is a retroflex fricative.

For retroflex 'sh', the tip of the tongue is curled up toward the roof of the mouth while the tongue body is low.
Mandarin 'sh' could be similar to Russian 'ш'.  Start with this wikipedia image of a retroflex stop, but make a slight space for air to pass above the tongue:

For alveolo-palatal 'x', the blade of the tongue approximates the palate while the tongue tip is low.  Mandarin 'x' could be similar to Portuguese or Catalan 'x'.  It can help to press the tongue tip against the lower teeth when learning to pronounce 'x'---this doesn't change the sound, it just keeps your tongue tip out of the way:

More details: Chinese phonology on wikipedia


The word for Silicon Valley in Chinese On Pleco, there are two entries for the word Silicon Valley, 硅谷 and 矽谷.

One is 硅谷, the other is 矽谷.

What is the difference between the two?

「硅」(Pinyin guī) is the Mainland Chinese word for silicon, while「矽」(Pinyin xī) is the Taiwan and Hong Kong word for silicon. This difference in the word for silicon transfers over to their respective names for Silicon Valley as well.

From Japanese Wikipedia; top character is PRC chemical element name, bottom character is Taiwan chemical name.

ランタノイド: Lanthanide series
アクチノイド: Actinide series

(Don't know why English and Chinese Wikipedia doesn't provide this naming difference periodic table between PRC and Taiwan)


Does 开他的玩笑 mean "he" plays or is played? In the following sentence:

  艾文特别老实、害羞，提什么建议，他都说好的好的；有时开他的玩笑，他会脸红得不知所措，只是憨憨地笑。他喜欢骑自行车，我俩就骑着车在南京城里转，在我这个业余导游的指引下，早到哪儿，逛到哪儿。

Since it starts with 他 as a subject, I feel that it is "he" that makes fun of something, not that he is being. But since the latter sentence makes an impression that he feels embarrassed, so I also feel that he is actually joked at here.

How can I know which is correct? Usually, the sentence should be 他开玩笑 I think, but I wonder if it is actually "he" that is making fun of, why is it in such a form...

Or is 开X的玩笑 different word from X开玩笑? If it is the same and the subject is 他, why not simply say 他开玩笑, instead of 开他的玩笑?

'他的' in '开他的玩笑' is not the subject, it is an  'adjectival phrase'

开玩笑 = to joke

他的 = (对)他的 = toward/ about him

'对他的' (toward/ about him) is the adjectival phrase for '玩笑' (joke). It describes what kind of joke it is - 'a joke toward/ about him'

'开玩笑' (to joke) is a single verb treated as one word, but in this structure, 玩笑 (joke) is isolated out and treated like a noun, therefore (对)他的 could be applied to it.

Similarly:

回家 (go home) is a single verb

in '回[溫暖的]家' , '家' is isolated out as a noun and '溫暖的' (warm) is the adjective for '家'(home)


How can I find a suitable-level Chinese class in Beijing? It looks like I'm moving to Beijing Jiaotong University, and I'm seeking Chinese courses at my level.  My reading level is around 三年级 (grade-3 level) and speaking level is probably less than that (maybe 二年级), enough to have conversations on unspecialized topics.  Mostly I'm self-taught, but I feel I should get a proper education.

I'm seeking in-person classes, with homework and/or exams.
I'm seeking a class at an appropriate level.

If the notes use pinyin for anything other than new vocabulary, it's probably too easy for me.
If the teacher speaks English, it's probably too easy.

Ideally, the material would be what is normally taught to Chinese children.

Searching the web gives lots of courses, but they're hard to judge.  Most classes I find are at the absolute beginner level, optimized for passing HSK exams, or are tailored to doing business in China. They typically minimize reading and writing, and focusing on speaking and listening, to suit "Western" tastes.  I'm more seeking class for people who intend to permanently live in China.  I'm not sure what to look for.

Question: How can I find a suitable-level Chinese class in Beijing?

I thought about a course while I was in Australia, but the study material is artificial and boring!  For example:

  麦克：谢谢你来接我，最近还好吧？
  李志：我很好。你坐了这么久的飞机，一定很累了吧？

I attended some classes at Nankai University when I was there; the teachers are fantastic, the material is interesting, but the level was too low (absolute beginner).  I wish I could find something like that, but at a more suitable level.

I did not find this question addressed here: Resources for learning Mandarin Chinese  I hope this question is of interest beyond just my personal needs, particularly since I ask about classes in Beijing.

To answer my own question, I'm currently taking the part-time 1-on-1 classes from the LTL Mandarin School: https://ltl-beijing.com/chinese-tutor-beijing/.

I was attracted to this because (a) I Googled it and most reviews were good, (b) the prices are clearly listed, and it's exactly what I paid (so no "tricks"---what it says is exactly what I paid), (c) the teacher comes to my office, which is incredibly convenient, and (d) I could start immediately (no waiting for semester dates, no enrollment process).

I've had maybe 7 lessons thus far (2 hours each).  My comments:

I'm relieved that I'm not the top student; my teacher has students with better Chinese than me.  She knows how to help me.
I currently write a diary in Chinese, which I feel is a good approach as I want to learn how to discuss topics related to me.  These are not always comfortable topics.  E.g. my last diary entry was about my recent visit to Iran, and the impact Trump's sanctions are having there.  It's something I would talk about normally.
My teacher seems to understand how I feel about Chinese textbooks: they are incredibly boring, with fake dialogues.  I want opinions and controversy, not "Mike picked up Li Wei from the airport"---I want something I would be interested in reading ordinarily.  That being said, I still need to understand Chinese grammar, where it might be unavoidably dry.
My teacher is friendly and nice.  The two hours seem to go very quickly!


Any difference between 发蒙 and 上学 for children? Sometimes the words 发蒙 and 上学 can be seen together as a single phrase: 发蒙上学.

Working with the topolectical words 穿牛鼻子

one defintion says:

  喻指小孩到学校读书

while another says:

  比喻儿童发蒙

Is there any, fundamental, difference between 发蒙 and 上学 for children?

Or is this just more of a countryside (乡下) vs. urban idea?

This ifeng article says:

  自古以来，孩子上学叫“发蒙”，早期教育叫“蒙学”。从文字角度，“蒙”这个字最早的含义，本身就与幼童启蒙有关。

It's not super clear if it is exactly the same or if there are subtle differences.

发蒙 is not used constantly in Chinese anymore.

上学 means receive education in a general way.

if you want to say education at an early age, maybe "启蒙教育" fits better.


"学大汉，武立国"? Is it not "国立武汉大学"？ What is the point of "learning from the Grand Han Dynasty and Establishing the Nation by Military"?

It is some kind of wordplay, using '回文句' and '拆句'

回文句 is a text you can read from both ends

拆句 is changing the word groupings in a sentence and read it in different way

From http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_4b8db2710102wvw6.html

Sample of 回文诗 (reversible poem):
Reading from one end:

园林杏叶落初秋，眨眼星悬半月勾
In the garden, apricot leaves fall in early autumn, in the blink of eyes, stars are hanging in the sky and the moon is half hooked.

Reading from the other end:

勾月半悬星眼眨，秋初落叶杏林园
Hooked moon hanging in the middle of the sky and the stars are blinking, in early autumn, there are falling leaves in the apricot garden.

Sample of 拆句 (words breaking):
下雨天留客，天留人不留。 (It rains because the heaven wants to keep the guest from leaving; However, the host doesn't want to keep the guest even the heaven does)
下雨天，留客天，留人不? 留! (Rainy day, a day to keep the guest from leaving, do you keep the guest here? Yes I do!)
"国立 武汉大学" (Wuhan University) read backward is "学大汉武立国" which doesn't make much sense if you read it as "学大 汉武立国" , but it make sense if you break it up the right way as "学大汉, 武立国" (Learning from the Great Han Dynasty and establish the nation with military might)
Simply put, you can read "国立武汉大学" backward and rearrange the characters grouping to make it mean something else -- for fun
Chinese poets are so clever with wordplay


寄 包裹去 上 海 怎 么寄 ？. 去。meaning in the sentence 寄包裹去上海怎么寄 ？ what is 去 grammar point. Is it a directional complement¿. Has it got the meaning of "in order to” Like in the sentence bellow after the definition.

5 [between two verbal expressions, and / or after the second expression]

她上街去买东西了。(= 她上街买东西去了。= 她上街去买东西去了。)
Tā shàngjiē qù mǎi dōngxi le. (or) tā shàngjiē mǎi dōngxi qù le. (or) tā shàngjiē qù mǎi dōngxi qù le.
She went to the market to do some shopping.

this another thing I found in dictionary. but is 寄 a verb of motion¿. And isn’t a 到 before 上海 ¿ if not how is it a preposition and a directional complement at the same time¿. I am confused.

1 [after verbs of motion, indicating motion away from the speaker] thither; there; away

回家去
huí jiā qù
go home

上楼去
Shàng lóu qù
go upstairs

信寄去了没有？
Xìn jì qù le méiyǒu？
Have you sent the letter off yet?

And here what is the grammar point of 去

我会带他去几个有名的旅游景点比 如长城 、天 安门、.

Thanks

In your examples, take 去 as to.

She went 'to' the market ("to" do some shopping): 她上街("去"买东西)'去'了 is a complete translation for the sentence, but wordy with two 去, so just dismiss any.

寄包裹去上海怎么寄: How to deliver the package "to" Shanghai

回家去: go home or go "to" the living place (no "to" as "home" is an adv here)

信寄去了没有: Have you sent the letter "to" (somebody) yet?
信寄出去了没有: Have you sent the letter "off" yet?

带他去几个旅游景点: take him "to" some tourist spots

Well, English uses different verbs for direction of actions, while in Chinese we use the same verb.

带他去上海: take him "to" Shanghai
带他来上海: bring him "to" Shanghai

她买东西去了: she went shopping somewhere
她买东西来了: she bought sth and brought here


What's the title for addressing an unknown young person the same age as you? For example, you are a 20 year old male/female. You are walking on the street, then you see a male stranger who seems to be the same age as your. He is in hurry, you see him drop his wallet. You pick up the wallet and want to give back the wallet to the person. He is walking quite fast and the street is quite crowded, so there is no way to approach him and pat him saying "对不起，你的钱包掉了" (excuse me, you dropped your wallet). You don't want to let him out of your sight, so you decide to shout to him "sir! you dropped your wallet!". How to say that in Chinese?

Can we use 同伴 or 同学 to address him? (eg: 同伴！你的钱包掉了！)

In my opinion, if you are adult and the person who droppd wallet is:

younger than 11, you can call him or her "小朋友";
at the age of 11 to 18, you can call him or her "同学";
at the age of 18 to 24, you can call him "同学", "帅哥(cool man)", and call her "同学", "美女(beautiful girl)";
at the age of 24 to 35, you can call him "帅哥", and call her "美女";
older than 30, it really depend on your age and the person's age. For example, the person is 42, and you are 23, you can call him "叔叔(uncle)", and call her "阿姨(aunt)".

However, you can call the person who dressed very fashionably "帅哥","美女", eventhough he(she) is older than 35.

In addition, I think the person will usually stop walking, if you shout "喂，你的钱包掉了！(Hey, You dropped your wallet.)"


What is the Chinese Homophonic Group? Equivalent question: What Chinese letters won't equal 1? (If I need to specify, then I guess I'll pick Mandarin)

From: the homophonic group: a mathematical diversion
 --> This is an exercise from Michael Artin's Algebra on, well, abstract algebra. In this exercise for the English language, words are equal if they are homophones, kind of like a formalisation of the joke that sin(x)/n=6. So in English:

bee=be --> This implies e=1 by cancellation of b and e.

buy=by --> This implies u=1 by cancellation of b and y.

rase=raze --> This implies s=z by cancellation of r and e.

canvass = canvas --> This implies s=1 by cancellation of c,a,n,v,a and s. By canvass=canvas and rase=raze, we have s=z=1.

Eventually, all 26 English letters will equal 1. Apparently, this was done for French and Czech.

Chinese writing works differently, of course, to alphabetical writing.

If you define the basic unit of written Chinese as the character, then no Chinese character will equal 1, because there's no such thing as a silent Chinese character.*
If you define the basic unit of written Chinese as a stroke, then the homophonic group is trivial and is just the group comprising all strokes.
If you define the basic unit of written Chinese as all unicode-encoded decompositions (this is not a natural way of decomposing the written language), then non-1-value characters can be found by searching through a database for characters which aren't part of any other character. Examples can be found by Googling search terms like "CJKV Characters with the most strokes".

*I suppose if you wish to reduce expressions like "Aaaaah! (啊啊啊啊!)" then you could plausibly say that 啊 = 1...


What's the origin of the proverbial phrase, "Sky falls/does not fall big pancakes"? I know a Chinese proverbial phrase. Translated literally into English, it says something along the lines of "Sky falls big pancakes". When used negatively in the phrase, "The sky does not fall big pancakes," it is generally used to warn against idleness.

What is the origin of the proverb? Also, I am not really sure if the object is pancakes. It may be a cookie or a flat cake or a flat flour wrap.

天上掉馅饼，means that free and delicious food like pies are falling from the sky. Or its negative form: 天上不会掉馅饼

Nowadays it usually means that people who are lazy are expecting something miracle but impossible will happen to them. For example:

  不好好工作就想升职，别做梦了，天上又不会掉馅饼。

This phrase came from a Chinese myth. After 嫦娥(the lady in the legend who swallowed the elixir stolen from her husband and flew to the moon) went to the moon, 后羿(the man in the legend who shot 9 suns out of 10 and saved the earth from the heat) was very sad and thought about her every day. When 嫦娥 found out his love, she wrote her love on a pie. Because she is on the moon, there came the phrase: 天上掉馅饼


What's the difference between 了, 著 and 到 when used as verb complements? I need help with sorting out the difference between 了, 著 and 到 when used as verb complements. I have learnt most of my Chinese in Taiwan and in my experience, Taiwanese people don't use 著 as a verb complement very often, except in some common phrases like 睡不著 and similar. I don't think I've ever heard anyone here say 買不著 or 見著. Most explanations I find online are next to useless, saying more or less the same thing, i.e. that these complements indicate the possibility of an action or if a result/goal has been attained.

I don't have much of a problem with 了 and 到, but I don't know how to use 著.

In order to have something to play with, here are some examples I found online for 著:

(1) 听说你想买一本汉英词典，**买着**了吗？
(2) 我去的时候，车已经开了，我没**见着**他们。
(3) 在那儿什么东西都**买得着**。
(4) 有些东西你带了也**用不着**。
(5) 我的药呢？刚才还在桌子上，怎么**找不着**了？
(6) 我经常**找不着**北。
(7) 这是十年前流行的衣服，现在已经**买不着**了。

睡著 is the only sentence where I would use 著 naturally without thinking too much about it. When should 著 be used? What's the difference between that and using 到 (or 了 in some cases)?

Drawing from the examples above, what's the difference between:

(3) 在那儿什么东西都**买得着** and 什麼東西都**買得到**
(4) 有些东西你带了也**用不着** and **用不到**
(5) 我的药呢？刚才还在桌子上，怎么**找不着**了？ and **找不到**了？
(7) 这是十年前流行的衣服，现在已经**买不着**了 and **買不到**了

In the above cases, I would always opt for the second version and they seem to mean pretty much the same thing to me. Please help!

了 and 到/著(着) (zháo) serve different functions in sentences.

了 used after verbs implies a sense of "stopped, finished,completed, or done" on the action.

到 and 著(着) used after verbs indicate the result of the action.

  找(不/得)着, 找(不/得)到
  够(不/得)着, 够(不/得)到
  吃(不/得)着, 吃(不/得)到

I can't really tell the difference between 到 and 著(着), but it seems to me that 到 sounds a little bit more formal than 著(着).

In some cases, 著(着) seems emphasizing on the ability of doing something, while 到 seems focusing on the result of doing something.

  书架最上层的书，我够不着. vs 书架最上层的书，我够不到.
  我跟你说话呢，你听不着吗？ vs 我跟你说话呢，你听不到吗？
  家里有这么多活儿，你看不着吗？vs 家里有这么多活儿，你看不到吗？
  你打不着我. vs 你打不到我.
  找不着北了. vs 找不到北了.

But there are some cases where one is more likely used than the other.

Case A) In the following sentences, using 到 is good, but using 著(着) sounds awkward.

  这个办法, 我早想到了.
  演唱会的门票, 我终于搞到了.
  这个赌, 我最终赢到了.

Case B) In the following cases, only 到 is used.

  说到做到.
  说得到做得到.
  说得到做不到.
  请同学们说一下,你在这幅画中看到了什么, 又想到了什么.
  尽到责任.
  货送到了.
  话我是带到了啊，去不去由你.
  收到信了.
  受到好评.
  遭到敌人的伏击.

Case C) In the following examples, only 著(着) is used, to show something (not) getting into a continuous state.

  他睡着了.
  他翻来覆去睡不着.
  出了这么大的事他居然还睡得着觉.
  他的衣服烧着了.
  他把油灯点着了.
  油灯没油了，点不着了.
  他把炉子引着了.
  他把发动机起着了.
  他把打火机打着了.
  打火机坏了，打不着了.

Case D) In the following examples, only 著(着) is used.

  我爱怎样怎样，你管不着(or 你干涉不着).
  有话好好说，用不着这样鼻子不是鼻子脸不是脸的.
  这事儿还真让你说着了.
  哼！这次算你捡着了，下次可就没这么好运了！
  丈二和尚，摸不着头脑.

Case E) When there are place/time coming after verbs, only 到 is used.

  爬到树上
  睡到天亮
  牛皮吹到天上去了
  你这话说到我心里去了.
  你这话，说到点子上了.

Case F) When there are objects coming after verbs, in some cases both 到 and 著(着) are ok.

  我没碰着他. 我没碰到他.
  我没见着他. 我没见到他.
  我没买着那本书. 我没买到那本书.
  再也吃不着这样好吃的菜了. 再也吃不到这样好吃的菜了

But in the following cases 到 is more preferrable.

  听到一阵枪声
  看到一块巨石

By the way, 着 (zhe) is used to descibe a continuous action.

  看着她跳舞
  打着手势
  撇着嘴

Note: I polished my answer with some good points from other answers or comments.


Asking a cafe/restaurant if they have Wi-Fi *and* electricity for using a device In my travels in China I've found myself in need of a place to use my internet device. Its battery has recently ceased to hold a charge so I also need to be able to plug in my AC adaptor.

My Chinese is at a level I describe as "pre embrionic" and my attempts are usually not fully understood. Here are the kinds of things I've been trying:

Wi-Fi 和 电 有马?
无线 和 电 有没有?

I think there are two problems. The minor one is whether to try to use a Chinese or "Universal" (English) term for Internet/Wi-Fi.

The major one is how ask if they have a place with an electric outlet/socket. Literally asking "do you have electricity" does not seem to convey my need.

Actually the literal translation of English sounds natural in this case: 你们有Wi-Fi和电源吗？  or 你们有Wi-Fi和插座吗？

Here 电源 means power source, and 插座 means electric socket.


Is this a true translation of a famous quote? I got this out of the Routledge Encyclopedia of the Chinese Language, it really spoke to me, but was wondering if the translation is as true as they depict it. Nothing is as good as running it by fluent speakers of the language. Thank You!

Better to be a broken piece of jade, than a whole piece of clay

Almost.

Translating「瓦全」as a whole piece of clay, in my opinion, is not immediately intuitive (and that's not really what the literal translation is anyway). I would translate「寧爲玉碎不爲瓦全」to

  Better to be shattered jade than to be flawless china.

The message is: A principled person would rather die upholding righteousness than to live an ignoble existence.


How do I analyze "是其于主也至忠矣"? I'd like to know how to analyze "是其于主也至忠矣" word for word.

  公行之计，是其于主也至忠矣，

I would appreciate your help!

This is how I read this passage:
公行之計是其於主也至忠矣

[If] you/公 use (行) this (之; read it as 此) strategem (計), this (是) inevitably [shows] (其; read it as 乃 or 然) to (於) the lord (主) pause (也) great loyalty (至忠) ! (矣)
Using this strategem is a display of [your] loyalty/devotion towards the lord.


Identifying a type of topping used for congee I am hoping somebody could help me identify the name of a type of topping that goes with the congee that my grandma would give me as a kid.

She didn't know English and had passed away years ago. I am unable to read or write in Chinese and can only speak Cantonese, but I know it used to be pronounced something like "ma yip", the "ma" sounds like the "ma yao" in sesame oil and the "yip" sounds like leaf. I have tried asking my parents but they don't know the English name nor what the Chinese spelling would be.

Unfortunately, I didn't have a cellphone back then so I don't have any pictures to show, but I remember it would look like shriveled up leaves and would taste salty (so goes well with congee). It looks sort of like the leafy bits of stir-fried ong choy (without the thick stem).

I have tried googling general "congee toppings" although I couldn't see anything similar to what I described (Perhaps it's not mainstream enough?). I also tried googling "ma yip" since I was able to find "ong choy", however "ma yip" doesn't give me anything useful. Any help would be very appreciated, as I haven't had this since I was a child and would love to eat this again!

EDIT: My grandparents were from Chao Zhou if that helps any. My mom said this type of topping was unique to Chao Zhou and that only the older people liked it (it was not popular with younger generations)

...pronounced something like "ma yip", the "ma" sounds like the "ma yao" in sesame oil and the "yip" sounds like leaf.

The word is「麻葉」(maa4 jip6), and is indeed a Chaoshan dish.

See 潮汕麻葉配番薯粥 for a Chinese description.

NOTE: If you want to Google「麻葉」, you should either (1) set your language to Chinese only, or add a character like「粥」(congee) after it.

Unfortunately,「麻葉」is also the name of a popular Sushi store in Japan.


What does 天將降大任於斯人也,必先苦其心志 mean? "天將降大任於斯人也,必先苦其心志" seems to be a saying by 老子 or 孟子. Could someone provide a literal translation + what the saying means?

You can find James Legge's translation on ctext. Here's the snippet:

  故天將降大任於是人也，必先苦其心志
  when Heaven is about to confer a great office on any man, it first exercises his mind with suffering

You can also take a look at A. Charles Muller's translation of the same section:

  Thus, when Heaven is going to give a great responsibility to someone, it first makes his mind endure suffering.

If you want to understand about the psyche behind such quotes you could flip through a book like The Oxford Handbook of Chinese Psychology which goes into some detail on their interpretation of the saying. One such excerpt notes:

  As stated in the Confucian doctrines, individuals should endure stress or suffering because these 'negative' experiences can be beneficial to individuals through strengthening their will, resilience, and inadequacies

Of course, you should consider the context around the quote, also, to get a clearer picture of what was being spoken of.


我昨天去的图书馆: "The library I went to yesterday" or "I went to the library yesterday"? Not long ago (a week at most), I bumped into this post by Qiong Woo on Quora. There, she says the two sentences 我昨天去图书馆的 and 我昨天去的图书馆 both mean "I went to the library yesterday", and, from the way she explains the difference, I gather the first one emphasizes the action, whereas the second one emphasizes the place.

My reaction: well, yeah, the first one is the 是…的 construction with 是 implied, so I know it means that… but the second one? «Doesn’t 我昨天去的图书馆 mean “the library I went to yesterday”, with “的” marking a relative clause?», I commented. «Not necessarily. If you mean to say “the library I went to yesterday”, it’s better to say “我昨天去的那个图书馆” when there are more than one library you are referring to, though it is still odd. But it’s clearer to take, say restaurant for instance, then “the restaurant I went to yesterday” becomes “我昨天去的那家餐厅”.», she replied.

First off, is it really necessary to add 那个 for this to be a relative clause, as her comment seems to suggest? Where does this way of making a past tense sentence come from? Is it really unambiguously "I went to the library yesterday", or can it mean that as well as "The library I went to yesterday"? If so, how do I distinguish? If not, which is the actual meaning?

我昨天去图书馆的 sounds unnatural. I'd say 我昨天去了图书馆 or 我昨天去图书馆了, which means I went to the library yesterday.

我昨天去的图书馆 means the library I went to yesterday. You might have gone to several libraries or just one, because the sentence doesn't imply how many libraries you went. As you said 的 marking that relative clause.

If you say 我昨天去的那个图书馆, that means you are emphasizing that particular library you went.


Word that sounds like dumpou or trumpou I teach English online to children in China. One of my students has autism and cannot answer many questions. When I ask him what his name is, he always says "My name is Drumpou (or Trumpou)," which is not his name. He is trying to communicate something but I don't know what it is.

Trump sounds like Trump. Many Chinese speakers whose English is not so hot will say 'ah' or 'oh' after English words, like: goodah, coldah.

This is the character for 啊 a, this is 哦 o. They are often added at the end of sentences for reasons of prosody.

You can say: 对 dui, meaning 'correct', but mostly you will hear 对阿 dui a 'correct'

Maybe he is making a (political) joke:
What's your name?
Trumpoh!


"that" in Mandarin joining clauses or sentences? Can someone help me understand how to say "that" in the following uses? Please provide pinyin in your answer, since my characters aren't so good :(

He is the one THAT I saw.
It's the one THAT I want.
They said THAT they would come.

The word "that" in your third example actually doesn't introduce a relative clause. Rather it's being used as a subordinating conjunction. In this situation, the word "that" is generally optional in English, and it also is similarly omitted in Chinese:

They said [that] they would come.
他们说他们会来。
Tāmen shuō tāmen huì lái.

Relative clauses generally describe a noun or noun phrase (known as the antecedent). In Chinese, while 的 de is often used to indicate possession, it more generally is used to link a description to a noun or noun phrase, and thus can similarly be used to introduce a relative clause. When the noun or noun phrase being described is understood in context, it is omitted, leaving simply description + 的.
Let's look at your first example:

He is the one that I saw.

The relative clause is "I saw", which is simply 我看见 wǒ kànjiàn. In English the noun being described cannot be omitted when "that" is used to introduce the clause, which is why the word "one" appears to serve as the placeholder. In Chinese, it can be omitted, so "the one that I saw" ends up being simply 我看见的 wǒ kànjiàn de, thus:

He is the one that I saw.
他是我看见的。
Tā shì wǒ kànjiàn de.

If instead there was a specific noun, such as "person" instead of "one", you would have:

He is the person that I saw.
他是我看见的人。
Tā shì wǒ kànjiàn de rén.

Applying the same principles to your second example:

It's the one that I want.
它是我想要的。
Tā shì wǒ xiǎngyào de.

EDIT - Addendum:
Note that in English the noun being described can be omitted if you instead use a relative pronoun to introduce the relative clause rather than using the word "that". So instead of "He is the one that I saw" and "It's the one that I want", you could say "He is who I saw" and "It's what I want". The former have what are known as bound relative clauses while the latter have free relative clauses. The word "that" can only be used in bound relative clauses.
I just wanted to add this note to let you know that when you see a free relative clause, you can translate it to Chinese similarly, e.g.:

I like what he sees. (i.e., I like the one that he sees.)
我喜欢他看见的。
Wǒ xǐhuān tā kànjiàn de.


How to understand "ideographic" decomposition of characters like 不 and 与 I was recommended "character decomposition database" on this site.

I have started to explore it and found, that some decompositions I don't understand, like

U+4E0D  不   ⿱一③
U+4E0E  与   ⿹②一[GTKV]   ⿻②一[J]

visual representation on my machine

What do these circled numbers mean? Or they are just incorrectly displayed on my machine?

my best guess:

  U+4E0D    不   ⿱一③

不 is a top-bottom structure ⿱, with top component "一", ③ means components with three strokes, not yet defined.

you may look at these two:

  U+4E1A    业   ⿱④一

业 is a top-bottom structure, with the top component with 4 strokes, then the bottom component "一"

  U+4E1D    丝   ⿱⿰②②一

丝 is a top-bottom, and further, the top component could be divided into left-right component. so, ②② means two components, each with two strokes, left-right relationship, on top, then bottom component is "一"

have fun :)


Strange order of 國立臺灣大學? A number of Taiwanese universities, including 國立臺灣大學, follow the naming pattern 國立臺灣X大學.

This order, "National Taiwan X University" sounds awkward in English. A more natural order would be "Taiwan National X University" (or, more idiomatically, "Taiwan State X University").

This reverse order also seems more common in Chinese, e.g. 莫斯科国立大学, 釜山国立大学, 。。。

Even some of these Taiwanese universities used to have the opposite order, e.g. 臺北帝國大學, 臺灣省立師範大學.

Does the word order 國立臺灣X大學 sound unnatural to Chinese native speakers?

(If so, my guess would be that the order 臺灣國立X大學 was pointedly avoided to prevent any possible implication that Taiwan is a nation.)

To name a few:
中国科学技术大学
中国人民大学
中国地质大学
中国农业大学
中国石油大学
etc.

In mainland China, most universties are public university. As a matter of fact, the introduction of private universities happened only a few years ago. So there's no need to add public or nation owned as part of the name.

Also when you name a university, usually you put its location first. e.g. 湖南大学，香港中文大学. This applies for foreign universities too. e.g. 加州州立大学 California State University, 亚利桑那州立大学 Arizona State University.

This is what it looks like now.

However, In the Republic of China, I mean ROC almost a century ago, not Taiwan, universities are divided into two groups: public and private. So, for easier separating them, you add 国立 at the beginning for public schools. They are funded by the ROC government and when ROC moved to Taiwan, the universities are moved too, with their names unchanged.

So what you are asking, is really, why people name the universities like this 100 years ago. I guess the reason, is because before that, the country was run by the Qing Dynasty and naturally the universities, if there were any, would be named like Imperial Technology University 帝国科技大学. 孙中山 wouldn't like this and want to emphasis that the universities are run by the republic government, not the empire. If you want your government sustainable, you start with education.

Fun fact, some universities in mainland China still has evidence of it's original 国立 name. For example


Is "空时间" a valid phrase in chinese? If not, why not? For example, "你有没有空时间呢"?
In my intuition, 空时间 is most likely a physics terminology (though it isn't).

你有没有空时间呢 doesn't sound right. Try these variants:

你有没有空?
你有没有时间?
你有没有空闲的时间？
你有没有空闲的时候?


Measure Words and their English Analogue I was taught that the closest analogue in English of Chinese measure words are 'units', e.g. "a pile of wood", "a cup of water", etc.

What strikes me as a bit odd about this analogy is that the units in English add semantic meaning to the sentence (see paragraph below), whereas in Chinese, it seems it is just some formal 'rule'.  I find this particularly weird because Chinese isn't exactly a language with a lot of unnecessary morphemes floating about.  It seems more Chinese to me to say “一男人” as opposed to “一个男人”; the “个” doesn't really add anything to that sentence, so, in the spirit of Chinese, I feel as if we should drop it.

Of course, all this would be explained if it did in fact add meaning to the sentence.  In English, for example, we can say "a pile of wood", but we can also say "a stack of wood".  In both cases, we have three things:  the thing, the unit, and how many units, and the difference between the two is precisely the type of unit.  I've been taught, however, that in Chinese, every noun has one and only one correct measure word associated to it, and in particular, you can't make the analogous distinction between the two cases in Chinese.  Is that in fact incorrect, so that, in certain cases, more than one measure word makes sense for a particular noun?  For example, can I say both “一瓶酒” and “一碗酒”?  If it is correct, and one and only one measure word is correct for a given noun, why do they exist in the language at all (for reasons other than "It's just a rule.")?

I've been taught, however, that in Chinese, every noun has one and only one correct measure word associated to it, and in particular, you can't make the analogous distinction between the two cases in Chinese.

This is completely wrong. Measure words in Chinese do carry meaning, just like in English.

Using the wine example, all the following are correct:

一瓶酒 (a bottle of wine)
一碗酒 (a bowl of wine)
一壶酒 (a kettle of wine)
一杯酒 (a glass of wine)
一滴酒 (a drop of wine)
一斤酒 (a jin (a Chinese unit, =0.5 kg) of wine)

Because wine is uncountable, the measure words are container names, or volume, or weight.

For countable nouns, such as 'person', there are singular measure words and collective measure words (also known as group measure words):

一个人 (one person)
一群人 (a group of person)
一队人 (a team of person)
一大帮人 (a big gang of people)
一小撮人 (a small proportion of people (from a large group))

Even within singular measure words for the same noun, there are different focuses corresponding to different contexts, such as:

一堵墙 (literally 'a blockage of wall')
一面墙 (literally 'a surface of wall')

When you want to say the wall blocked the exit, you may choose 一堵墙挡住了去路, while expressing a wall-ful of photos, you may want to say 照片多得挂满了一面墙. Although in this case switching them is fine (still grammatical), it would become less consistent in inner semantics, hence less literary.


Why screenshot is 截圖, not 屏幕 圖? Why wasn't screenshot translated as 屏幕 圖?

Isn't 截 inaccurate? I screen shot (coincidence!) 截 on CUHK. Here I 截 the Web page to screen shot just the English meanings, but screenshots can be NOT 截. I can screen shot whole screen.

截 in 截图 (noun) means something similar to 'that is taken', so 截图 in a word means 'the screenshot that is taken'
This becomes clearer if I use 截 as a verb in this context 请(please)你(you)截(take)一张(a)图(screenshot)
The idea of intercept in this case can be explained as that a screenshot is a static image, so you are intercepting something that is running in a moment of stasis.
But 截图 is always used in the context of screenshot, it is assumed that 图 in this case already means (screen)shot. Much like how the word 'image' can change what it refers to in specific context. You can't use 截图 in the context of taking a photo.


"便利商店" (biànlì shāngdiàn) vs "便利店" (biànlì diàn) Earlier when I was in China I learned "便利店" (biànlì diàn) to mean "convenience store". I think from looking it up in the English Wiktionary.

But now that I'm in Taiwan when I used it people didn't understand it and then corrected me to use instead "便利商店" (biànlì shāngdiàn).

When I check on Google Translate it supports both.

So is this a PRC vs Taiwan difference? Or is it generational? Or are they straight synonyms?

It's a PRC vs. Taiwan thing. It's like American English vs. British English. You'll find many words are different in Taiwan.


Correct usage of 「您是指？」 When someone responds to something I've said with「您是指？」is it accurate to assume they're saying:

  "What do you mean?" - As in they want me to explain/give more info on something I've just mentioned, so it would be interchangeable with 你的意思是什么

Or

  "What's that?/come again?/huh?" - More in the sense that the listener is confused or surprised by what I've just said, maybe they want me to make myself a bit clearer because they a bit taken aback by something that I just said.

Or if neither of these are correct assumptions, how would you translate 您是指？in English and what instances could it be used in?

It is used when someone uses some pronouns like 这件事 or 那间房子 or else to refer to something, which is not definite enough for the hearer to figure out which entity exactly the speaker is referring to. For example:

  我很欣赏您的那幅作品。 I really appreciate that piece of yours.

  您是指（哪一幅）？ Which one exactly are you referring to?

  画了三匹马的那幅。 The one of three horses.

指 usually can mean 'refer to'.