What are the 1,500 chengyu for the 2015 chengyu convention The 2015 Chengyu Convention apparently tested contestants on 1,500 different chengyu.

Where's the list of the 1,500 Chengyu?

The list appears accessible here.  In total there are 1352 (level 1) + 801 (level 2) + 702 (level 3) = 2855 chengyu.

Level 1: 1352 words

日以继夜 如痴如醉 如雷灌耳 三番五次 仁人志士 日久天长
风和日丽 三更半夜 其势汹汹 魂飞魄散 饶有兴味 惹事生非
三年五载 山崩地裂 舍死忘生 身价百倍 生搬硬套 冥思苦想
婆婆妈妈 破罐破摔 脉脉含情 目不邪视 装腔作势 明查暗访
老王卖瓜 精雕细琢 假模假式 恼羞成怒 混世魔王 称心如意
路不拾遗 安如磐石 疾风骤雨 孤苦伶仃 茫无头绪 生龙活虎
见景生情 借酒消愁 金璧辉煌 仅此而已 凌乱不堪 零七八碎
面黄肌瘦 名不符实 光明磊落 没精打采 泛泛而谈 见机而行
连绵不绝 良辰吉日 落叶归根 满腔热忱 轮流做庄 见风使舵
旧地重游 口干舌焦 枯燥无味 苦尽甜来 老眼昏花 假戏真做
宾客如云 风靡一时 交口称颂 焦灼不安 尽心竭力 寸草春晖
词穷理屈 蜂拥而上 飞针走线 花枝招展 欢声如雷 刮目相看
红颜薄命 闭门造车 吉凶未卜 话不投机 多多益善 不共戴天
告老还乡 祸从口出 画饼充饥 不堪入目 本性难移 不谋而合
独当一面 兵临城下 鸡犬升天 各执一词 点石成金 众望所归
地广人稀 画蛇添足 别来无恙 鸡犬不宁 虎落平阳 参差不齐
宾至如归 杯盘狼藉 不亦乐乎 虎视眈眈 喋喋不休 不知所措
逢凶化吉 呆若木鸡 得不偿失 不能自拔 大庭广众 不自量力
安营扎寨 单枪匹马 闭门思过 泰然自若 他山之石 驷马难追
昙花一现 随声附和 肆无忌惮 完璧归赵 天伦之乐 泰山压顶
似曾相识 肃然起敬 望洋兴叹 谈虎色变 耸人听闻 天网恢恢
体无完肤 窈窕淑女 万人空巷 徒劳无功 亡羊补牢 万象更新
卧薪尝胆 言外之意 威风凛凛 听天由命 引以为戒 无可厚非
语重心长 业精于勤 以卵击石 心惊肉跳 幸灾乐祸 有口皆碑
迎刃而解 无计可施 壮志未酬 循规蹈矩 学而不厌 一言九鼎
坐井观天 心急如焚 兴师问罪 似是而非 有口无心 应运而生
言不由衷 心如铁石 物尽其用 远见卓识 虚张声势 叶落归根
一纸空文 咬文嚼字 徇私舞弊 秀色可餐 因循守旧 胸有成竹
众口难调 习以为常 血气方刚 玩世不恭 游手好闲 异曲同工
直言不讳 先声夺人 自强不息 专横跋扈 用心良苦 天涯海角
童言无忌 唯唯诺诺 志同道合 张皇失措 逐鹿中原 危言耸听
优柔寡断 一石二鸟 振振有词 先发制人 因材施教 物以类聚
因地制宜 无地自容 悬崖勒马 相得益彰 原形毕露 雄才大略
振臂一呼 逃之夭夭 自圆其说 唯命是从 无奇不有 推心置腹
推波助澜 螳臂当车 朝不保夕 危在旦夕 脱胎换骨 天衣无缝
微不足道 养精蓄锐 脱颖而出 望而却步 针锋相对 喜从天降
易如反掌 徒有虚名 英姿飒爽 有勇无谋 相依为命 自投罗网
瞻前顾后 责无旁贷 趾高气扬 置之度外 一掷千金 引狼入室
悬而未决 循序渐进 羞愧难当 直截了当 袖手旁观 以身试法
无以复加 掷地有声 众目睽睽 众矢之的 自告奋勇 因人而异
朝三暮四 斩钉截铁 震耳欲聋 一落千丈 有条不紊 在所不辞
遥相呼应 忘乎所以 随机应变 无人问津 于事无补 纨绔子弟
损兵折将 一丘之貉 异军突起 自鸣得意 自欺欺人 天罗地网
欲罢不能 追悔莫及 无往不胜 有目共睹 无懈可击 一劳永逸
形影不离 罪魁祸首 自顾不暇 形迹可疑 转危为安 心安理得
应接不暇 自命不凡 走投无路 严阵以待 图谋不轨 贼喊捉贼
无坚不摧 一波三折 引火烧身 隐姓埋名 无所适从 望尘莫及
天壤之别 指日可待 心驰神往 挤眉弄眼 顺手牵羊 新来乍到
阴差阳错 相安无事 势均力敌 浪迹天涯 惊魂未定 首当其冲
嫁鸡随鸡 水落石出 深不可测 咎由自取 双管齐下 细枝末节
树大招风 苦尽甘来 时运不济 牢不可破 利欲熏心 两肋插刀
开卷有益 里应外合 首屈一指 生离死别 事倍功半 历历在目
来日方长 来者不拒 事半功倍 生死与共 扣人心弦 来者不善
空前绝后 焦头烂额 看破红尘 守株待兔 生死攸关 山呼海啸
津津乐道 乐此不疲 临阵磨枪 十恶不赦 时不再来 溃不成军
溜之大吉 守口如瓶 理所当然 明辨是非 居心不良 手足无措
劳而无功 失之交臂 苦不堪言 雷打不动 老谋深算 乐极生悲
金鸡独立 群龙无首 事不宜迟 良师益友 曲高和寡 黔驴技穷
熟视无睹 酒足饭饱 入情入理 瞒上欺下 事在人为 两小无猜
死不瞑目 轻车熟路 事在必行 千差万别 卖主求荣 锲而不舍
局促不安 如鱼得水 入不敷出 两全其美 两败俱伤 立足之地
事与愿违 前仆后继 灵丹妙药 举手之劳 居高临下 例行公事
入乡随俗 毛手毛脚 否极泰来 誓不两立 淋漓尽致 去伪存真
南辕北辙 水到渠成 举一反三 妙手回春 墨守成规 水涨船高
明目张胆 磨刀霍霍 顺理成章 马不停蹄 聚精会神 屡见不鲜
顺藤摸瓜 满城风雨 津津有味 老调重弹 梦寐以求 屡试不爽
灭顶之灾 瞬息万变 论功行赏 量力而行 口干舌燥 难能可贵
漫无边际 马失前蹄 哭天抹泪 了若指掌 家长里短 妙不可言
若隐若现 料事如神 呕心沥血 茅塞顿开 毛骨悚然 临危不惧
披荆斩棘 毛遂自荐 日复一日 狼狈不堪 美不胜收 面面俱到
狼吞虎咽 另起炉灶 落井下石 如胶似漆 妙趣横生 明媒正娶
络绎不绝 前呼后拥 门庭若市 名不副实 略胜一筹 老态龙钟
流连忘返 精益求精 炉火纯青 乐不可支 渺无人烟 貌合神离
名垂青史 泪如泉涌 略知一二 敬而远之 六神无主 时隐时现
名副其实 落落大方 冷眼旁观 麻木不仁 令人发指 赏心悦目
力不从心 就地取材 琳琅满目 据理力争 排山倒海 明知故犯
神乎其神 摩拳擦掌 良莠不齐 忍辱负重 眉来眼去 居心叵测
漫不经心 平起平坐 面红耳赤 破釜沉舟 宽宏大量 嫁祸于人
慢条斯理 据为己有 江郎才尽 如临大敌 庞然大物 命中注定
卷土重来 简明扼要 家贫如洗 拿手好戏 莫名其妙 眉目传情
眉清目秀 名列前茅 决一雌雄 刻舟求剑 就事论事 家喻户晓
耐人寻味 闷闷不乐 名落孙山 乐不思蜀 绝口不提 价值连城
平白无故 面不改色 匹夫之勇 慷慨解囊 梁上君子 开门见山
侃侃而谈 坚不可摧 面目可憎 烂熟于心 柳暗花明 慷慨陈词
迫不得已 面目全非 气味相投 狼狈为奸 交相辉映 来龙去脉
空口无凭 艰难险阻 迫不及待 弃暗投明 盲人摸象 怒发冲冠
江山如画 迫在眉睫 前车之鉴 目不斜视 寄人篱下 将功补过
骄阳似火 其乐无穷 默不作声 轻装上阵 滥竽充数 情窦初开
口若悬河 接二连三 奇耻大辱 夸大其词 截然不同 难兄难弟
奇装异服 目不转睛 情投意合 街头巷尾 难舍难分 坚忍不拔
目光短浅 人各有志 空中楼阁 夸夸其谈 戒备森严 目光炯炯
三头六臂 开诚布公 念念不忘 近在咫尺 怒目而视 舍近求远
伶牙俐齿 金童玉女 弄假成真 怒火中烧 强词夺理 宁缺毋滥
流言蜚语 紧锣密鼓 弄巧成拙 身不由己 量入为出 离题万里
弥天大谎 尽善尽美 见缝插针 三令五申 金碧辉煌 拍案而起
藕断丝连 深谋远虑 见利忘义 掐头去尾 皮开肉绽 气急败坏
琴棋书画 明察秋毫 经久不息 目瞪口呆 旁观者清 旁若无人
深入浅出 水滴石穿 七手八脚 旁敲侧击 神机妙算 渐入佳境
抛头露面 深思熟虑 建功立业 匹夫有责 默默无闻 妻离子散
妙语连珠 刨根问底 蓬头垢面 披头散发 司空见惯 起死回生
劈头盖脸 将心比心 千篇一律 千丝万缕 千里迢迢 可乘之机
谨小慎微 擒贼擒王 惊心动魄 恰到好处 飘飘欲仙 三生有幸
尽力而为 轻于鸿毛 井井有条 神通广大 任重道远 能言善辩
如出一辙 念念有词 九死一生 十拿九稳 杀一儆百 良药苦口
九霄云外 千载难逢 前仰后合 少年老成 久负盛名 乳臭未干
气喘吁吁 十年寒窗 千钧一发 绝处逢生 寿比南山 三长两短
老生常谈 平铺直叙 久经风霜 前功尽弃 千姿百态 书香门第
取而代之 老当益壮 平心而论 前因后果 泣不成声 受宠若惊
鼠目寸光 锒铛入狱 潜移默化 强颜欢笑 束手无策 全神贯注
琅琅上口 奇谈怪论 举世无双 强人所难 寝食不安 思前想后
轻而易举 情不自禁 丧尽天良 轻重缓急 穷困潦倒 见怪不怪
岂有此理 深恶痛绝 上窜下跳 军令如山 将计就计 始终不渝
稍纵即逝 恰如其分 巧夺天工 见机行事 煽风点火 善罢甘休
轻描淡写 蜻蜓点水 穷凶极恶 如雷贯耳 绝无仅有 盛气凌人
秋高气爽 洁身自好 九牛一毛 绳之以法 如愿以偿 弱不禁风
节衣缩食 举棋不定 视死如归 如释重负 若有所思 打抱不平
说三道四 屈打成招 人高马大 铺天盖地 如获至宝 驾轻就熟
燃眉之急 兢兢业业 食不果腹 七零八落 弱肉强食 丧心病狂
趋利避害 人面兽心 声名狼藉 人心惶惶 尽人皆知 将错就错
青梅竹马 忍气吞声 进退两难 盛情难却 奇花异草 若有所失
生不逢时 披麻带孝 人云亦云 精明强干 水中捞月 疲于奔命
苦口婆心 如坐针毡 结党营私 破绽百出 融会贯通 捶胸顿足
若无其事 立竿见影 青红皂白 倾国倾城 穷山恶水 伤风败俗
惹火烧身 锦囊妙计 水泄不通 七上八下 史无前例 声嘶力竭
手无寸铁 神魂颠倒 人迹罕至 神出鬼没 骄兵必败 手舞足蹈
石沉大海 盛极一时 声情并茂 人人自危 斤斤计较 如醉如痴
数不胜数 神清气爽 水天一色 声泪俱下 人满为患 借题发挥
金石为开 齐头并进 始料不及 如狼似虎 神采奕奕 缓兵之计
锦上添花 闭关锁国 高枕无忧 各抒己见 暗送秋波 半推半就
后生可畏 顾名思义 汗马功劳 反客为主 出人头地 咄咄逼人
奔走相告 本末倒置 反目成仇 虎背熊腰 根深蒂固 机不可失
按部就班 黄粱一梦 八面玲珑 彬彬有礼 吃里扒外 各为其主
浑水摸鱼 打草惊蛇 半斤八两 绘声绘色 耿耿于怀 嗟来之食
从一而终 不拘小节 单刀直入 倒背如流 甘拜下风 土生土长
穷乡僻壤 求同存异 人仰马翻 忍无可忍 如虎添翼 如梦初醒
得意忘形 变本加厉 兵荒马乱 不可思议 背井离乡 并驾齐驱
不识时务 断章取义 当机立断 德高望重 不修边幅 腹背受敌
苟且偷生 飞黄腾达 故弄玄虚 对答如流 公报私仇 跋山涉水
掉以轻心 飞来横祸 不容置疑 风调雨顺 短兵相接 寸步难行
乘虚而入 大海捞针 独树一帜 耳濡目染 残兵败将 三心二意
调兵遣将 搬弄是非 长驱直入 东山再起 趁火打劫 春风满面
光天化日 恨之入骨 不由自主 阿谀奉承 耳目一新 不了了之
恩将仇报 不伦不类 愤世嫉俗 恶贯满盈 风餐露宿 不学无术
稳如泰山 千疮百孔 不省人事 才疏学浅 不计其数 大发雷霆
饱经风霜 弹无虚发 堆积如山 恶语伤人 飞檐走壁 将信将疑
乌合之众 无动于衷 无拘无束 无理取闹 无人之境 雪上加霜
饱经沧桑 出其不意 措手不及 地动山摇 东奔西走 攻无不克
饱经忧患 笨鸟先飞 大同小异 夫唱妇随 高抬贵手 根深叶茂
不可开交 荒无人烟 必由之路 皆大欢喜 近水楼台 井然有序
翻江倒海 繁花似锦 飞禽走兽 非分之想 非同小可 狗急跳墙
狗仗人势 好吃懒做 虎口拔牙 昏昏欲睡 祸从天降 酒囊饭袋
娇小玲珑 交口称赞 穷途末路 伤筋动骨 所向无敌 天昏地暗
拉家带口 拉拉扯扯 临危受命 碌碌无为 乱七八糟 三言两语
落荒而逃 眉飞色舞 眉开眼笑 蒙头转向 靡靡之音 名存实亡
逆来顺受 扭扭捏捏 浓妆艳抹 片甲不留 七拼八凑 挖空心思
姗姗来迟 伤天害理 少见多怪 身败名裂 腾云驾雾 天各一方
俗不可耐 所剩无几 投其所好 文不对题 无所事事 痛快淋漓
天花乱坠 歪打正着 万不得已 微乎其微 未老先衰 无缘无故
无事生非 同归于尽 无足轻重 五大三粗 喜形于色 小家碧玉
望风而逃 闻所未闻 稳操胜券 稳扎稳打 喜上眉梢 同舟共济
天理难容 喜怒无常 小鸟依人 同流合污 小肚鸡肠 心怀叵测
天下无敌 无与伦比 小巧玲珑 兵不厌诈 不毛之地 沉鱼落雁
垂帘听政 铁证如山 听其自然 投机取巧 小题大做 不翼而飞
心灰意懒 兴风作浪 行色匆匆 行之有效 雪中送炭 掩耳盗铃
鸦雀无声 言归正传 安然无恙 百步穿杨 班门弄斧 欺人太甚
息息相关 喜笑颜开 无微不至 五雷轰顶 狐朋狗友 挥金如土
弹尽粮绝 粗茶淡饭 洞房花烛 出口成章 地大物博 患难之交
先入为主 显而易见 相提并论 想方设法 想入非非 逍遥自在
垂涎三尺 寸草不生 大刀阔斧 单刀赴会 弹丸之地 东施效颦
度日如年 返老还童 富可敌国 归心似箭 害群之马 狐假虎威
祸不单行 抱头鼠窜 红杏出墙 不屑一顾 八拜之交 不辞而别
八仙过海 恍然大悟 对症下药 丢盔卸甲 飞蛾扑火 杀鸡取卵
笑逐颜开 辗转反侧 张牙舞爪 仗势欺人 心宽体胖 不知所云
助纣为虐 啼笑皆非 铁石心肠 脱口而出 突如其来 痛哭流涕
闻风丧胆 握手言和 无独有偶 势如破竹 忙里偷闲 平分秋色
情有可原 疾风暴雨 集思广益 既往不咎 风吹草动 借古讽今
拭目以待 脍炙人口 借花献佛 名正言顺 难言之隐 孤注一掷
目不暇接 破镜重圆 适可而止 举目无亲 急功近利 百感交集
乘人之危 含笑九泉 心乱如麻 拖泥带水 饥肠辘辘 蠢蠢欲动
不可理喻 车水马龙 百读不厌 不寒而栗 百无一用 不足挂齿
成人之美 海枯石烂 患得患失 张口结舌 肝胆相照 儿女情长
坐吃山空 两面三刀 臭名远扬 利害得失 见异思迁 劳苦功高
削足适履 万古千秋 叶公好龙 绿草如茵 三五成群 愁眉不展
方兴未艾 别开生面 不言而喻 功亏一篑 诲人不倦 百战不殆
高朋满座 后发制人 叱咤风云 虎头蛇尾 不厌其烦 初露锋芒
道貌岸然 俯首帖耳 百川归海 患难与共 后继无人 按兵不动
出奇制胜 恩重如山 与人为善 锋芒毕露 众口一词 四海为家
短小精悍 各有千秋 自吹自擂 心口如一 自惭形秽 现身说法
虚无缥缈 运筹帷幄 望眼欲穿 蔚然成风 痛定思痛 骁勇善战
舞文弄墨 外强中干 偷梁换柱 仗义执言 无孔不入 眼高手低
一蹴而就 作威作福 知人善任 各行其是 引经据典 天旋地转
勇冠三军 指挥若定 相敬如宾 为富不仁 岁寒三友 挑拨离间
所向披靡 心领神会 正中下怀 天外有天 无功受禄 峥嵘岁月
言为心声 心平气和 朝令夕改 义正辞严 颐指气使 忠贞不渝
天马行空 天从人愿 鱼目混珠 夜不闭户 旗开得胜 一筹莫展
跃跃欲试 志大才疏 走马上任 捕风捉影 煞费苦心 人命关天
投笔从戎 惩恶扬善 锣鼓喧天 快人快语 人心叵测 入木三分
鸟语花香 锦绣前程 日理万机 如履薄冰 空头支票 囊中羞涩
气贯长虹 舍生取义 轻歌曼舞 老气横秋 塞翁失马 三顾茅庐
三思而行 南征北战 兴师动众 深明大义 开源节流 乐善好施
名满天下 目空一切 年富力强 匠心独运 千秋万代 情深义重
巧取豪夺 惊涛骇浪 鹏程万里 千头万绪 人多势众 扶老携幼
出生入死 成群结队 不远万里 安分守己 不同凡响 后顾之忧
风雨同舟 高谈阔论 感人肺腑 高不可攀 防患未然 知恩图报
风云人物 感慨万千 高瞻远瞩 花好月圆 大显身手 得意洋洋
山光水色 而立之年 心潮澎湃 扬眉吐气 百年大计 动人心弦
百年树人 赤子之心 数一数二 杀气腾腾 山珍海味 生死相依
自掘坟墓 事出有因 熟门熟路 心明眼亮 自食其力 言过其实
一鸣惊人 引人入胜 坐立不安 才子佳人 窃窃私语 山重水复
一本正经 随行就市 水清无鱼 大兴土木 一蹶不振 市井小人
自食其言 信口开河 意犹未尽 携老扶幼 沾亲带故 志得意满
一挥而就 浩然之气 隔窗有耳 窗明几净 棋逢对手 青云直上
素不相识 羊入虎口 叶落知秋 书声琅琅 评头品足 风云变幻
一马平川 众志成城 言归于好 心腹之患 湖光山色 原封不动
自暴自弃 山高路远 海底捞针 有气无力 万古流芳 顺水推舟
一语道破 衣锦还乡 势不两立 心急火燎 严丝合缝 矢志不渝
无米之炊 装聋作哑 声威大震 中西合璧 言而有信 世风日下
名符其实 鸣冤叫屈 扫地出门 轻如鸿毛 仁至义尽 势不可挡
失魂落魄 睡眼惺忪 无可救药 水深火热 醉生梦死 自以为是
一日三秋 郑重其事 横眉立目 犹豫不决 金玉良言 纸醉金迷
千娇百媚 挑肥拣瘦 十指连心 随波逐流 文山会海 只字不提
一诺千金 纸上谈兵 朝发夕至 整装待发 罪有应得 寸长尺短
座无虚席 迎风招展 羽翼未丰 倚老卖老 抓耳挠腮 阳关大道
下井投石 卸磨杀驴 纵横驰骋 足智多谋 平地青云 损人利己
远交近攻 怨声载道 年深月久 低眉顺眼 身临其境 百废俱兴
将功折罪 春色满园

Level 2: 801 words

鼎足而立 依然固我 长篇累牍 字斟句酌 丧魂落魄 秋毫无犯
郁郁寡欢 鱼贯而入 略表寸心 瘦骨伶仃 虚席以待 酸文假醋
兼济天下 千金一掷 凄风冷雨 金玉其外 襟怀坦白 进退无门
冰肌玉骨 急转直下 学以致用 授受不亲 一言蔽之 至善至美
言必有据 人老珠黄 煞有介事 瘦骨嶙峋 束手就擒 毋庸置疑
置身事外 另当别论 屡次三番 力排众议 来路不明 片言只语
晓行夜宿 搜肠刮肚 霄壤之别 无伤大雅 谈笑自若 图穷匕见
世态炎凉 偃武修文 抑扬顿挫 始乱终弃 声色犬马 生杀予夺
春风化雨 赤县神州 浮光掠影 挂一漏万 积习难除 巧言如簧
品头论足 权衡轻重 坚贞不渝 刀光剑影 倾巢而出 卿卿我我
内外交困 集腋成裘 五行八作 文从字顺 以观后效 起承转合
高山流水 四平八稳 送往迎来 虽死犹生 外柔内刚 得心应手
萎靡不振 含糊其辞 悉听尊便 险象环生 循循善诱 气吞山河
遁入空门 文以载道 物力维艰 闭门谢客 不白之冤 赤膊上阵
岿然不动 离群索居 漠然置之 面授机宜 风烛残年 春寒料峭
欲擒故纵 相映成趣 中流砥柱 载舟覆舟 假公济私 七情六欲
蝇头小利 落花流水 内忧外患 讲古论今 抛砖引玉 强弩之末
忘年之交 天作之合 加官进爵 街谈巷议 求全责备 捷足先登
杞人忧天 矫揉造作 监守自盗 临危授命 力挽狂澜 矫枉过正
青出于蓝 金口玉言 清规戒律 劫富济贫 明升暗降 离情别绪
举重若轻 清心寡欲 劫后余生 人杰地灵 酒色财气 绿林好汉
狂犬吠日 乐不可言 冷暖自知 气象万千 请君入瓮 千虑一失
冷言冷语 冷若冰霜 杀身成仁 开山鼻祖 离经叛道 令行禁止
犬牙交错 口蜜腹剑 殊途同归 礼尚往来 群魔乱舞 流芳百世
立锥之地 量才录用 令出必行 日月如梭 量体裁衣 揭竿而起
束手待毙 时过境迁 计上心来 泾渭分明 落地有声 门户之见
井底之蛙 目无尊长 美玉无瑕 死不足惜 浓墨重彩 披星戴月
民脂民膏 明来暗去 金玉满堂 南腔北调 怒不可遏 逆水行舟
临渊羡鱼 老骥伏枥 神来之笔 思如泉涌 见贤思齐 宝刀不老
形销骨立 兴味索然 锱铢必较 信口雌黄 浅尝辄止 不置可否
百口莫辩 暗度陈仓 大言不惭 隔靴搔痒 步步为营 豁然开朗
厚此薄彼 安步当车 不速之客 风尘仆仆 刚柔相济 哀兵必胜
鞍马劳顿 触类旁通 不可名状 安之若素 乘龙快婿 威德相济
尔虞我诈 泛泛之交 鼻息如雷 睹物思人 沁人心脾 深居简出
见仁见智 口口声声 灰飞烟灭 过犹不及 两相情愿 去粗取精
富甲一方 江河日下 索然无味 忐忑不安 未能免俗 不苟言笑
隔墙有耳 滴水不漏 大放厥词 绰绰有余 不期而遇 风卷残云
过眼烟云 攻其不备 何足挂齿 火中取栗 残花败柳 恩威并用
闪烁其词 人声鼎沸 穷年累月 潸然泪下 戛然而止 旷日持久
画地为牢 囫囵吞枣 路人皆知 空穴来风 口出不逊 接踵而至
口诛笔伐 蹑手蹑脚 设身处地 判若两人 模棱两可 生吞活剥
牵强附会 经年累月 迥然不同 其貌不扬 旁征博引 勤能补拙
萍水相逢 渺无音讯 九五之尊 了然于心 面面相觑 少安毋躁
死灰复燃 每况愈下 另辟蹊径 满腹经纶 美轮美奂 门可罗雀
酩酊大醉 摩肩接踵 名噪一时 满腹狐疑 踉踉跄跄 茫然若失
狡兔三窟 几次三番 绵里藏针 竭泽而渔 神色自若 硕果仅存
叫苦不迭 世外桃源 始作俑者 如影随形 忍俊不禁 实至名归
两手空空 炯炯有神 寥寥无几 瞒天过海 适得其反 燎原之势
玲珑剔透 举步维艰 扪心自问 鸟尽弓藏 权宜之计 勉为其难
流年似水 漏网之鱼 兼容并蓄 明哲保身 星罗棋布 烟波浩渺
丝丝入扣 身外之物 如日中天 乐而忘返 未雨绸缪 万事亨通
寿终正寝 空空如也 鹦鹉学舌 置若罔闻 泰然处之 义气相投
兴味盎然 正颜厉色 坐以待毙 炙手可热 形影相吊 先见之明
轩然大波 招贤纳士 万不及一 望文生义 唾手可得 一笑置之
别出心裁 怅然若失 覆水难收 肺腑之言 风声鹤唳 推己及人
蛊惑人心 处变不惊 车载斗量 陈词滥调 过目成诵 因陋就简
瞠目结舌 裹足不前 鬼斧神工 相去咫尺 虚位以待 死有余辜
安贫乐道 残垣断壁 饱学之士 避重就轻 乘兴而来 丑态百出
黄道吉日 东窗事发 避人耳目 博闻强记 大家风范 相机行事
察言观色 大千世界 雕梁画栋 独善其身 听而不闻 蔚为大观
无所用心 外圆内方 饮水思源 以德报怨 一言兴邦 天荒地老
偃旗息鼓 择善而从 坦然自若 知遇之恩 坐享其成 下里巴人
秀外慧中 虚怀若谷 愚不可及 冰雪聪明 四海升平 枕戈待旦
憨态可掬 词不达意 无庸讳言 扬汤止沸 微言大义 贻笑大方
望其项背 忧心如焚 心无二用 一无所长 仗义疏财 四面楚歌
咫尺天涯 我行我素 因噎废食 行成于思 正襟危坐 吟风咏月
指桑骂槐 瑕不掩瑜 童叟无欺 心向往之 同室操戈 闻风而至
言犹在耳 似水流年 威信扫地 偷天换日 昭然若揭 囤积居奇
心手相应 原原本本 未卜先知 一文不名 心力交瘁 修旧利废
妄自尊大 作茧自缚 欲壑难填 提纲挈领 谈笑风生 弦外之音
仙风道骨 五内俱焚 恣意妄为 欲盖弥彰 跃然纸上 天怒人怨
素昧平生 望穿秋水 桀骜不驯 旁门左道 招摇过市 狭路相逢
七窍生烟 救民水火 气宇轩昂 平步青云 节外生枝 盘根错节
老马识途 金科玉律 决胜千里 绝情寡义 人尽其才 僧多粥少
三十而立 康庄大道 山南海北 礼贤下士 软硬兼施 手足之情
肝肠寸断 破涕为笑 是非曲直 身先士卒 迷途知返 事必躬亲
如花似玉 旷世奇才 任人唯亲 如数家珍 得天独厚 独具慧眼
流离失所 龙马精神 守身如玉 药到病除 百折不挠 刀耕火种
不辞劳苦 盗亦有道 不合时宜 百炼成钢 标新立异 多事之秋
川流不息 浮想联翩 别有用心 重整旗鼓 呼之欲出 兵多将广
反唇相讥 反戈一击 出类拔萃 骇人听闻 风华正茂 逢场作戏
苟延残喘 含辛茹苦 避虚就实 粗枝大叶 毕恭毕敬 慈眉善目
高风亮节 鼎力相助 跌宕起伏 颠沛流离 黯然失色 唉声叹气
好大喜功 独占鳌头 愤愤不平 兵精粮足 不解之缘 碍手碍脚
不可多得 大惊失色 登峰造极 悲欢离合 大动干戈 大失所望
急于求成 不偏不倚 别具一格 包罗万象 不动声色 百思不解
长吁短叹 操之过急 不以为然 变幻莫测 财迷心窍 烽火连天
不足为奇 安家落户 不可或缺 居安思危 官官相护 层出不穷
八面威风 拔地而起 成竹在胸 求贤若渴 暗无天日 茶余饭后
避实就虚 宾客盈门 博学多才 不出所料 波澜壮阔 不可胜数
承前启后 触目惊心 重蹈覆辙 重见天日 除暴安良 当断则断
承上启下 垂死挣扎 春华秋实 大势已去 粗制滥造 粗中有细
低声下气 颠倒是非 耳闻目睹 防不胜防 熙熙攘攘 堂而皇之
感激涕零 高深莫测 攻守同盟 借尸还魂 今是昨非 金字招牌
锦绣山河 好自为之 后患无穷 花容月貌 花天酒地 欢呼雀跃
众星捧月 纤尘不染 月白风清 万全之策 土崩瓦解 销声匿迹
珠联璧合 一概而论 哑然失笑 心悦诚服 相濡以沫 物极必反
衣冠楚楚 摇尾乞怜 舍本逐末 中庸之道 行云流水 嘘寒问暖
探囊取物 委曲求全 言简意赅 不能自已 特立独行 小国寡民
违心之论 笑容可掬 先礼后兵 嬉笑怒骂 玩物丧志 为虎作伥
洋洋大观 天造地设 温文尔雅 一暴十寒 言之有物 一叶知秋
畏首畏尾 游刃有余 一家之言 杳无人烟 惟妙惟肖 无师自通
挥汗如雨 饥寒交迫 半路出家 楚楚动人 大权旁落 大声疾呼
焕然一新 回味无穷 回心转意 老弱残兵 积年累月 吉星高照
假仁假义 酒后失言 看风使舵 空洞无物 弥天大罪 名流轶事
两面夹攻 零敲碎打 流芳千古 龙潭虎穴 痛不欲生 借刀杀人
明眸皓齿 南来北往 七长八短 千恩万谢 青山绿水 头重脚轻
三亲六故 山明水秀 善男信女 擅离职守 深知灼见 河东狮吼
声东击西 师道尊严 十冬腊月 死得其所 坦诚相见 晚节不保
得胜还朝 夺眶而出 法不责众 凡夫俗子 俯首听命 叹为观止
反复无常 风花雪月 福无双至 互通有无 花花世界 欢喜若狂
改头换面 功成名就 里外夹攻 孤立无援 骨肉团圆 固执己见
花前月下 荷枪实弹 横七竖八 后继有人 厚颜无耻 胡作非为
指鹿为马 溢于言表 听之任之 心不在焉 余音绕梁 休养生息
洗耳恭听 心有余悸 鱼龙混杂 心旷神怡 心照不宣 以己度人
庸人自扰 芸芸众生 吐故纳新 味同嚼蜡 鲜为人知 庖丁解牛
反朴归真 体贴入微 指名道姓 古色古香 危机四伏 百废待兴
万死不辞 九泉之下 为人师表 为民请命 闲言碎语 旭日东升
兴利除害 喜新厌旧 先睹为快 相见恨晚 白头偕老 无可名状
天塌地陷 添砖加瓦 轻举妄动 挑三拣四 望而生畏 废寝忘食
勾心斗角 横征暴敛 哗众取宠 急中生智 百家争鸣 雨后春笋
蒸蒸日上 通情达理 张冠李戴 推三阻四 痛心疾首 任人唯贤
误入歧途 识文断字 细水长流 励精图治 飞沙走石 忠心耿耿
嫉恶如仇 好逸恶劳 风起云涌 吹毛求疵 各得其所 好为人师
一片冰心 青黄不接 偏听偏信 气冲霄汉 将遇良才 老牛破车
穷家富路 三教九流 神气活现 顺水人情 沙里淘金 包藏祸心
悲从中来 层峦叠嶂 长风破浪 大义凛然 独断专行 信誓旦旦
妒贤嫉能 歌舞升平 格格不入 各自为战 各自为政 法出多门
广开言路 赫赫有名 古为今用 积土成山 借坡下驴 离心离德
流星赶月 惊魂不定 旧愁新恨 清水衙门 嫉贤妒能 摇唇鼓舌
切中时弊 聚沙成塔 借古喻今 名利兼收 妙笔生花 生生不已
伯仲之间 坐收渔利 助桀为虐 相辅相成 以怨报德 众怒难犯
尚方宝剑 风流韵事 垂涎欲滴 创业维艰 蛇蝎心肠 浪迹萍踪
前无古人 著书立说 急中智生

Level 3: 702 words

覆车之鉴 风姿绰约 扶摇直上 贩夫走卒 反躬自问 不甚了了
并蒂芙蓉 别无二致 搜索枯肠 拾遗补阙 扶危济困 风流倜傥
以儆效尤 残篇断简 不咎既往 穷极无聊 师出有名 无庸置辩
明火执杖 冥顽不化 嘉肴美馔 疾声厉色 机关算尽 解铃系铃
穷则思变 煮豆燃萁 条分缕析 寥若晨星 私相授受 冰释前嫌
谷贱伤农 按迹循踪 百里之才 车马盈门 秉烛待旦 残渣余孽
移樽就教 谈笑封侯 没齿不忘 莞尔而笑 鞠躬如仪 沉渣泛起
文贵天成 降格以求 汪洋恣肆 洞若观火 梦笔生花 千金买笑
镂骨铭心 绿肥红瘦 金刚怒目 论短道长 文不加点 厚今薄古
兼善天下 金玉之言 龙骧虎步 厚积薄发 呼天抢地 公诸同好
明日黄花 以管窥天 金枝玉叶 枯木死灰 未竟之志 独辟蹊径
电光火石 雕栏玉砌 闻鸡起舞 无病呻吟 洗心革面 剑拔弩张
约法三章 薪尽火传 信笔涂鸦 济济一堂 兼收并蓄 理屈词穷
同病相怜 退避三舍 文过饰非 左右逢源 无济于事 物是人非
驽马十驾 审时度势 如临深渊 人心向背 趋之若鹜 望梅止渴
克己奉公 绿叶成荫 买椟还珠 七步成章 兼听则明 雾里看花
文章盖世 卧不安席 污泥浊水 诬良为盗 有恃无恐 随遇而安
无关宏旨 博古通今 跬步千里 落笔千言 债台高筑 文质彬彬
为恶不悛 妄自菲薄 语焉不详 人困马乏 惊人之笔 林林总总
孜孜不倦 喧宾夺主 阳春白雪 一衣带水 衣衫褴褛 五体投地
出言不逊 嗤之以鼻 寡不敌众 慌不择路 晨钟暮鼓 心猿意马
鼎足之势 豆蔻年华 釜底抽薪 孤陋寡闻 白山黑水 病入膏肓
化险为夷 鸣金收兵 轻财重义 文治武功 恬不知耻 抱薪救火
心旌摇曳 言传身教 兔死狗烹 爱莫能助 杯水车薪 不识一丁
晓以利害 无耻之尤 勾魂摄魄 胸无点墨 相得甚欢 鬼迷心窍
物竞天择 息事宁人 喜不自胜 先知先觉 海底捞月 无隙可乘
物阜民安 畏敌如虎 温情脉脉 下笔千言 心腹之交 兴废存亡
跳梁小丑 通宵达旦 彤云密布 添枝加叶 天诛地灭 四海鼎沸
徒费唇舌 推崇备至 万劫不复 枉费唇舌 望风披靡 片瓦不存
徒劳往返 锦衣玉食 围城打援 娓娓而谈 显山露水 摇曳生姿
徒乱人意 泰山北斗 玩火自焚 望风响应 为人作嫁 暴殄天物
审己度人 生灵涂炭 犬马之劳 奇文共赏 世代书香 良辰美景
暮气沉沉 拿贼见赃 年深日久 装神弄鬼 千夫所指 乱臣贼子
门禁森严 宽大为怀 将勤补拙 见神见鬼 老迈年高 老成持重
急不择言 夹七夹八 疾风劲草 扪心无愧 济世之才 慷慨悲歌
魂不附体 和颜悦色 化为乌有 济世安民 教学相长 毁于一旦
过门不入 刚正不阿 放荡不羁 功德圆满 比比皆是 低吟浅唱
当头棒喝 攻城略地 沸沸扬扬 独步当时 咄咄怪事 骨肉相残
翻云覆雨 不得要领 豺狼当道 超凡脱俗 从中作梗 大厦将倾
不见经传 兵戎相见 薄情寡义 沉吟不决 国色天香 魂牵梦绕
不可言传 超然物外 猝不及防 摧眉折腰 蹉跎岁月 大梦初醒
汗牛充栋 手不释卷 舐犊情深 秘而不宣 付之东流 删繁就简
大方之家 差强人意 党同伐异 痴人说梦 顶礼膜拜 吉人天相
何去何从 幡然悔悟 肝脑涂地 风驰电掣 鬼使神差 防微杜渐
处心积虑 冰清玉洁 百无聊赖 耳熟能详 不时之需 感恩戴德
恃强凌弱 束之高阁 蚍蜉撼树 哀鸿遍野 耳提面命 呼朋引类
视如草芥 雷霆万钧 鸣锣开道 少不更事 力不胜任 苦心孤诣
视如粪土 磨杵成针 适逢其会 恃才傲物 临渴掘井 授人以柄
视若路人 南柯一梦 说东道西 流光溢彩 身无长物 奴颜婢膝
身体力行 妙手空空 声名鹊起 狼烟四起 神鬼莫测 声色俱厉
锐不可当 浪子回头 乐天知命 立身扬名 略见一斑 若即若离
如泣如诉 琼浆玉液 群贤毕至 连篇累牍 人微言轻 日甚一日
流水不腐 厉兵秣马 趋炎附势 精兵简政 坚甲利兵 鹿死谁手
曲意逢迎 居功自傲 罄竹难书 三缄其口 金蝉脱壳 木已成舟
魂不守舍 狼子野心 劳燕分飞 巧言令色 经国之才 谦谦君子
借风使船 披肝沥胆 欺人之谈 间不容发 莫可名状 目不识丁
母以子贵 解甲归田 水乳交融 开宗明义 力透纸背 骚人墨客
死而后已 见微知著 莫逆之交 开门揖盗 莫衷一是 牛刀小试
目光如炬 见机而作 马首是瞻 兼而有之 谬种流传 拈轻怕重
金兰之契 劣迹昭昭 落落寡欢 斯文扫地 明火执仗 举案齐眉
民生凋敝 如鸟兽散 另立门户 聊以自慰 老于世故 石破天惊
日薄西山 惊弓之鸟 述而不作 食古不化 怜香惜玉 利令智昏
解民倒悬 琼楼玉宇 谨言慎行 九九归一 久居人下 善自为谋
满目疮痍 蛟龙得水 切磋琢磨 举手投足 蓬荜生辉 惊世骇俗
授业解惑 如法炮制 色厉内荏 失道寡助 拾人牙慧 立地成佛
家无二主 乱世之秋 坚如磐石 孑然一身 金石之言 举止失措
疾言厉色 龙蛇混杂 交杯换盏 千虑一得 悬梁刺股 影影绰绰
无妄之灾 亦步亦趋 子虚乌有 将本求利 缄口不言 龙吟虎啸
玉石不分 隐约其辞 扑朔迷离 要言不烦 引而不发 作法自毙
折戟沉沙 永志不忘 有教无类 凿壁偷光 假以辞色 言不及义
坐而论道 一语破的 鸡鸣狗盗 天公地道 负隅顽抗 枯木逢春
天悬地隔 休戚与共 虚声恫吓 惘然若失 悒悒寡欢 我见犹怜
烜赫一时 万壑争流 仰不愧天 胸无城府 知难行易 繁文缛节
王佐之才 信而有征 无庸赘述 言之凿凿 罪不容诛 万籁俱寂
知人论世 钟灵毓秀 学无常师 诛心之论 相煎何急 鱼贯而行
闻名遐迩 以讹传讹 惴惴不安 修身齐家 睚眦必报 心如止水
形单影只 醍醐灌顶 瓜田李下 天理昭彰 恬淡寡欲 择木而栖
蝇营狗苟 易地而处 衣不解带 支吾其词 心存芥蒂 闲云野鹤
肝胆俱裂 臭名昭著 出尔反尔 唇枪舌剑 唇亡齿寒 道听途说
按图索骥 嗷嗷待哺 草菅人命 不耻下问 曾经沧海 斗转星移
拨云见日 饱食终日 不遗余力 魑魅魍魉 长袖善舞 待价而沽
不假思索 甘居人后 冠冕堂皇 沽名钓誉 惨淡经营 改换门庭
步履维艰 别具匠心 沧海桑田 步履蹒跚 从善如流 不负众望
刚愎自用 不胜枚举 摧枯拉朽 孤芳自赏 混淆视听 有的放矢
固步自封 讳疾忌医 当仁不让 振聋发聩 顾影自怜 功败垂成
穿针引线 藏污纳垢 充耳不闻 峰回路转 耳鬓厮磨 感同身受
卑躬屈膝 闭目塞听 功成身退 奔走呼号 大相径庭 分道扬镳
寅吃卯粮 铁板一块 脱缰之马 兔死狐悲 信马由缰 惜墨如金
仰人鼻息 英雄气短 闻过则喜 抱守残缺 不以为意 穿凿附会
奇货可居 举措失当 曲径通幽 偶一为之 明镜高悬 硕大无朋
人弃我取 乱箭攒心 三人成虎 眉高眼低 十里洋场 山高水长
十室九空 骑马找马 气冲牛斗 日上三竿 巧立名目 鸟枪换炮
平地风波 口不应心 酒酣耳热 敬若神明 如履平地 蜀犬吠日
精卫填海 三纲五常 困兽犹斗 弱不胜衣 上行下效 乐以忘忧
食不甘味 老成练达 双宿双飞 卖官鬻爵 盲人瞎马 大喜过望
馋涎欲滴 壁立千仞 惨绝人寰 纲举目张 殚精竭虑 不足为训
淡泊明志 大而无当 等量齐观 飞扬跋扈 从长计议 不平则鸣
出水芙蓉 敷衍塞责 等闲视之 倒行逆施 飞短流长 不知所终
餐风饮露 踌躇满志 匪夷所思 岌岌可危 不可一世 待人接物
别有洞天 火树银花 俯仰之间 含饴弄孙 黯然销魂 沧海横流
不绝如缕 百无禁忌 荒诞不经 回肠百转 祸国殃民 落草为寇
颠扑不破 甘之如饴 宝马香车 待字闺中 缠绵悱恻 不蔓不枝
积习难改 祸福相椅 不一而足 古道热肠 分崩离析 怪力乱神
恍如隔世 弊绝风清 不揣冒昧 尺短寸长 陈陈相因 屏气凝神
并行不悖 锄强扶弱 春兰秋菊 挥洒自如 花团锦簇 浑然一体
壁垒分明 不即不离 仓皇失措 登坛拜将 等而下之 愁肠百结
横生枝节 穷寇莫追 兴致索然 守望相助 小小不言 一唱三叹
机关用尽 龙肝凤髓 龙眉凤目 龙盘虎踞 脑满肠肥 穷奢极欲
荡气回肠 名士风流 明珠暗投 冥顽不灵 人寿年丰 肉眼凡夫
回天之力 千金一诺 敲骨吸髓 凄风苦雨 欺世盗名 棋逢敌手
如芒在背 三从四德 师出无名 喷薄欲出 痰迷心窍 朝秦暮楚
照本宣科 如日方升 三位一体 天女散花 吞云吐雾 铁树开花
茹毛饮血 三亲六眷 未始不可 象牙之塔 铤而走险 躬逢其盛
同仇敌忾 童心未泯 捉襟见肘 投鼠忌器 投桃报李 侠肝义胆
阳奉阴违 亭亭玉立 缘木求鱼 一叶障目 无稽之谈 闲情逸致
下笔成章 不关痛痒 旷古未闻 管窥之见 光复旧物 积重难返
叠床架屋 俯仰无愧 虎啸风生 兵无常胜 情随事迁 绳锯木断

While they claim copyright, they obviously don't hold the copyright (and it's also here, here, here, here, here, etc. (behind various paywalls)), so I'm just going to disregard that.


Adverbs that don't use 地 So I know that to make an adverb, you use 'de/di' and put it before the verb like:

  我兴奋地打开了我的礼物

But in my studies this week I saw this:

  ...病症的人逐年增加

and

  逐渐成长为独立

Am I right in thinking that these are simply adverbs but to make an adverb from an adjective like 好 or 兴奋 you need a 地？

地 only CHANGES ADJECTIVES to adverb. Any adverbs without being conjugated from adjectives can exist without 地.

地 is commonly omitted. This happens usually when the adjective has ONE CHARACTER only. For example: 慢慢走 or 慢走. 地 is omitted since 慢 has only ONE character. The repetition of 慢 here is only for the purpose of expressing the action in a more visualized or vivid way.
兴奋 has two characters, and you cannot shorten it to one character to have the same meaning, so we usually don't omit 地 in this case.


What is the pronunciation of 行 according to its context? 行 can be pronunced háng or xíng.

As far as I have seen, it means "OK, to go, profession", and many more other meanings.

Could you briefly summarize the usage of it and its corresponding pronunciation.
Because whenever I see this character I am lost.

Are there any clue to help to match it with its correct pronunciation/meaning whenever I see it?

háng (in most noun)

(1) line, row  表格中的一行 a row in a table, 字里行间 between the lines

(2)  seniority among brothers and sisters， 我排行第二 I'm the second eldest one.

(3)  some place of business, 银行 bank，花行 flower shop，商行 trading company

(4)  trade, company(not very exact)     行业，同行

(5)  measure word 一行，两行
xíng (verb, use verb as noun)

(1) walk -> distance  步行，行走 walk, on foot,

(2) something used when going out  行装 outfit for a journey，行李 luggage

(3) transfer, propagation 行销 marketing, 风行一时 be in fashion

(4) be engaged in 进行 proceed  行刺 assassinate

(5) a surname 一个姓氏

(6) behaviour 行为

(7) elements only in 五行

(8) can, be able to, have the ability, ok to go

(9) soon 行将

(10) 'travel party' 张三等一行人来到花市。
héng  skill 道行


Can anyone here read old scripts? (Characters Identified: 松月侣) Hello I have a bronze censer with the mark below on the bottom and am hoping someone here might be able to read old scripts, I was told the right character is 松, and that the left character has 人(亻) as the left radical. Any help or guidance in the right direction is appreciated. Thank you.

人吕月松

Since reading there right to left, which is

松月侣

Companion of Pine tree and the Moon


To add or not to add adjective after 一樣。 I was browsing juuku and I found the sentences:

  李明的年龄和王林的年龄一样。

and

  萨莉：“他们年龄一样大吗？”

From this I assumed that, when the quantity of comparison (年齡）has been fixed, I am free to choose whether or not to add the corresponding adjective （大） after 一樣。

But when I presented the following sentences to native speakers, there was no agreement, as to whether the 高 was superfluous or not：

  我跟他身高一样高 / 我身高跟他一样高。

Can you enlighten me, preferably citing from some book?

Yes, 高 is superfluous. There is no need to say two 高 in a sentence.

I'd rather say 我跟他一樣高. Although you can also say 我跟他身高一樣, the former one is a little bit shorter.

If you say 我跟他一樣大, one might not know what kind of '大' it is. In this case, one might add 年齡 to the sentence. But if the context is known in conversation, it is no need to add 年齡 to the sentence.


How is 堪 different from other auxiliary verbs? I just learned 堪 on the following sentence:

  这种损伤是长期，可能无法逆转的损伤，对身体的危害堪比心脏病发作。

I extracted the relevant part only but this sentence talks about 心醉.

The auxiliary verbs to express "may" that I have learned so far include 可能. I might miss something others, though.

So what is the difference between 堪 and these auxiliary verbs?

Also, is there any more auxiliary verbs that express "may" (or "might") in Mandarin? As far as I search, there is little or no words to express "may" in Mandarin, especially compared to will/would/can/could/must/ought in English (e.g. 要，需要，应该，该，会，将，能，可能，可以，必须，可以，etc).

堪
(1) endure; sustain; bear; stand
(2) may; can; capable of; fit for

'堪' in '对身体的危害堪比心脏病发作' is definition #(2)
'堪' usually combine with a single character verb like '称' or '作', as in '堪称'(may be called as/ fit to be called as) or '堪作' (may be/fit to be)

[堪 + single character verb] are more classical and literary terms

For two characters verbs like  '作为' , it is more common to use '足以'(enough to), as in '足以作为'(capable of being/ enough to be ) instead of  '堪作为'
('堪称为' is an exception, it is as common as '足以称为')

[足以 + two character verbs] are more modern and colloquial terms


Why are 端母 and 知母 considered as distinct initials in Early Middle Chinese even though they share same 上字's such as 都 or 丁, while 幫母 and 非母 are not? There are some examples such as 樁=都江, where the initial of the original character is 知母 (in modern classification) while the one of it's upper character is 端母. Meanwhile, Chen Li considered the initial of 樁 as 端母 instead of 知母 according to Qieyunkao. So my questions are:
Q1.
Why did researchers conclude that 樁 belong to 知母 instead of 端母? I mean, it is obvious that 樁's initial merged into 知母 at some point, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it had been 知母 in EMC as well.
Q2.
If Q1 being solved, what keeps the distinction between 知母 and 端母 while denying the distinction between 幫母 and 非母 in Early Middle Chinese?

As we know that 知母 did not exist in Old Chinese. It was later derived from 端母 in Middle Chinese.
The milage that a word differentiating 知母 from 端母 varied in Middle Chinese. Some changed to 知母 in Early Middle Chinese but some did not. And 樁 finally went to 知母.
Due to the vastness of the ancient empires, we must beware that Early Middle Chinese was not a single language but a collection of close related languages at that time. For example, the spoken language in 金陵 was somehow different from that of 長安. The capitals of empires changed during the long period of Early Middle Chinese. 知母 might appear in one place but not in another place.
陳澧 tried to reconstruct 切韻 from 廣韻. He only followed that 樁 is 都江切 in 廣韻. Here 都 is 端母 and so 樁 is 端母 in 切韻. It is up to the correctness of 廣韻.
But after 廣韻, another rime book 集韻 changed it 株江切 and it is 知母.
By the time of 廣韻, 三十六字母, the 36 initials, including 非母. But some centuries earlier, a copy written in 敦煌 was only 三十字母, the 30 initials, indicating that 非母 did not exist at the time. Thus the distinction between 幫母 and 非母 did not exist in Early Middle Chinese.
While 切韻 was vanished long ago, there is a revised version of 切韻 namely 刊謬補缺切韻 which has a few surviving copies nowadays. This helps to verify the correctness on the works of 陳澧.


what is the verbatim and implied meaning of 路过? 路过 means to pass through.
If one searches for images related to this word, one finds pictures of funny or strange situations carrying this word on them.

It is more a internet-word,which means I have read this article picture story etc.to show an unconcerned opion of something,and it's more a humorous way to to show like it or not,I just read/see this,and then I will do my own thing (ie going home)
And It has much common of 打酱油


How appropriate is 现在是什么时间? for asking the time? 现在是什么时间?
  Now is what time?

This seems to be an alternative way of asking for the time in Chinese.  (The usual way is 现在几点了?)  However, something feels "off" about this question: I can only find it used in two situations, (a) when English is translated into Chinese, and (b) for questions such as:

  伦敦现在是什么时间?
  What time is it in London? (link)

Question: How appropriate is 现在是什么时间? for asking the time?

Both 现在是什么时间 and 现在几点了 mean the same.

现在几点了 is used in casual situations.

现在是什么时间 sounds that the speaker might think there would be something happening shortly or at certain time, so he/she wants to know the time. For example, 现在是什么时间？ 我们该上课了吧？

The effect is subtle. They can be used interchangeably.  But 什么时间 does sound the time seems more important.

P.S. 现在是什么时间？ can also mean What time is it for? E.g. A: 现在是什么时间？ B: 现在是午饭时间/早操时间/自习时间/etc.


Tips for multiple-pronunciation characters (多音字) This is a broad request for tips, but I have a specific question in mind as well.

尽 can be pronounced as "jin4" or "jin3".

In Pleco, the definition for "jin3" is "to the greatest extent" while one of the definitions of "jin4" is "to the utmost; to the limit".

Perhaps this is a translation issue, because to me, these 2 definitions are essentially the same. Based on this, I still have no way of knowing when the character is jin4 or jin3 when it means "to the utmost" or "to the greatest extent".

Is this just a brute force memorization problem or are there some tips for figuring out when to pronounce it one way & when to pronounce it another?

To answer your specific question, it should be kept in mind that 尽 is a simplified character that merged both traditional characters 盡 (jìn) and 儘 (jǐn), which is why it appears to be a 多音字 in Simplified Chinese.  The difference between 盡 and 儘 is very subtle though.  This link talks about the difference as it applies in Cantonese, but I believe it applies in Mandarin as well:

  「儘」是「力求達到最大限度」，強調的是「力求」，至於能否達到「所求」，不得而知。「盡」則有「達到最大限度」的意思，強調達到。

  儘 is "strive to attain maximization", with the emphasis on "strive"; whether it can be attained is unknown.
  盡 on the other hand has the meaning "attain maximization", with the emphasis on attaining.


Neverending 你好 exchange, is it normal? When should exchanges of the phrase "你好" end? I regularly see a Chinese person who greets me with "你好." If I respond with "你好" he immediately says "你好", and so on.  I normally end it with "Yes, I'm fine." in English.  Am I doing something wrong?

This does happen every now and then. It is just a way of expressing enthusiasm to see you.

And from experience it won't go on forever, usually just a second time, but sometimes people will say "你好, 你好" or even "你好, 你好, 你好" in a row.

Think of it as a handshake, it is not going to go on until it is awkward, just showing some enthusiasm with a couple of extra "hello's".

I would suggest going to the next part of the conversation with something like "你好吗?" or "你怎么样呀？". If you continue on with English with "Yes, I'm fine." this may be like dropping a handshake in the middle.


Why does Cantonese sound vaguely British? Speaking as a native speaker of American English, I notice from my perspective that Cantonese speakers tend to sound more "British" than Mandarin speakers. I'm not just referring to Hong Kong, but wherever Cantonese is spoken. Can anyone verify this and why it might be so? In particular, vowels in words like 再，十，去，你 and 想 come to mind.

Mandarin has a strong R sound like American English “car”. But Cantonese doesn’t have an R sound.
The Cantonese vowel eoi sounds very similar to British English long O. But neither Mandarin Chinese nor American English have this vowel sound.
Many British English dialects use glottal stops in place of final T, just as Cantonese has glottal stop consonants K, T, P.
Along with the many English loanwords more likely based on British pronunciation, these phonetic features may make Cantonese feel “vaguely British,” at least more than Mandarin...


Why is 因为 listed as an adverb in the dictionary? “因为”是连词，为什么有副词？
https://www.yellowbridge.com/chinese/thesaurus.php?word=%E5%9B%A0%E4%B8%BA
Please show me example sentences with 因为。

All other dictionaries I checked do not list 因為 as an adverb, and I personally cannot use it as one. My guess is the source you quoted misprinted (副) adverb in that entry.
Besides 'conjunction', 'preposition' is the other usage  listed in Wiki,

owing to; due to; as a result of; because of

I can come up with examples with that:
因為 as preposition:

他因為貧窮而賣子女 (he sold his own children due to poverty)

他因為錢財糾紛而殺人 (he killed people because of money disputes)

因為 as conjunction:

sentence 1: 他賣了兒子給同鄉的富戶 (He sold his son to a wealthy family in the same town)

sentence 2: 他實在養不起十個孩子 (He really can't afford ten children)

with conjunction: 他賣了兒子給同鄉的富戶(是)因為他實在養不起十個孩子


"小王" 和 "老王" how to determine which to use? This is something I still haven't mastered and still just go with the flow.

If I wanted to call someone a nickname, say for Mr. Wang, which one should I choose? What defines whether I should call him Xiao Wang or Lao Wang. Is it age, social status etc?

My wife has an Uncle who is older than both of us, but the family refers to him as 小居 including my wife (when talking with her parents about the uncle, not when talking directly to him), so I'm not sure if this is how I should be mentioning him when talking to others.

Just as @Flake said:

  In general, "小X" should be used to a person who is younger than you while "老X" to an older person.

And here is some additional usages:

Generally speaking, 老X is often used to address a male, and 小X can be used for both male & female.
老X can be used to a person who is an acquaintance to you(usually both of you have almost the same age), for example, a close friend at school. However, in some cases, close friends will use 老X as nickname without obvious distinction between ages(this rarely occurs, but exists).
You should not call a person who is much older than you 老X, it's impolite. You can call him/her X哥/X姐, and if they are older still X叔/X姨, etc.
In companies, superiors might call their subordinates 小X.
And in the family, elder ones might call the younger 小X.

Your uncle is older than both of you, so I think you'd better call him X哥(or just the given name, but should not use 小X as his parents used) when talking to others. :)


Pinyin chart which links to dictionary Is there a pinyin chart which links to a dictionary? I can only find charts that link to audio files for pronunciation.

My goal is to see in one page all the characters that have the same pronunciation, e.g. xiāng, 相香箱. Preferably having a link to dictionary entries. Pleco doesn't care when I type the accented English vowel, and it lists all entries with the same spelling and any tone.

I have an online tool that does more or less what you want (and more).  It is based on the Unihan database, and links to it.

Here is an example with xiang1.

It is a bit clunky -- I wrote it a long time ago, and there's a few design bugs.


Function of "也" in "一点儿也不喜欢" In the sentence "我一点儿也不喜欢这件衣服", translated as "I don't like this piece of clothing at all", what is the function of "也"?

Is it valid to think of this syntax as "not even a little bit [do I like this thing]"?

Some resources [1] suggest interchangeability with "都" in this context. Is that valid, or do they hold different connotations or used in different contexts?

1: https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Expressing_%22not_at_all%22_with_%22yidianr_ye_bu%22

Both “也”  and "都" in “一点儿也不喜欢” / “一点儿都不喜欢” functions as the adverb "even" (used to emphasize something surprising or extreme)

"一点儿也不喜欢" = "not liking it even a little"

Similar example:

"一元也不值" = "not worth even one dollar"

"(最后)一元也需要还清" = "have to payback in full even (the last) one dollar"


My patience is running out How can I say my patience is wearing thin or my patience is running out.

I guess if I were to translate it, I'd say

我的耐心越来越少

That doesn't seem right


A Chinese Poem About Weather, Crops...And Clipper Ships? I've been trying to translate passages from a poem about weather and seasons. There's a particularly knotty passage below I'm trying to unravel:
"至于雾水那是亟待被理解的事物
墙面和我的手臂是时间的快船"
My rough translation is as follows:
"The Fog, on the other hand, is a matter that urgently needs to be understood.
The wall and my arm are the age of swift boats."
Does the phrases "时间的快船" refer to the Age of Sail and its clipper ships? Or does the second verse have a completely different meaning?

I think 时间的快船 is referring to something like the fast boat of time, and what ever before is what is the boat. This may be talking about the flow of time.


Why does the `请` take two duplicate words on its verb occasionally (e.g. `请洗洗你的袜子`) I've read these sentences in my Rosetta Stone courses:

请洗洗你的袜子
请洗一下楼梯

However, why does the first sentence use two 洗 consecutively before taking the object? Also, how can I tell when to use one verb and when to use two verbs?

And finally, does the 请洗你的袜子 make sense in Mandarin? If that does make sense and is used often, what's the difference between the two?

quotation from 外国人实用汉语语法：
(1) the reduplication of a verb implies a short and quick
action

(2) expresses an attempt or trial

(3)expresses a sense of being light and relaxed

and the same goes for  [verb] +一下

请洗你的袜子 seems to make sense in Mandarin


What are the differences in usage and nuances between 现在，正在 and 还在？ I think it's pretty hard to tell the differences between these three words, and here's the dialogue:

A: 你现在在干什么？
B: 我正在做作业。
A: 你怎么还在做作业呀！

Can you help me to understand and remember these words? Thanks a lot!

现在: Now

A: 你现在在干什么？: What are you doing now?

正在: Currently

B: 我正在做作业。: I am doing homework.

正在is this sentence can be translated to doing something at this particular moment, in English you just add ing at the end for currently doing something, but in Chinese you don't have this, so you use 正在 to express doing something now. 我正在做...becomes "I am doing...", or 我正在读...becomes "I am reading..."

还在: Still

A: 你怎么还在做作业呀!: You are still doing homework?

还pronounced "hai" instead of "huan" in this sentence means still doing something.

还在看书：Still reading, 还在这里: Still here...

Also to mention, 还 can also be pronounced "huan", as in 还钱: Pay debt, 还给我: Give it back, it means to return something, but that's a different context itself.

I guess to make it clearer, sometimes you don't really need to add 现在 or 正在，you just say "你在干什么？What are you doing?", or "我在做作业。I am doing homework.", it sounds more friendly like when you are talking to a friend. 你现在在干什么？sounds more like when your boss or teacher would ask haha.


Why is the character 漢 built in such a weird way? 漢 is the character meaning "China" or "Sino-".

It supposedly ultimately derives from the name of the river Han. I understand why the water radical is present there, but I have no idea why the seemingly random characters 中, 人, 廿 and some two horizontal lines between 中 and 人 are combined and why were these particular ones chosen to represent the river's name.

According to 说文解字,

  从水，難省聲

So 漢 is taking  as its pictophonetic part.

1. What does  mean?

This is the ancient inscriptions (甲骨文 and 金文) of it (from 字源谈趣).

Its original meaning is to fire someone (as a penalty), who is tied up and crying to the sky. So it's used for the meaning of suffering or disaster, and then 難, 艱, 嘆 were created based on it.

2. Why 漢 took this character as its pictophonetic part?

1st perspective, from 字源谈趣,

  漢水的“漢”，以“氵”（水）表意，以“漢（去氵）”表音兼表义。意指古代聚居在漢水一带中原地区的我国最大的民族——华夏族（后发展以“漢”为名的漢族），是历经千灾万难，在与艰难困苦斗争中发展起来的。

[“漢” is taking “氵”（water） as its ideographical part, taking “漢”（getting rid of 氵） as its pictophonetic and ideographical part. It indicates the largest nationality residing at 漢水 struggled to grew up (into the han nationality).]

2nd perspective, from 象形字典,

  造字本义：长江最大支流，古代中原朝庭常常流放政治犯的西北水域。

[In ancient times 漢水 served as a place of banishment for criminals.]


Why is 你们爱猫 translated to "you love cats" (and not e.g. "you all love cats")? I've been using HelloChinese and one of the quizzes it gave (without much explanation) was something like ni men ai mao ”你们 爱 猫“ to mean "you love cats". However, reading it I thought it was "you all love cats" (like the southern US slang Y'all). In google Translate it seems to mean the same thing with or without 们

What exactly does men add to the meaning of this phrase and where should it be used?

http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/characters/5/

  們:

  an adjunct to a pronoun or noun to indicate plurality

Pronoun:

你 (you) is a singular pronoun in Chinese, Adding 們 after it make it a plural pronoun- 你們(you)

我 (I / me) is a singular pronoun in Chinese. Adding 們 after it, makes it a plural pronoun- 我們 (we / us)

他 (he / him) is a singular pronoun in Chinese. Adding 們 after it, makes it a plural pronoun- 他們 (they / them)

Noun:

The adjunct 們 is mostly used with human pronouns (e.g. - 你們, 我們, 他們).  Although it can be used with a noun, it is restricted to nouns for human only.

For example:

戰士 warrior / 戰士(們) warrior(s)
學生 student / 學生(們) student(s)
工人 worker / 工人(們) worker(s)
人 person ; people / 人們 (people) * 人 can be either singular or plural

Using 們 with nouns is much less common and it can often be omitted,  because plurality can often be indicated by use of plural classifiers (e,g. - a group of; a class of) or plural adjective (e.g. - those; these).

們 is always used on people or other situations when you want to express personification.

If we write 一群學生 (a group of students) or 那些學生 (those students) we no longer need 們 to indicate plurality. We know it is not a single student.

Adding 們 and write 一群學生們 or 那些學生們 would be redundant.


What's the glyph origin of 妖? What's the glyph origin of 妖?

Why does it have a woman radical? Why is woman used in a word that means weird or supernatural?

Is there a website to look up the evolution of characters?

《說文解字》沒有「妖」這一條目。
There is not an entry of 妖 in the 《說文解字》.

《說文解字注》對「」的解釋有提到「俗省作妖」。
The interpretation of  in the 《說文解字注》 mentions 俗省作妖.

 [ yāo | ㄧㄠ ]

意思是，民間習慣上，將「」省略為「妖」。
也就是，「妖」的本字是「」。
It means that  is used to be simplified to 妖.
That is, the original form of 妖 is .

《說文解字》對「」的解釋如下：
《說文解字》 explains  as follows.

  ，巧也；一曰，女子笑皃。

皃 [ mào | ㄇㄠˋ ] 同「貌」。

所以，「」有兩個意思：一是「巧」，二是「女子笑的樣子」。
這應該也是「妖」的本義。
Therefore,  has two meanings: "skillful or clever" and "the appearance of a female smile".
This should also be the original meaning of 妖.

至於，「妖」會有「邪異」的意思，是來自「祅」字。
As for the "demon" meaning of 妖, it comes from 祅.

同樣的，「祅」的本字是「䄏」。
Similarly, the original word of 祅 is 䄏.

祅、䄏 [ yāo | ㄧㄠ ]

《說文解字》對「䄏」的解釋如下：
《說文解字》 explains 䄏 as follows.

  地反物爲䄏也。

「䄏」是地上反常的物種。
䄏 is the abnormal species on the ground.

《說文解字注》在解釋此句時有提到「經傳通作妖」。
The interpretation of this sentence in the 《說文解字注》 mentions 經傳通作妖.

《說文通訓定聲》說這是一種假借。
（妖、、祅、䄏都是形聲字。）
《說文通訓定聲》 explains that this is a loan.
(妖, , 祅 and 䄏 are the picto-phonetic characters.)

Conclusion:

「妖」的本義有兩個意思：一是「巧」，二是「女子笑的樣子」。
被「祅」假借，所以有「邪異」的意思。
 has two original meanings: "skillful or clever" and "the appearance of a female smile".
It is borrowed by 祅, thus it also means "the demon".

Is there a website to look up the evolution of characters?

I recommend 小學堂-字形演變 to look up the evolution of characters.

小學：研究文字字形、字義及字音的學問，包括文字學、聲韻學及訓詁學等。
小學 does not mean the primary or elementary school here. It means the study of the glyph, meaning and the pronunciation of the word, including philology, phonology and exegesis.

(Input the character in the 字形 field.)

For example, 中.


What is the Mandarin equivalent for the Shanghai term for dirty? In the Shanghai dialect dirty is pronounced something like "o co" with the o pronounced like the "o" in cot and the "c" pronounced like the usual c in pinyin (kinda like an 'ts' sound).

Which characters would be used for writing these two?

龌龊  wò chuò
Meanings:
(1) dirty；filthy
(2) mean,despicable

It's not Shanghai dialect only. It's used a lot in northern China as well.


What is the function of 得 in words like 覺得、記得、顯得、值得、懂得、免得、認得…? First of all, does 得 have the same meaning in those examples?
I'm familiar with 得 in other senses like 得到 and 聽得見, but those meanings seem distant.
Is it more related to usage like “我唱得不好”? The main verb seems to have unchanged meaning. Does it make more sense to analyze the words as a main verb and 得 used like the grammar particle here?
Is it just a “filler” syllable to keep the rhythm?

得 can be used as a complement that helps indicate completion or consequence of the action (preceding verb). Its use is traceable to classical Chinese (see 10th entry here):

十三學得琵琶成，名屬教坊第一部。《琵琶行》
By thirteen, an accomplished lute player I had become; In the imperial registry of the first section my name be found. (translation)

You master something if you learn it to completion. It is easy to appreciate this rule in most of the words you listed: e.g., when you first attempt to recognise (認) someone, and then you really did, you say 認得. In 免得, consequence is stressed. Others may be more elusive, because 得 is often too grammaticalised, and that modern Chinese has the proclivity of using bisyllabic words (雙音節詞).

得 in 得到 is itself a verb meaning 'to get'. 得 in 聽得見 is a potential complement. 得 in 跳得高 is a structural particle that is used to precede the adverb. They are different from 得 in point 1.

Why is it important to make the difference? That is because certain V+得s can have different meanings, depending on context. Take 記得 as an example:

得 as
Sentence
Translation

Structural particle
就這件事，我記得很清楚。
Regarding this matter, I remember very clearly.

Complement for completion/consequence
我記得這件事。
I recall this matter.

Notice how the first 記得 precedes an adverb, but how the second precedes a noun.
In modern Chinese, 我記這件事。 is unidiomatic (bisyllabic proclivity). When you begin to recall something and you did recall it, you say 記得 (indication of completion). Both justify the use of 記得 over 記.


Why does 十全十美 mean complete and beautiful? Why does 十全十美 mean complete and beautiful ?
e.g. this dictionary meaning.
http://dictionary.writtenchinese.com/#sk=%E5%8D%81%E5%85%A8%E5%8D%81%E7%BE%8E&svt=pinyin

Perhaps you were misled by the 美, thinking, naturally, it has something to do with a thing of beauty / being beautiful and so on. Not quite so as explained below.

First, "十", 10, here acts as a qualifier on 全 to indicate a 10 on a whole, (全), scale of 10.

In other words to describe a desired state of "perfection", "completeness", "flawless", i.e. 10 upon 10.

Like 他在每件事上都追求十全十美的结果 -- He seeks perfect results in all matters.

The 美, like "beautiful" in English usage has meanings beyond beautiful in looks; like 美妙, (wonderful), 美味, (delicious) So the 美 in 十全十美 indicates an absolutely positive, "beautiful", conclusion to whatever matters undertaken.


Can anyone here read handwritten calligraphy and can tell me what this says please? It's on a porcelain plaque Can anyone here read handwritten calligraphy and can tell me what this says please? It's on a porcelain plaque.

願與彭澤令同醉菊花天
王倚(琦)寫於珠山

愿与彭泽令同醉菊花天
王倚(琦)写于珠山

彭澤令 implies 陶淵明 (Tao Yuan-ming) because he has been the 彭澤令 (Pen-ze county magistrate) and loved 菊花 very much。

菊花天 implies the autumn because 菊花 (chrysanthemum flowers) blossom in the fall.

珠山 implies the 江西景德鎮 because it is a famous hill there.

王倚 may be a mimic name of 王琦 who was a famous artist in the porcelain area several decades ago.

The stamp shows 王印, and the two characters have the inverse colors.

  願與彭澤令同醉菊花天
  Hope to drink (wine) with Tao Yuan-ming in autumn.


Are these correct headings for a spreadsheet? The spreadsheet is related to food safety (processing, handling, storage, etc.)

ID: 编号 (项目?)
Process: 制程
Food category:食品类别
Standard: 标准
Frequency (as in how many times per day or every how many hours): 次数
Min. Value: 最小(低?) value?
Max. Value: 最大(高?) value?
Food Correction (or Corrective Action): 纠正措施
Check List Item Caption: 清单项目标题
Question Group: 问题组
Template: 模板

Thank you.

Two more I am working on:

Repeat Observation (yes or no question about whether the observation should be repeated or "performed" again): 反复观察 or 一再发生?

Policy (any company policy or standard is entered in this section and applied to that specific question): I think 政策 is only for government/political policy, right? How about 方针, is that the correct translation for a company policy/rule/standard?

Order index (a numeric value assigned to each row that indicates which order category it belongs to such as 1, 2, or 3): does 秩序指数 work for that?

Without complete context I am just going with the most common translations:

Process 流程
Frequency 频率
Check List Item Caption: 清单项标题 (项目 also means 'project' which can be confusing)
Repeat Observation 是否多次观察到 or 是否多次发生 (是否 makes it explicit that it's a Yes-No question; 多次 is neutral while 一再 has slight derogatory tone but both are fine)
Policy 政策 (company policy <=> 公司政策 is a common translation. 方针 is more like 'direction; principle'.)
Order Index: 顺序编号 or 订单编号, depending on whether Order here means sequencing (顺序) or written request (订单). Don't use 秩序指数, it's not understood.


Touch: difference between 碰，碰觸，觸碰, and 觸 There appear to be multiple ways to say touch according to YellowBridge.

1) Is there a difference between 碰，碰觸，觸碰, and 觸, or are they interchangeable?

2) In Cantonese, 點 seems to be the right way to say touch. Are there differences between 點 and these others?

see dictionaries  e.g. bkrs (supplied excerpts restricted to physical touching)

碰 collide, bump into (4)(of 7) 用手、 脚或器械触及 [bump; touch]。 如: 碰手(方言。 触手、 触疼手); 碰触(接触); 蛇你如果碰它, 它就要咬你 1) touch; knock against
别碰我肩。 Don't touch my shoulder.#2741

碰触 接触、碰撞。
如：「小心，不要碰触电源。」to touch
接触；碰撞。
用指尖轻轻地触碰

触碰:我们不能触碰法律的底线 触碰一下

触  touch ① 接触；碰；撞：抵触 | 触电 | 一触即发。(6)(of11) 接触 [touch; contact]。 如: 触物(接触景物、 事物); 触桶(便桶); 触冒(接触, 冒着)
to make contact with sth 接触）
游客请勿触摸陈列品。 Visitors are requested not to touch the exhibits

relevant examples from iciba:碰 他绕桌子走了一圈， 和所有的外宾都碰了杯。碰触 你会颤抖吗 , 如果我碰触你的唇.她伸出手，想去触碰母亲的胳膊。触他第一次触球就得分了

"touch" more commonly(w/o collision) 触摸

interchangeability seems to be a matter of degree, as users can tell in the sense of touching supplied verbs have a high degree of interchangeability, b/c of their other meanings, composition (in case of compounds) they
may convey different flavours

it is also a matter of collocation (搭配)，e.g. for "getting an electric shock " see 触电 above


To make friends: 交朋友 vs 认识朋友? I have come across some sentences where both 认识朋友 and 交朋友 were translated as to make friends (even though typically 认识 is translated in English as to know). Is there a difference between them?

我去工作的时候，认识了很多朋友。
Wǒ qù ɡōnɡzuò de shíhou, rènshi le hěn duō pénɡyou.
When I went to work, I made many friends.

我在中国交了很多朋友。
Wǒ zài Zhōnɡɡuó jiāole hěn duō pénɡyou.
I made a lot of friends in China.

More generally, I am curious about whether in Chinese there are several verbs to express the same idea of to make friends (maybe it is also possible to say 做朋友?). In English, to say to make friends and to know friends is different. However, in Spanish these same expressions are equivalent: hacer amigos y conocer amigos.

交了很多朋友

交 in 交朋友 is short for 結交 (form relationship). Therefore, 交了很多朋友 means 'you formed many relationships with people who now are your friends

认识了很多朋友

认识 means 'to know'.  认识了很多朋友 means 'got to know many people who now are your friends'
Comparing the two:
交了很多朋友 - formed relationships with many people --> became friends
认识了很多朋友 - got to know many people --> became friends
Therefore, they both mean 'made many friends'

結识 is the combination of 結交 and 认识

結识了很多朋友 - get to know and form relationship with many people --> became friends

Edit:
Puco4 wrote:

maybe it is also possible to say 做朋友?

做朋友' can mean 'befriend (+ object)' or 'being a friend to (+ object)'  e.g. 我想跟他做朋友 (I want to befriend him/ I want to become a befriend to him); 我和他做朋友已經十年了 (He and I have been friends for ten years)
You cannot say '我做了很多朋友' (I've been many friends). You have to say '我和很多人做了朋友' (I befriended many people) or (I've become friends to many people)


Why does 漠 (desert) have water in it? Since deserts are made of sand, does anyone have a clue why the character has 氵 in it?
Does it mean "desert" in the sense of "desolate"?

First, let's look at why 沙 (sand) is related to 水(water)

Sand is found mostly on 滩岸 (beach and shore), close to a body of water  (ocean, river, etc.)

Sand is created by water eroding rock

like water, sand can 流動 (flow)

漠: 北方流沙也。——《说文》 (漠 = flowing/ moving sand in the north)

A desert is in effect, an ocean of sand. Therefore, it is closely related to sand, and sand is closely related to water.
One interesting fact -- 莫 means 'without', so you can think of 漠 as 'without water'. The person who coined the word '漠' for 'desert' might have that in mind too
Side note: 少 means 'little', I suspect the word 沙 might be coined with the idea of 'made little by water' too


What does the Chinese text on this card say? What does the Chinese text on the card say?(https://i.stack.imgur.com/9sc92.jpg)

观音坐莲 (Goddess sitting on lotus leaves)

观音 (Guanyin) is the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy

老汉推车 (old man pushing cart)

Just search Google image and you can find out what kind of sex positions 观音坐莲 and 老汉推车 are


How can I say "Some users want it" in Chinese? My first idea is "有些用户想要它" but it is probably wrong.

Might a nominalisation as 有的用戶要的 work in your context?  It would translate to "It is something that some users want", for example as an answer to a question.  The pronoun 它 for innate objects is seldom used in Chinese.


How can I ask, "Will this email address be removed from this mail group?" I would like to ask, "Will this email address be removed from this mail group?"

The best I could come up with was, "这邮件地址会这个mail group除了吗？"
How should I ask this?

You can say "这个邮件地址会被邮件组删除/移除吗？". First, you need to catch the important words in this sentence. " email address"(邮箱地址),"removed"(移除) and "mail group" (邮件组). You can make a sentence with these three words in a logical order. " will" is future tense, so you need to use "会".


What is the meaning of 厚重感？ This is from an interview text:

我从小就喜欢文学，而且对北大非常向往。在我眼里，北大的精华都在文史哲，它们有一种厚重感。

我从小就喜欢文学，
As a child I always liked literature

而且对北大非常向往。
and I longed to go to Beijing University.

在我眼里，
In my eyes,

北大的精华都在文史哲，
Beijing University is quintessentially a place for literature, history and philosophy,

它们有一种厚重感。
they have a ????

They are very important there??
They are taken very seriously there??
These subjects have great weight there??
These subjects are profoundly important there??
I feel they are profoundly important there??

How should I translate '它们有一种厚重感。'??

Edit: found this in iciba.com

Scotland is a unique and austere place, laden with history.

参考译文苏格兰是一个独特的地方,自然条件虽不得天独厚, 历史的厚重感却随处可见.

历史的厚重感却随处可见 laden with history

So maybe I can translate:
I feel it, the university, is laden with literature, history and philosophy
I feel it is laden with them.
I feel they ooze from the walls.

春节快乐，万事如意！

厚重= thick and heavy
厚重感 = a thick and heavy feel
The most direct translation would be "a thick and heavy feel". It implies the air is filled with some sense that you can almost feel it's thickness and weight.
In the context of the quotes, 厚重感 can also be translated as "a substantial feel" or "a feel of immensity"

substantial (adjective):

of ample or considerable amount, quantity, size

of solid character or quality; firm, stout, or strong

~

immensity(noun):

vastness; enormous extent:
the immensity of the Roman empire.


Help please me find out what this means I’m looking to find out what this means. Please help was handed down to me from my family

As pointed out, the characters are 天寶紋銀, and are engraved in the small seal (小篆) style.

There are several character components which don't really resemble their regular script counterparts.

天

  「天」 is comprised of

  「一」(what this represents is disputed, but it is not one in this context);
  「大」(depiction of a person with outstretched arms).

  「一」is fairly recognisable. A seal script version of「大」is

  which blows up the proportion of the arms and legs.

寶

  「寶」 is comprised of

  「宀」(depiction of a house/building);
  「玉」, simplified to the component form「」(depiction of jade pieces);
  「缶」(sound component; OC rime: 幽);
  「貝」(depiction of cowrie shells).

  「玉」，「缶」，and「貝」are all fairly recognisable in seal script. Since「宀」depicted a full-fledged building, ancient scripts will commonly have the sides stretching down to fully depict a building's walls. A seal script version is

紋

  「紋」 is comprised of

  「糸」(depiction of silk threads);
  「文」(depiction of a person with an emphasised torso containing markings), doubles as the sound component).

  「糸」

  The seal script version of「糸」is derived from the original picture, representing several loops of silk threads ending in some frayed thread ends. An oracle bone version looks like

  turning the above upside down directly leads to seal script versions which look like

  Note, the number of thread loops may be variable, and you will sometimes get variants that have three loops instead.

  「文」

  The seal script version of「文」is simplified from the original picture, representing a standing person's body with markings (like tattoos) on it. An oracle bone version looks like

  「文」in fact was the original form of「紋」, having「糸」added to it after「文」became exclusively used for the association with the meaning writing. The shape was simplified by the removal of the markings on the torso, and from the above, the similarity to the shape of「大」is not coincidental; both were derived from the shape of a person, while the middle empty space in「文」is just due to the emphasised torso. This leads to the seal scripts which look like

銀

  「銀」 is comprised of

  「金」(depiction of a container for melting metals);
  「艮」(sound component).

  「金」

  The seal script version of「金」is derived from the original picture, which depicted metal plates「冫」formed from a smelting process, represented by a crucible:

  「冫」was later borrowed as a simplified version of「仌」(ice), but the original meaning can still be seen in「冶」(to smelt) and「凝」(condensation/solidification). The markings representing the metal plates were later moved around and more marks got added to or subtracted from these over the course of history, but eventually two marks settled to their current position in「金」.

  Samples of「金」from bamboo slip writings from the State of Chu. The red box reveals some examples which look like the modern form.

  The top of the crucible doubles as a sound component, which is「今」. For reference, bronze script versions of「今」look like

  with a seal script form that looks like

  The above leads to seal script shapes looking like

  「艮」

  The seal script version of「艮」is derived from the original compound, which is comprised of「目」(eyes). The bottom part originally represented a person and looked like「人」or「儿」.

  For reference, oracle bone versions of「目」and「人」:

  This leads on to a seal script shape (note: see further below)

  Variants of「艮」started changing shape during the Warring States period, leading to the modern form corrupting「目」into「日」and the bottom shape into what it is now.

  Note that「艮」originally meant to look backwards; the highly similar character「見」was originally composed from「卩」, later changing into「止」or「人/儿」.

  To avoid confusion,「艮」sometimes used a shape that looked like「匕」:

  This leads to the different seal script forms

  「艮」vs.「見」

References:

季旭昇《說文新證》
小學堂


If you can use Chinese nouns as verbs, or vice versa In English you have words like "badge" which are typically a noun, but they can also be verbs, "They need to badge in" to use their keycard to get in. Shortly, "Badge in please". You can have other ones that are verbs but also nouns, like "lock". "Here is the lock" as a noun, and "Please lock the car door" is a verb.

Google translate says 锁 is "lock, n.", and 锁 as "lock, v.", so the same word/character for both like in English, 锁. It says 徽 is "badge, n.", but doesn't provide a verb for badge. Another word with different noun/verb forms is "mark", as in 痕 for "mark, n.", and 标 for "mark, v.", so 痕 vs. 标.

I am wondering from a programming perspective how variable names can be written down. If I create a "badge" object in programming, then I would call it 徽. But if I have a function "badge" that does the badging in, I would think I could also call it 徽. Or if not, my question is how you would do this. I don't speak Chinese yet fyi, so be gentle. If it is okay to use nouns as verbs, especially if there is no verb form for a noun (or vice versa, if there is no noun form for a verb).

Likewise, if I have an object called "mark", I could also have a function called "mark" that creates a marking. In Chinese I am wondering if I could use just one form of the concept, such as the noun form, for both, or the verb form for both. So "mark object" would be 痕, while "do mark" would also be 痕. Or perhaps the other way around, "mark object" would be 标, while "do mark" would also be 标. The question here is if this would make sense. If you can use a verb as a noun or a noun as a verb in Chinese essentially. If it would make sense. Or no, I must do "mark object" as 痕, while "do mark" is 标.

If you can, well great, the question then is if I must use the noun form for both, or the verb form for both, or if it doesn't matter.

If you can't, then I'm wondering why not. Wondering perhaps how it comes across. If it comes across as "weird" or "jarring", or does it still come across as understandable/interpretable, or if it is really confusing.

If you can use Chinese nouns as verbs, or vice versa

Many Chinese nouns can also be verbs; and many Chinese verbs can also be nouns-- but not all of them, just like in English

  Please go into more detail how you can use nouns as verbs, what the rules are generally

Typically, a word was either coined for a noun or verb first, and then its meaning extended to other word type for convenience's sake.

For example, It is possible that when people invented drill, they called it '鑽' (n); later when they needed a word to describe the action of 'to drill' , it is very convenience to add the meaning to the existing noun and make '鑽' both noun and verb.

Or it is the other way around, people called the action of 'to burrow' as '鑽'(v); when 'drill' was invented, they just use the verb '鑽' to name it, because a drill 'burrow' into things.

So, when a noun is closely associated with an unique action (verb), it would be used as a verb eventually; similarly when a verb is closely associated with an object (noun), it would be used as a noun eventually

The nouns that cannot be use as a verbs are mostly something that do not associate with a specific action, for example:  劍(sword). We cannot use 'sword someone' to describe 'to stab someone' because there are too many other objects you can use to stab someone
The verbs that cannot be use as a nouns are mostly intransitive, or something that do not associate with any particular object. For example 插(stab),  You can stab with too many objects to make 插(v) a noun for any of them

It is always "插(stab)你一劍(sword)" , never  "劍(stab?)你一插(sword?)"

The best way to make sure you can or cannot use a Chinese noun as a verb or vice versa is to check a dictionary-- Just like in English


Can a neutral tone appear on a non-final syllable? Can a neutral/fifth tone appear in a word syllable other than the last one?
If so, as a lexical tone, a sandhi tone or both? Adding a few examples would be helpful.

Taking the definition of "word" as "an entry in CC-CEDICT", the answer to the first question is Yes.

I have a little script (I could share it if there's any interest) that I adapt to go through CC-CEDICT, looking for words that match a few criteria. Here's the output I got for 2-character words starting with the neutral tone:

  nb matches: 8

  nb tone patterns: 5

  4   5, 5

  1   5, 1

  1   5, 2

  1   5, 3

  1   5, 4

  5, 1   嗯哼 嗯哼 [en5 heng1] /uh-huh/

  5, 2   個頭 个头 [ge5 tou2] /(coll.) (suffix) my ass!/yeah, right!/

  5, 3   得很 得很 [de5 hen3] /very (much, good etc)/

  5, 4   的話 的话 [de5 hua4] /if (coming after a conditional clause)/

  5, 5   出來 出来 [chu5 lai5] /(after a verb, indicates coming out,
  completion of an action, or ability to discern or detect)/

  5, 5   著呢 着呢 [zhe5 ne5] /comes at the end of the sentence to indicate
  a strong degree/quite/rather/

  5, 5   起來 起来 [qi5 lai5] /(after a verb) indicating the beginning and
  continuation of an action or a state/indicating an upward movement
  (e.g. after 站[zhan4])/bringing things together (e.g. after 收拾[shou1
  shi5])/(after a perception verb, e.g. 看[kan4]) expressing preliminary
  judgment/also pr. [qi3 lai5]/

  5, 5   麼麼 么么 [me5 me5] /kissing sound (slang onom.)/

Note: the output starts with some statistics (number of matches, number of tone patterns) along with the different tone patterns (aka tone contours) ordered by frequency.

There are too many 3-character words containing a neutral tone not at the end for me to put them here - there are 445 of them - but here are the first lines of the output of my search.

  nb matches: 445

  nb tone patterns: 22

  49   4, 5, 4

  48   1, 5, 4

  29   2, 5, 4

  27   2, 5, 2

  26   3, 5, 4

  26   4, 5, 3

  25   1, 5, 1

  23   2, 5, 1

  21   1, 5, 3

  21   3, 5, 3

  18   1, 5, 2

  18   3, 5, 1

  18   3, 5, 2

  17   4, 5, 2

  16   4, 5, 1

  14   4, 5, 5

  13   1, 5, 5

  13   3, 5, 5

  11   2, 5, 5

  10   2, 5, 3

  1   5, 3, 3

  1   5, 4, 5

  1, 5, 1   吃不消 吃不消 [chi1 bu5 xiao1] /to be unable to tolerate or
  endure/to find sth difficult to manage/

  1, 5, 1   吃不開 吃不开 [chi1 bu5 kai1] /be unpopular/won't work/

  1, 5, 1   吃得消 吃得消 [chi1 de5 xiao1] /to be able to endure (exertion,
  fatigue etc)/to be able to afford/

  1, 5, 1   吃得開 吃得开 [chi1 de5 kai1] /to be popular/to be getting on
  well/much in demand/

  1, 5, 1   夾肢窩 夹肢窝 [ga1 zhi5 wo1] /armpit/also written 胳肢窩|胳肢窝[ga1 zhi5
  wo1]/

  1, 5, 1   媽媽桑 妈妈桑 [ma1 ma5 sang1] /mama-san, middle-aged woman who
  runs a brothel, bar etc (loanword from Japanese)/madam/

  1, 5, 1   尖子生 尖子生 [jian1 zi5 sheng1] /top student/

  1, 5, 1   書記官 书记官 [shu1 ji5 guan1] /clerk of a law court/

  1, 5, 1   梔子花 栀子花 [zhi1 zi5 hua1] /cape jasmine (Gardenia
  jasminoides)/

  1, 5, 1   椰子汁 椰子汁 [ye1 zi5 zhi1] /coconut water/

  1, 5, 1   椰子貓 椰子猫 [ye1 zi5 mao1] /Asian palm civet (Paradoxurus
  hermaphroditus), also called toddy cat/

  1, 5, 1   歐巴桑 欧巴桑 [ou1 ba5 sang1] /older female/woman of mature years
  (Japanese loanword)/

  1, 5, 1   滴答聲 滴答声 [di1 da5 sheng1] /tick (tock)/

  1, 5, 1   玻璃心 玻璃心 [bo1 li5 xin1] /(slang) overly sensitive/butthurt/

  1, 5, 1   玻璃杯 玻璃杯 [bo1 li5 bei1] /drinking glass/

  1, 5, 1   玻璃砂 玻璃砂 [bo1 li5 sha1] /siliceous sand (geology)/

  1, 5, 1   玻璃鋼 玻璃钢 [bo1 li5 gang1] /glass-reinforced
  plastic/fiberglass/

  1, 5, 1   生意經 生意经 [sheng1 yi5 jing1] /knack of doing business/business
  sense/

  1, 5, 1   眵目糊 眵目糊 [chi1 mu5 hu1] /(dialect) gum (in one's eyes)/

  1, 5, 1   胳肢窩 胳肢窝 [ga1 zhi5 wo1] /armpit/also pr. [ge1 zhi5 wo1]/also
  written 夾肢窩|夹肢窝[ga1 zhi5 wo1]/

  1, 5, 1   芝麻包 芝麻包 [zhi1 ma5 bao1] /sesame bun/

As for the second question about the neutral tone being lexical or sandhi, I think the answer is "lexical". I'm not aware of any sandhi rule governing the neutral tone.


Is there a single English word equivalent that means 人各有志? I think I could say something like "differing opinions/perspectives/thoughts/etc." I'm wondering if I could somehow say this with one word?

I can't think of a single word.

The phrase for the meaning you're describing is De gustibus non est disputandum, or sometimes colloquially "to each his own".

This is not however the literal meaning of 人各有志. The most analogical word is aspiration in English; e.g. "each man has his own aspiration".


Any real difference between 句子 and 句话 in Mandarin? I have learned that both words mean "a sentence". But they behave differently: 句子 requires a measure word and can be used separately, while 句话 does not (?) need the measure word and shouldn't be used alone. Plus it's similar to 菊花, which has a very interesting colloquial meaning.

But one native speaker went in-depth suggesting that they are not interchangeable. I only understood a bit. From what I gather, one might actually mean "an utterance" or "clause", an incomplete part of sentence. Let me quote him:

  句 jù

  由词组成的，能表示出一个完整意思的话。

  话 huà

  说出来的，能表达思想、感情的声音，也指把这种声音记录下来的文字。

  句子 jù zǐ

  用词和词组构成的，能够表达完整意思的语言单位。每个句子都有一定的语调，表示陈述、疑问、祈使或感叹的语气。在连续说话时，句子和句子中间有一个较大的停顿。在书面上每个句子的末尾用句号、问号或叹号。

  我想你主要困惑的是什么时候用“句子”，什么时候用“句话”。

  在简单句中，比如，由一个单独的名词组成句子的时候，使用“句子”这个词。比如：

  A问道：sentence这个英语词汇用中文怎么说？

  B直接简单的回答：句子。（这里不能用“句话”，可以用“一句话”或者“几句话”。而且这里的“句子”是泛指，不特指一个句子，还是两个句子，而是都有可能。）

  “句话”这个词其实不能算个词汇，它不完整。在句子中如果出现“句话”这个词，一般是“一句话”省略为“句话”。比如：“我说句话。”是“我说一句话。”或“我说几句话。”的省略。如果你仅仅使用“句话”，就不完整。

PS. I also don't understand his use of 词汇 here.

"句话" is not a word. A qualifier is needed before it, like"一句话" or "两句话". No one say "句话" alone, because it is weird.


What's the role of 好了 in 你叫我(name)好了? In this sentence

  你叫我马丁好了。

what's the role of 好了?

I understand this sentence as "You can call me 马丁."

In Chinese, the particle 好了 is used to mean "OK".

So in the sentence

  你叫我马丁好了。

this would be translated as "You can call me Martin, OK."

好了 is also used to suggest something where you are not expecting a response:

  现在我带你去看他好了。 = I'll take you to see him now.

In this case, the person could still refuse or suggest now is not the right time. But by using the 好了, the speaker is suggesting that the other party is likely to go ahead with the suggestion.

Contrast this with a sentence where 好吧 is used, which is more offering a suggestion:

  我们现在去看他好吧？ = Let's go and see him now, OK? or How about we go and see him now?

Also note that 好了 can be used in another context to indicate completion, e.g.:

  你吃好了没有? = Have you finished eating?


承認 for confessing admiration Is 承認 appropriate when describing the following situation? I've known a girl a while and she recently confessed that she liked me. I know "承認" is used for admitting that you have committed a crime or done something else wrong, but liking someone isn't wrong. I imagined Chinese would have a more nuanced word for this situation.

承认 means 'to admit'. It isn't only used when the deed being admitted is wrong or illegal. It can be shameful, embarrassing or simply too shy to admit, which I believe is the situation in your example.
Although 承认 is fine to use, I think an even better word is 坦白, which means 'to confess'. Just like the English word (and like 承认), it's commonly used for sins or guilt, but it can be used for embarrassment or shyness as well.

We confessed that we like each other.
我们坦白了彼此喜欢对方。


Translate 表面風光、內裏陰乾 in English Translate 表面風光、內裏陰乾 in english.

Where is this ancient idiom coming from by the way?

It is not an idiom, but a typical 順口溜 (Jingle)

表面(on the surface)

風光(look good)* short from 好風光(good scenery)- something look good in people's eyes)

內裏(inside)

陰乾(slowly dry up in dry dark place)

It means 'someone seems well off in the public's eyes, but in reality, is flat broke.'


Ancient Chinese Saying #437: ... 10,000 days for the sword The English martial arts internet is awash in people reciting

100 days of bare hand, 1,000 days of spear, 10,000 days of sword,

unless it's

It takes 100 days to learn the spear, 1000 days to learn the sabre, and 10,000 days to learn the sword,

unless it's

100 days staff, 1000 days spear, 10,000 days sword,

unless it's

Learning a form takes 100 days, bo (i.e., staff) takes 1,000, and Tai Chi sword 10,000 days

or

It takes 100 days to master a spear, 1000 days to master a dao (single-edged sword), and 10,000 days to master a jian (double-edged sword)

or

To learn the spear takes 10 days, to learn the dao takes 100 days, to learn the jian takes 10,000 days

or

It takes 100 days to master the broadsword (dao) but takes 10,000 days to master the straight sword (jian)
The infantry can master dao (single swords) in 100 days, but a noble will still be learning the jian (double sword) after 10,000 days
You can give a man a dao and have a soldier in a 100 days; give a man a jian and it will take one thousand days.

Everyone seems to get the basic idea that mastering the Chinese longsword (剑) was hard, but everything else in the "quote" moves around and absolutely no one ever gives a Chinese form of the quote or a source for their "traditional proverb".* The only Chinese source I found with some form of the English quote is

To learn the hand, it takes 100 days; to learn the saber, it takes 1,000 days; to learn the spear, it takes 10,000 days; and to learn the sword takes a whole lifetime

from an article by the guys who took over the Shanghai Daily quoting an American taiji master studying at Fudan. It's unclear if he picked it up from his teachers in the US or from someone in Shanghai.
These all look like they could come from a Chinese original, so I searched Baidu for 百、千、万 and 天 and 剑. The only common phrase I could find was

百日练刀，千日练枪，万日练剑
One hundred days of practice [to master] the dao, one thousand days of practice [to master] the spear/gun, ten thousand days of practice [to master] the longsword.

or closer to the intended meaning (since almost everyone reading the translations in English seems to take the numbers literally)

It takes a short while to master the dao, much longer to master the spear, and forever to master the sword.

which my friend with better Chinese says probably came from The Legend of the Condor Heroes (《射雕英雄传》) by Jin Yong (Louis Cha), who wasn't an ancient Chinese master of anything but a tubby 20th-century journalist and wuxia novelist from Hong Kong.

So the questions are:

Is there any Chinese version of this expression older than 1957?
If not, could you describe the context of the quote in his book?
Especially, what did Jin Yong mean by 刀 here?

since it's usually translated as 'knife' these days but actually covers most large single-bladed weapons, including Chinese sabres, machetes, and halberds. (枪 today usually means 'gun' but, as pointed out in the comments, can also mean 'spear', which is presumably what was intended here.)

*The only exception I found was here, quoting e2, loosely quoting a line in Musashi Miyamoto's Book of Five Rings: "To know how to win with the sword... a thousands days of training to develop, ten thousand days of training to polish."

Conceptually, this is not that new. The Tang-dynasty poet Jia Dao (779－843) had a famous poem starting with this phrase:

  十年磨一劍 "For ten years I have been polishing this sword"

The "polishing" here is a poetic expression of his learning swordcraft. The phrase could be even shorter as 十年劍 ("ten years of sword") in Chinese is also similar to "10,000 days of sword" in stucture.
The original text from The Legend of the Condor Heroes was an explanatory description of a fighting phase-change between charaters. You could find the exact phrase online as quoted below from Chapter 20 ("The Altered Manual") in Frans Soetomo's translation:

  There is a saying among martial arts practitioners, “A hundred days to master a saber, a thousand days to master a spear, ten thousand days to master a sword,” indicating that sword techniques were the most difficult to learn.


How do I say "did you watch the football?" With the World Cup on, this is a common phrase I want to be able to ask. Is it simply 你看足球了吗？Or 足球比赛？And do I need the 了 in this sentence? Including the 了 makes it feel like I'm asking them "do you watch football these days, as opposed to before when you didn't?" Or should I put the 了 after the 看 instead of at the end of the sentence?

"你看足球比赛吗？" = "do you watch football match?"
"你看了足球比赛吗？" = "have you watched the football match? " (看 is the verb, 了 is the verb particle indicates 'completion of an action-- 足球比赛 is the object that was being watched)
"你看足球比赛了吗？" put the object '足球比赛' between '看' and its verb particle '了'. that make '看足球比赛' a verb phrase

If you want to ask if someone watched the football match, #2 and #3 are both acceptable.


What does the phrase "要衝一波囉" mean? (Alternatively: 當然要衝一波囉)
It shows up a lot on the web but I can't find the meaning of it anywhere. Thanks!

衝一波=rush forward
So 要衝一波囉 means "let's do this!"


What is 到 doing in the sentence 他可能会到地址目录中查找? A Jukuu.com example sentence:

  还有一种办法，他可能会到地址目录中查找。
  Alternatively, he could look the address up in a directory.
  Hái yǒuyī zhǒng bànfǎ, tā kěnéng huì dào dìzhǐ mùlù zhōng cházhǎo.

Everything here makes sense to me except 到.

Question: What is 到 doing in the sentence 他可能会到地址目录中查找?

Breaking it down:

还有一种办法 = still have one kind of solution
他可能会 (tā kěnéng huì) = he possibly can ...
到 (dào) = to arrive (???)
地址目录 (dìzhǐ mùlù) = "address table of contents" likely means "address book"
中 (zhōng) = within
查找 (cházhǎo) = to look up

It seems possible that I might be breaking this up incorrectly: instead 到地址 go together as "destination address", which is separate from 目录.

到...中 in this context could be interpreted as 'get into'.

他可能会到地址目录中查找?: he might get into the address catalogue to have a search.


What is the conclusion of this article? I am not clear on the usage of 偏上 in the following sentence:

  此前，《时代》周刊和皮尤研究中心也分别做过类似国家形象的调查。结果均显示，中国的受欢迎程度排名中偏上，但都远远落后于日本的排名。

My translation: Prior to this research, ShiDai publication and Pew did a separate investigation of... Similar countries? All of the results show that China's acceptance rating is... Skewed/biased/prejudiced? But all still lag behind Japan?

Thanks for your help.

此前，《时代》周刊和皮尤研究中心也分别做过类似国家形象的调查。

Previous to this (research), Time Magazine and Pew Research Center had each done similar national image surveys.

  结果均显示，中国的受欢迎程度排名中偏上，但都远远落后于日本的排名。

The results all showed, China's popularity is middle to upper, but ranks far behind Japan.


How to describe 陈省身's name Shiing-shen Chern, 陈省身 (1911--2004), is a famous geometer.  When taking about him with Chinese people who do not study math and have not heard of him, how can I best describe which characters 陈, 省, and 身 these are?

Yellowbridge has many two-word phrases with 省 and I guess 反省 would be relevant.  But I am not confident whether it would be a good way to explain it.

I guess 身体的身 would work well for 身.

Would 普通的陈 work to say it is the most common name Chen?  Would it sound polite?

I do not think I could draw any of these on my hand well enough for anyone to understand!

I suggest just explaining the origin:

曾子曰：「吾日三省吾身：為人謀而不忠乎？與朋友交而不信乎？傳不習乎？」——《論語·學而》
The philosopher Zeng said, "I daily examine myself on three points: whether, in transacting business for others, I may have been not faithful; whether, in intercourse with friends, I may have been not sincere; whether I may have not mastered and practiced the instructions of my teacher."
——"Xue Er" in The Analects (Confucianism). Translated in English by James Legge.

So, you can say something like

陈是耳东陈，省身是「(吾日)三省吾身」的「省身」。

I think Chinese should at least know the idiom 三省吾身(sān xǐng wú shēn), if not, it's an opportunity to teach them :)
PS for pedants: yes, yes, I know 陈 is not composed of 耳 and 东: 耳 should be 阜/. However in common saying, people just say so and everyone can understand!


Are there any initial consonants/syllables in modern Chinese dialects which are incompatible with some tones? Are there any initial consonants/syllables in modern Chinese dialects which are incompatible with some tones?

Can certain tones occur only in certain syllables (that is, within open or close ones)?

I am referring mainly to 普通话 (or 華語), but any other dialect will do

Here's an example of this sort of phenomenon:

  Syllables that begin with unaspirated stops b, d, g, or affricates j, zh, z, and end in a nasal n or ng, as a rule don’t have second-tone forms.

Here's a more extensive explanation of how this came about


Can 来 be used as a 虚词? 来 usually means "to come".

In this sentence from an online database:
旱区人民需要我们的帮助来渡过难关

来 does not seem to me being used in its lexical meaning here, but rather containing a grammatical expression of finality "in order to".

Am i wrong, or is this a different usage of it?

ABC calls this a 连词, which they explain like this:

Conjunction
Liáncí 连词
A conjunction is a word that joins phrases or sentences together to form a larger sentence or chunk of thought. Some examples include érqiě 'furthermore', suīrán 'although', suǒyǐ 'therefore', jiù 'then' and yàoburán 'otherwise'.

here's ABC's relative entry for 来:

CONJ.(in order) to
唱个歌儿来凑热闹
chàng ge gēr lái còu rènao
sing a song to liven things

Here's some other examples from the A Chinese English Dictionary:

7 (used between a verbal expression and a verb or between two verbal expressions) in order to
大家想办法来解决。
Dàjiā xiǎng bànfǎ lái jiějué.
Let's think of a way to solve the problem.
我们得尽一切力量来完成计划。
Wǒmen děi jìn yīqiè lìliang lái wánchéng jìhuà.
We must do all we can to implement the plan.
你又能用什么理由来说服他呢？
Nǐ yòu néng yòng shénme lǐyóu lái shuōfú tā ne？
And what arguments can you use to convince him?


How to write character components on a keyboard? I run Fedora and was wondering if it's possible to write character components with keyboard? E.g. only the left part of "说"? If yes, how would one do that?

You need 五笔输入法, but I think it would be very difficult to learn, even to native Chinese speakers.

I think the best way to do it is draw it with mouse, some input method support the feature.


有钱能使鬼推磨, is this verb serialization? So there is a Chinese saying,

有钱能使鬼推磨。
If you have money, you can make the devil push the millstone for you.

Right after the verb 有，the other verb 能+使 comes.
Is that also considered verb serialization? because I've never seen the next verb with 能(can/could) in verb-serialized sentences.
Thanks in advance.

why not?
连动句 Sentences with Verbal Constructions in Series。（兼语句 pivotal sentence） are of the type

Subject + predicate_1 + (object_1) + Predicate_2 + (object_2)，

object_1 being subject of predicate_2

If predicate_1 originally is some common verb it can be preceded by a modal verb without violating the above structure,in given example predicate_1 is modal verb (能） ＋ verb （使）。

The １st predicate can be 有 （i。e。 does not have to be of type 请、要求、使） and pivotal sentences can of course be strung together， resulting in more than ２ predicates。

If it were 某人 有钱能使鬼推磨，then  more clearly it would be of type

subject（某人）＋p＿１（有）＋o＿１（钱）＋p＿２（能使）＋o＿２（鬼）＋p＿３（推）＋o＿３（磨）。


Why is 纔 the “correct” traditional form of 才? There are often debates about the “correct” traditional forms of certain characters.

I just came across the following sentence:

  我們不能以今律古，將今天纔有的種種概念，如共同語、地域分支、標準語等等，强加於古代的語言現象。

Now, being a book talking about language evaluation, I’m sure that the authors chose 纔 to represent 才 because it is somehow the more accurate form of this character. I don’t really know the rational behind this reasoning though.

Why is 纔 the “correct” traditional form of 才?

纔
Due to the complicated strokes, the traditional form 纔 is being wholly replaced by the simplified form 才 even in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

I was from Hong Kong, no one would use 纔 instead of 才. Just look at how many more stocks in 纔 compare to 才. I would consider 纔 is the archaic form of 才

Why is 纔 the “correct” traditional form of 才

It was the “correct” traditional form of 才 but now is archaic (almost no one use it nowadays).  才 is officially the standard (in traditional or simplified Chinese) in modern Chinese. 纔 had became a rarely used variant (it is not incorrect but it is very old fashion)
BTW, the argument in the text you posted is about "We shouldn't insert modern concepts in ancient language". If it was written as 纔 in the first place, just leave it that way


Learn Chinese Step 1: Sounds (Pinyins). How different is it to English sounds and are there any good tips to learn? Many Mandarin Chinese teachers claim that the step 1 for Learning Chinese is: Sounds (Pinyins).

How different is it to English sounds and are there any good tips to learn?

I found listening to music really helped when learning - artists from Taiwan and the south tend to sing more clearly in my opinion. perhaps you could start there.

Also, it is worth noting that in English we have around 8000 unique syllables, whereas in (mandarin) Chinese there are only around 400 (multiply this by 4 for the tones).


What's the difference between 否则, 要不, 不然, and 要不然? They all mean "otherwise", and beyond that 要不 is more colloquially used I'm not sure how they differ in usage or meaning.

否则 is often time more formal and comes across as more strongly worded (directly admonishing the listener). Much like saying "you need to do X, otherwise/if not, Y will happen (as a consequence)."

E.g., 今天你必须来参加会议，否则后果自负

要不 comes across as the softest (has the same as either/or, in the same manner as a suggestion), but it might the nuance of sounding as if one is being admonished, depending on the context. Much like saying "you (either) need to do X, or Y might happen."

E.g., 今天你必须来参加会议，要不老板会生气的

However, note that 要不 is (more commonly) used to as a way to directly or indirectly ask the listener for consent (based on the context it's used). Seeing the 吧 typically will indicate that this is a suggestion.

E.g., 一个人看电影没意思，要不我们俩一起去看吧.

不然 is often used when you want to assert a matter of fact (typically in a neutral manner), the manner of speaking is probably somewhere between 否则 and 要不 in terms of strength. Much like saying "you need to do X otherwise Y might happen."

E.g., 今天你必须来参加会议，不然老板会生气的

要不然 is a about the same as 要不, but in a bit stronger tone than 要不. Much like saying "you need to do X， or otherwise/or else Y might happen." In my opinion, 要不然 can be used interchangeably with 要不, but only in when used in the context of "otherwise."

E.g., 今天你必须来参加会议，要不然老板会生气的


Is 羊汤 (sheep soup) an alternative word for 羊肉汤 (mutton soup)? The local mosque has a halal restaurant nearby with this sign:

  清真回回饺子羊汤馆
  Qīngzhēn huíhui jiǎozi yáng tāng guǎn

I translate this approximately to "halal ethnic Hui dumplings and sheep soup restaurant".  (Google Translate gives: "Halal back to dumplings sheep soup hall".)

Ordinarily, I would expect to see 羊肉汤 (yángròu tāng) = "mutton soup", but the sign says 羊汤 (yáng tāng) = "sheep soup" which surprises me.

Question: Is 羊汤 an alternative word for 羊肉汤?

Baidu gives 17,200,000 hits for 羊汤 and 15,200,000 hits for 羊肉汤, which suggests both are in common usage.

Yes, it is.

百度百科 also has the synonym:

  羊汤一般指羊肉汤


Is '去+verb' similar to 'to infinitives' in English? I am a collector. I collect sentences which I find interesting or exemplary for certain syntactical structures. I just stumbled over another example of this structure, so I thought I would ask the question here. These are some of my 'to infinitive' collection. There seems to be a remarkable similarity between this use of 去 + verb and the English to + infinitive.

Is this more apparent than real? Maybe this is only Modern Chinese, under  foreign influence. Can this kind of structure be found in Old Chinese?

Does Chinese have a 'to infinitive'?

(these are not all complete sentences, just the bits I saved)

如何去尽责

理解为去爱别人

有专门去学这方面的知识

可能是错过了真正去生活的机会。

用自己的行动做表率，去影响自己的子女和整个社会。

Just thought I'd throw this in, 4 去s in one short text:

人们把老师比作“春雨”，把学生比作“春苗“，春苗需要春雨去浇灌。老师就如那绵绵的春雨，用丰富的知识去开启学生的智慧，用优秀的人格去培育学生的品德，用无私的奉献精神去熏陶学生的心灵。

Note: this answer may well be slightly incomplete.
Usage of to that can be translated to 去 is the case only in specific settings. For instance, in English, I like to read books is grammatically correct. However, the Chinese equivalent would be 我喜欢看书: there is no addition of something like 去 before the verb (i.e. 看). Thus, at the very least, there is no one-size-fits-all equivalent to the English infinitive and to the structure you mentioned. Now, it's also true that infinitives aren't necessarily used in identical ways across languages (e.g. English sometimes uses the gerund where French might use the infinitive), so I'll move onto a discussion of the structure you suggested itself.
Let's look at an instance of the structure.

我们约了在商场去看电影。
(We planned to meet at the shopping mall to see a film.)

Here, both 去 and the English to essentially serve as a marker to indicate cause. Because we're going to see a film, we planned to meet at the shopping mall. (Similarly, we could express the same idea in Chinese as: 为了看电影，我们约了在市场.) This is also the case in English, where to is being used as a preposition. This is also the case in your example of 用自己的行动做表率，去影响自己的子女和整个社会.
Let's look at some other examples, however, to check if that assessment is sufficient. I apologize for the poor quality of the glosses I provide -- but it's also just hard to come up with something better without more context.

理解为去爱别人 reads as something like understanding in order to love other people. So 去爱 seems to mean to love in same sense of the English infinitive (with to, in that case). (Similar example, modified from the dictionary: 我命令他们去调查这件事 -- I ordered them to investigate the matter.) So in some cases, 去 does serve as the to part of the infinitive in the most traditional sense.

Meanwhile, 有专门去学这方面的知识 reads as "experts who go study ...", and there, 去 is used in a way similar to how it appears in something like 我现在去做功课, or in LINE Dict's example of 他去找报纸了. Here 去 essentially serves the same purpose as go in the English go do something.

So the 去 + VERB combination should not be interpreted as a parallel to the to + infinitive structure in English, since it doesn't always work that way.
Perhaps it's best to drop the idea of a Chinese infinitive (at least for modern Chinese), because of the lack of Chinese verb inflections -- the idea of an infinitive often involves the idea of it being an uninflected form, and Chinese isn't a synthetic language by most formulations -- and the failure of English constructions to necessarily correspond consistently to Chinese ones.


Can someone explain 搜噶斯耐 in internet speak? I was chatting with a Chinese friend of mine whose english is a bit broken (not as nearly as much as my Mandarin is) & she wrote

搜噶斯耐

Which apparently means something like 'so that's it' in english.  As she explained, the reason for writing it this way is has something to do with the Japanese pronunciation of these words.  She mentioned that something similar occurs with:

针不搓

Can someone help me explain these idiosyncrasies in a bit more detail?

搜噶斯耐 = そうですね (sou desu ne)

I'm not sure how 噶斯 becomes desu but hey here we are.
Wiktionary

そうですね
1 that's so, isn't it so?
2 hmm (used to indicate that the listener has heard and understood)

针不戳 is a meme based off of poor pronunciation.

针不戳 = 真不错

The original sentence was:

“针不戳，住在山里面针不戳”

Now people say it wrong on purpose to reference it.


Playing a game, a Chinese player says this: "德莱厄斯两兄弟" What does it mean? I was getting along with a teammate, and then a third guy (who was speaking english before) says this:

德莱厄斯两兄弟

Google translate just says "Two Brothers",
and I can't figure a different definition by looking at each character individually

Is this an actual phrase?  Or perhaps an English speaker plugging something into google translate and getting random gibberish?

I guess you are playing LOL, and then 德莱厄斯 is Darius ( the Hand of Noxus). So, “德莱厄斯两兄弟” means “Darius and his brother (Draven (the Glorious Executioner))”. So maybe your team or the other team summoned both Darius and Draven, and that bro commented on this. Have fun~


What are the best Chinese terms for the correct sense of the English adjective "everyday"? It seems that even CEDICT is full of the common English usage mistake confusing the adjective "everyday" with the adverbial phrase "every day". This means many dictionary sites and apps such as Pleco are also infested with this error.

Wiktionary, on the other hand, is still missing Chinese translations for many of the synonyms of "everyday". I don't have access right now to a quality bilingual dictionary.

So, which Chinese terms are the best for the correct sense of English "everyday", which means "commonplace, mundane, ordinary, quotidian, unremarkable, etc"?

I feel it might be 日常 but there's so much poor literacy in the public-edited dictionaries that I can't trust them.

“日常” is the closest in most contexts. It conveys the sense of "commonplace, mundane" very well.

Some example phrases:
everyday life - 日常生活
everyday conversation - 日常对话/日常会话
everyday clothes - 日常服装

It can also be used as a noun: 我厌倦了重复的日常 (I grew tired of my repetitive everyday life)


Difference between 品格 / 品质 / 人品 / 人格 / 素质? I have seen 品格，品质，人品，人格，素质 all defined as moral quality or character, though I'm guessing there's more nuance in the way they are used. Are these words interchangeable or do they describe different things? What is the connotation of each? Thanks in advance for any help you can provide

It would try to explain the difference in English on my best and I will include the common meanings.

  品格

It means generally the way a person deals or reacts with the outside world, it could also refer to the quality and character of a literature work. It could also mean the quality of a product, but people often use the word 品质 for this meaning.

  品质

It refers the quality of a product or the quality of a person's morality, IQ, EQ, health and so on.

  人品

It means personality, however, more on the degree of a person's morality in the society. Although, recently, people has been using 人品 as luck, this is not yet officially accepted as a meaning for this word.

  人格

This means personality.

  素质

It refers to the quality of a person's behavior.


How do native Chinese greet each other on daily basis? I have read somewhere that "你好" and "你好吗?" are mostly textbook greetings and are not used by native Chinese, at least not on daily basis. I would also find it hard to believe that two friends who know each other for years would still greet each other with 你好！:)

So, what do the Chinese use? For acquaintances? Friends? Relatives? Family? People you've just met? How much does the level of closeness with the other person determine the greeting?

This is a very interesting question. I am sure you can understand that even in English there are tons of ways to greet one single friend. It also differs from regions. Below I am listing some of the typical/common ways we greet people.

People you've just met:

你好！＝ hello.
很高兴认识你！ = very glad to meet you.

For acquaintances:

你好吗？= how are you doing?
忙吗？ = are you busy recently?
最近忙什么？= what have you been up to recently?
身体好吗？= Are you well/healthy?
吃过饭了吗？= have you eaten? — This is very typical and old-fashioned Chinese way to greet. It has been used by the older generation more frequently. Chinese won't be surprised if they are greeted this way when the timing is not applicable. Seldom will they misunderstand this as a lunch/dinner invitation. It is just a greeting....)

For close friends:

嗨/嘿！hi/hey.
怎么样/你怎么样？= how are you doing?

For relatives:

for close relatives, we don't even greet a lot. Just call "Mom/Dad". for relatives who we don't get to meet a lot, we use the similar greeting as acquaintances.


Should the object always be placed after the verb, and is a target and an object the same thing? I have a question about the placements of objects and targets in sentences. I am not sure if I understand the difference between "target" and "object". I have tried search for it, but they both seem to be; "the word or phrase which the verb is referring to".

In short my questions are:

What are the differences between a target and an object (if there is any)?
In the sentence "警察那天不停地在警察局对他审问了几个小时 (The police kept him in the police station for a few hours that day)", why isn't "对他(to him)" an object and placed after the verb, since the chinese language uses Subject-Verb-Object structure?
If possible, can someone give me an example where both a target and an object is placed in the same sentence, and describe why it should be this way?

In the picture that I have posted below, you can see that the targets are placed before the verb. They have not included any place for the object, so where should it go? Or is the target an object? I'm confused! I hope someone can explain :)

I found my information on this website:
https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Word_order

As a native Chinese citizen & Chinese speaker, I can confirm that that placement is wrong, or at least partially.

警察那天不停地在警察局对他审问了几个小时 sounds quite weird. This sounds like:

  The police repeatedly "interrogated him in the office" for several hours.

...which errorneously overemphasized the place.

My version (that makes sense):

  警察那天在警察局不停地对他审问了几个小时。

Usually, places and locations should come before manners. If they come after manners, the only case in which it makes sense is when you want to emphasize the place. Generally, whatever closer to the verb is more "important". Compare:

他高兴地在教室里跳了起来。(Emphasizing place)
他在教室里高兴地跳了起来。(Emphasizine manner)


Where does this quote come from? “How can you say you have no clothes? I’ll share my robe with you”? Where does it come from? Google can’t help me

It sounds like “豈曰無衣・與子同袍”.

It is from the poem “無衣” in the Book of Odes:

  豈曰無衣、
  與子同袍

  How shall it be said that you have no clothes?
  I will share my long robes with you.


Is it OK to use the word 了 on 很 + adjective phrase, to emphasize? The typical 很 + adjective phrase example is:

  俄罗斯女人很漂亮。

In these sentences, is it OK to add 了 to the end of the sentence, to emphasize the adjective?

  俄罗斯女人很漂亮了。

I understand that if you like to emphasize it, usually what you should use is 太, not 很. The correct sentence should be:

  俄罗斯女人太漂亮了。

However, if you use 很, is it also OK to add 了? Or is it not correct grammatically?

The Chinese grammar wiki on 太～了 page writes the following, but it doesn't include 很.

  Note for the more advanced learner: This pattern can be used with modal verbs (e.g. 会 (huì), 能 (néng)) as well as psychological verbs (e.g. 喜欢 (xǐhuan), 想 (xiǎng), 爱 (ài)) to intensify the degree.

So, I would like to know:

Is it OK to use 了 along with 很?
If 1 is true, then if there is any difference on the meaning between the with and without 了?
Does it make a confusion with the 了 as a  completion particle?

很...了 is not that common. When you say 俄罗斯女人很漂亮了, it could mean either 俄罗斯女人确实很漂亮(truly beautiful) or 俄罗斯女人已经很漂亮了(beautiful enough already).

But if you add 已经， it will be natural. 俄罗斯女人已经很漂亮了，which implies 俄罗斯女人 is beautiful enough already, (and you might not have to look for other women.)

Maybe, you could take 已经很...了 as a structure, meaning it's already ... enough. For example, 已经很好了(it's already good enough)，已经很强了(It's already strong enough)，已经很喜欢了('I' already liked it enough)，....


Colloquialisms: "(Please) Take a Seat" English has take the weight off your feet or cop a squat as a colloquialisms meaning take a seat. I've heard Canadian-French has the expression to grab some wood, or more literally to pull oneself a log (tire-toi une bûche!) meaning to take a seat.

What colloquialisms exist in Chinese to ask/tell someone to take a seat? (if any(?))

There is no colloquialisms equivalent of 请坐 in Chinese.

  Best I can think of are: 请入座, 请坐吧, 坐下吧, 入座 In ancient china, the
  emperor would say 赐坐


Where can I find more cartoon videos like BBC's Muzzy for a young child to learn Mandarin? I'm not talking about instructional videos and bi-lingual videos. Just Mandarin cartoon videos which a young child, with the ability to naturally absorb a new language, can use to learn Mandarin.

I think you mean Muzzy? I've never seen that show, but I do have a 5 year old and I regularly let him watch videos from CCTV's official video site which has full length episodes of things like Thomas and Friends in Chinese Mandarin.

My recommendation is to show your child 小小智慧树 link to video page here. This is a popular children's TV show in China and is educational, directed at younger children and has quite simple dialogue. Each episode also has a simple song and poem which my son found easy to sing along with.

On the video page you will notice their are videos marked 《小小智慧树》 followed by a date e.g. 20120928. These are the full length episodes.

I find showing my son these shows are much more valuable than having him stare blankly at cartoons as they encourage participation via dance, song and activities.


How to write Chinese fluently? After learning how to write chinese by directly copying characters from my phone or my computer (digital ones), I noticed that I still can’t decipher the character chinese people are writing.

I know the font is different and I know that practice make it perfect but how would you start to learn how to write ?

Any recommendations, models, etc...?

Ps : here is the difference between my writing and a chinese person for  character 晚 (bottom circled one is mine, the other is from a chinese)

Haha, it is difficult even for a native to decipher very cursive or bad handwriting. Basically, when we read, we are only certain about some of the characters and then deduce other characters based on rough shape, context, or other clues.

As for writing, elementary students in low grades are assigned to repeat writing one character for ten or more times in a row. Chinese students are required to write instead of type for most of their tasks, so, after years of writing, people find their accustomed ways to make shortcut. However, most spontaneous writing styles are far from beautiful or even decipherable. In high school, teachers usually make practising handwriting compulsory. The copybook is the most convenient tool for practice. You write on semi transparent paper and emulate standard calligraphy. It's feasible actually. Many students improve quite a lot after several months of practice.

EDIT:

Though my handwriting is not that good, but I believe it is something average in the sense of immaculateness.

My primary school composition. Posted here as a reference of typical style of newbies.


Is this a spoken contracted form of 現在【现在】？ In this video at time stamp 0:07 the Taiwanese speaker (according to the subtitles) says:

我們現在是在臺北。。。

However the what she actually says for 現在 is one syllable that sounds like /xia1/ to me.

What am I hearing? Is this a complete other word, or is it a common contraction of 現在?

This happens frequently in oral expressions. Yes, this is a "contraction" as you stated. The context is specific to everybody, so the speaker can shorten some words to express more information. Here the full word /xiànzài/ is shortened as something like /xià(n)ài/, where the sound /z/ and the nasal sound are in fact pronounced but in a very short period, and the recording seems like that the one just omitted /z/, /n/. You could try yourself by reading the word "现在" as quick as possible without altering the leading consonants [or, to be more exact, 声母] the tone and the vowels [韵母], and you might get the same result.


Is there a chart of all possible Chinese syllables using Hanzi? I have been able to find many charts that describe all possible Initial and Final combinations in pinyin, but I'm wondering if there is anything available like that that uses Hanzi only?

I made something like what I'm looking for and pasted it below (you'll have to paste it into a text editor like notepad++ to get it to look like a table...)

I'm wondering if anyone else has made something like this and if so, how it might be different from what I've made here.

Thanks!

安 半 盘 满 饭 但 谈 南 兰 干 看 汉 ◎ ◎ ◎ 站 产 山 然 赞 参 散
昂 帮 胖 忙 方 当 堂 囊 朗 港 康 航 ◎ ◎ ◎ 张 场 上 让 脏 藏 桑
鞥 崩 朋 梦 风 等 藤 能 冷 更 坑 恒 ◎ ◎ ◎ 正 城 声 仍 增 曾 僧
物 部 普 木 福 度 图 努 路 古 哭 湖 ◎ ◎ ◎ 猪 除 书 如 足 粗 苏
我 波 破 末 佛 多 脱 诺 罗 果 括 或 ◎ ◎ ◎ 桌 缀 说 弱 坐 错 所
挖 ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ 挂 跨 话 ◎ ◎ ◎ 爪 欻 刷 ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎
外 ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ 怪 快 坏 ◎ ◎ ◎ 拽 揣 摔 ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎
王 ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ 光 况 黄 ◎ ◎ ◎ 状 创 爽 ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎
阿 把 怕 马 发 大 他 那 拉 嘎 卡 哈 ◎ ◎ ◎ 炸 茶 杀 ◎ 杂 擦 撒
爱 白 牌 麦 ◎ 代 太 奶 来 该 开 还 ◎ ◎ ◎ 摘 拆 晒 ◎ 在 菜 赛
恶 ◎ ◎ 么 ◎ 德 特 呢 乐 格 克 和 ◎ ◎ ◎ 者 车 设 热 则 厕 色
恩 本 喷 门 分 扽 ◎ 嫩 ◎ 跟 肯 很 ◎ ◎ ◎ 镇 沉 深 人 怎 岑 森
奥 包 跑 毛 ◎ 道 逃 脑 老 高 靠 好 ◎ ◎ ◎ 照 超 少 扰 早 草 扫
欧 ◎ 剖 某 否 豆 头 獳 楼 狗 口 后 ◎ ◎ ◎ 周 抽 手 肉 走 湊 搜
湾 ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ 段 团 暖 乱 馆 宽 换 ◎ ◎ ◎ 传 穿 拴 软 钻 窜 算
味 ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ 对 退 ◎ ◎ 贵 亏 会 ◎ ◎ ◎ 追 垂 水 锐 最 崔 虽
◎ 北 培 美 非 得 忒 内 类 给 ◎ 黑 ◎ ◎ ◎ 这 ◎ 谁 ◎ 贼 ◎ ◎
◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ 顿 屯 黁 论 滚 困 婚 ◎ ◎ ◎ 准 春 顺 润 遵 村 隼
◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ 东 通 农 龙 公 空 红 ◎ ◎ ◎ 中 虫 ◎ 容 总 从 送

鱼 ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ 女 绿 ◎ ◎ ◎ 据 去 许 ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎
月 ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ 虐 略 ◎ ◎ ◎ 决 却 血 ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎
云 ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ 军 群 巡 ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎
原 ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ 卷 泉 宣 ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎
义 必 皮 米 ◎ 地 体 你 里 ◎ ◎ ◎ 机 气 喜 ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎
也 别 撇 灭 ◎ 蝶 铁 捏 列 ◎ ◎ ◎ 节 且 写 ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎
要 表 票 苗 ◎ 掉 条 鸟 料 ◎ ◎ ◎ 叫 桥 小 ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎
眼 边 片 面 ◎ 点 天 年 连 ◎ ◎ ◎ 见 前 现 ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎
英 并 平 明 ◎ 定 听 宁 领 ◎ ◎ ◎ 京 请 星 ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎
因 滨 品 民 ◎ ◎ ◎ 您 林 ◎ ◎ ◎ 金 亲 新 ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎
压 ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ 俩 ◎ ◎ ◎ 家 恰 下 ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎
羊 ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ 娘 两 ◎ ◎ ◎ 将 强 想 ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎
有 ◎ ◎ 谬 ◎   丢 ◎ 牛 ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ 久 求 休 ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎
永 ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎   ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ 窘 穹 雄 ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎

而 ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎   ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎
◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎   ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ 之 吃 事 日 自 次 思

我 should be 哦, in the -o group: o, bo, po, mo, fo, lo. It is conflated with the -uo group: wo, duo, tuo, nuo, luo, guo, kuo, huo, zhuo, chuo, shuo, ruo, zuo, cuo, suo.

The -i group is also missing: zhi, chi, shi, ri, zi, ci, si (different from yi, bi, pi etc.). Back to the drawing table. And don't neglect the tones.

Has it been done before? Yes:

  (source)

and

  (source)

and  etc.