How can I improve the speed of my spoken Chinese? I'm currently trying to learn '听妈妈的话' on SingChineseSongs, and I'm having trouble keeping up with the fast parts. I also have trouble trying to speak terribly fast in Mandarin anyway.

Does anyone have any tips or suggestions on how I can improve the speed of my spoken Chinese without losing clarity or making lots of mistakes (which is my current problem when speaking too fast)?

The shape of your mouth and the muscles you need to speak effect the way that you speak another language. So you will naturally find yourself tripping over certain sounds or combinations of words.

The only way you can improve this is by practicing.

I have been casually teaching overseas students for over 10 years and the best way to do this is by doing two things: Read at a suitable level so you can read fast enough and read aloud so you are training your mouth and getting feedback via your ears.

I started by practicing with childrens' books, you will find your mouth starts to hurt after a short while of reading if you are doing it constantly. Practice daily then you will notice your speaking will also improve.

Songs are a good way to train with, however this is usually via memorisation so it may improve the speed of your spoken Chinese, but not your conversational Chinese, that is, it's not going to teach you to speak better. Because speaking in a conversation requires you to consider a response and to have the skill to present that response with the right vocabulary and grammar.


Is 让 more [make] than [let]? Based on someone’s answer on question regarding how to state unpleasantness in Chinese:

  让 (to make) implies "to force/ to order". If something has to be
  forced upon you, that something is most likely unpleasant to you

That seems to be true. Maybe that’s why my wife (Chinese) told me that both let and making are 让 in this sentence:

  Mama! Papa won't let me watch TV, he's making me do house
  chores first”.

I mostly associate 让 with let, perhaps I should associate 让 more with make

So for a native speaker, the following mostly sounds like commanding (making). Correct me in this assessment.

  我父母让我吃苹果

and is best translated as:

  My parents are making me eat apples

instead of:

  My parents let me eat apples

So instead of looking for the equivalent word of make in Chinese, I should instead look for the equivalent word of let in Chinese.

Thus (if someone enjoy apples like they enjoy chocolates):

  My parents let me eat apples.

is best translated in Chinese as:

  我父母允许我吃苹果

Is that the best translation?

Am I correct with my assessment that 让 should be regarded more as make than let?

Or am I just sweating it out too much?  Can I liberally use 让 for both make and let, as long as there is a context that can disambiguate the sentence?

Tang Ho's answer is spot on. It all really depends on context, even Google does not blindly translates sentence. Chocolate is generally liked, 让 is translated as let. Vegetables is generally disliked, 让 is translated as asked(making/pursuading/forcing).

Here are Chinese to English translations by Google:

我父母让我吃巧克力.

  My parents let me eat chocolate.

我父母让我吃蔬菜.

  My parents asked me to eat vegetables.

See the difference there? We just replaced chocolate with vegetables, and Google Translate's algorithm determines what's the best English translation for the same 让 wording, sometimes 让 is let, sometimes 让 is asked(making/pursuading/forcing), depending on pleasantness/unpleasantness of the subject food

我父母让我吃鸡肉.

  My parents let me eat chicken.

我父母让我吃鸭肉.

  My parents asked me to eat duck meat.

Chocolate is generally liked. But if you need to make excuse to avoid eating chocolate, the readers(and even Google too) would know you don't like chocolate and decide "让" means "asked, making (pursuaded, forced)" instead of "let"

我父母让我吃巧克力，我就假裝牙痛.

  My parents asked me to eat chocolate, and I pretended to have a toothache.

我父母让我吃蔬菜，我就假裝牙痛.

  My parents asked me to eat vegetables, and I pretended to have a toothache.

我父母让我吃鸡肉，我就假裝牙痛.

  My parents asked me to eat chicken, and I pretended to have a toothache.

我父母让我吃鸭肉，我就假裝牙痛.

  My parents asked me to eat duck meat, and I pretended to have a toothache.

我父母終於肯让我吃巧克力.

  My parents finally let me eat chocolate.

我父母終於肯让我吃蔬菜.

  My parents finally let me eat vegetables.

我父母終於肯让我吃鸡肉.

  My parents finally let me eat chicken.

我父母終於肯让我吃鸭肉.

  My parents finally let me eat duck.

It all depends on the context. The readers would know which meaning of 让 you are referring to, by having the information of the activity is wanted or unwanted, and decide 让 means "make" or "let"

In most case, eating apple is something you like to do, therefore, "让" in "我父母让我吃苹果" should be interpreted as  "let" unless you specify you hate apple

For example: "我父母让我吃苹果，我就假裝牙痛" - "Whenever my parent make me eat apple, I would pretend to have a toothache."

If you need to make excuse to avoid eating apple, the readers would know you don't like apple and decide "让" means "make" instead of "let"

Similarly:  "我父母(終於肯)让我吃苹果" - "My parent (finally agree to) let me eat apple"

From the words "finally agree to" we know you don't get to eat apple often or it has been a long time since you had one. We can confidently presume  "让" here means "let"


What is the translation for 淫之以色，啗之以利，養之以味，娛之以樂? 淫之以色，啗之以利，養之以味，娛之以樂 is a sentence from 六韜 (six secret teachings), a book about strategies. There are 4 lines each containing 4 characters and the same pattern: A 之以 B, wherein A and B are semantically related.

Could you give a translation and maybe an annotation on the grammatical structure?

之 = third person pronoun (it/him/her)

以 = with or indicating an indirect object

Verb 之以 Noun = VERB him with NOUN

In context, 淫之以色，啗之以利，养之以味，娱之以乐 means (a very rough translation) "(sexually) seduce him with sexy (women), lure him with benefit, accustom him with delicious food and amuse him with (obscene) music". It is included in a strategy saying that if you want to destroy your enemy nation, you need to first deceive (as in making him unable to make right decisions) the king then attack the military for the betterment of people. The sentence is detailing (figuratively) how you deceive the leader of enemy nation.


Does 'chicken dinner games' refer to all battle royal type games? Chicken dinner games or 吃鸡游戏 seem to have become a kind of genre thanks to PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS.

What originally only only referred to one, specific, title can now be seen in sentences like

  各种各样的吃鸡游戏

and

  吃鸡游戏大全

The question is what specifically is this genre? Battle royal or something else?

Winner winner...

I think 吃鸡游戏 refers to games that:

In first person POV
Action oriented
Put x players together and make them kill each other till there's only one left

Mostly just things that look like PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS.


What is the difference between 依偎 and 偎傍？ I looked them up and they both have relatively the same meaning. So what's the difference between the two?

依偎 implies a strong sentimental attachement, usually expressing love or affection. Mostly used between couples, lovers, child and parent.

偎傍 doesn't necessarily carry so much personal feelings, just meaning "stay side by side closely" and is seldom to use in informal/oral conversation. I think it's original from Chinese poems.


零 in context of age, other uses? I'm led to believe that 零 has the context of age as in this sentence. I've also heard Cantonese use the sound soy to refer to someone's age (is this the same word).

What are some other contexts that one might use the word: 零

他四十有零。


What is the difference between 降水 and 增水? As a regular listener of car radio, I notice that in recent weather reports of the national radio of China, a new phrase 增水 is used to describe the rainfall, e.g., 台风卡努将会为海南带来100毫米增水, but if it was in the past, the same would be 降水. So what is the difference?

They refer to different things. 降水 means rainfall; but 增水 means 风暴增水(风暴潮) here, from which coastal cities
might suffer. e.g. from this news 台风“卡努”：海口今夜至明晨将出现风暴增水,

人民网讯 受台风“卡努”外围环流影响，近三小时，海口全市普降小到中雨，最大累积雨量出现在新埠岛13.8毫米。10月15日潮位：最高潮在上午11点53分，是2.27米，最低潮在凌晨零点51分，是0.82米。预计今天夜间到明天凌晨，海口一带沿岸将出现80～150cm的风暴增水。

风暴增水/风暴潮

风暴潮或称暴潮（英语：storm surge）是由热带气旋、温带气旋、冷锋的强风作用和气压骤变等强烈的天气系统引起的海面异常升降现象，又称“风暴增水”、“风暴海啸”、“气象海啸”或“风潮”。风暴潮会使受到影响的海区的潮位大大地超过正常。如果风暴潮恰好与影响海区涨潮相重叠，就会使水位暴涨，海水涌进内陆，造成巨大破坏。
A storm surge or storm tide is a coastal flood or tsunami-like phenomenon of rising water commonly associated with low pressure weather systems (such as tropical cyclones and strong extratropical cyclones), the severity of which is affected by the shallowness and orientation of the water body relative to storm path, as well as the timing of tides. Most casualties during tropical cyclones occur as the result of storm surges. It is a measure of the rise of water beyond what would be expected by the normal movement related to tides.
The two main meteorological factors contributing to a storm surge are a long fetch of winds spiraling inward toward the storm, and a low-pressure-induced dome of water drawn up under and trailing the storm's center.


How do I say I Love You in Chinese I'm researching the Chinese language, and I just wanted to know how to say I love you in Chinese. I've got a crush on a guy, and I don't want to say it to where he understands it...it's weird, I know..


what kind of gematria systems are there in chinese? Since in Chinese culture there is a lot of materials about astronomy and supernatural methods so I'm interested to know about Gematria as it exists in most languages...
Like this:
Gematria Calculator

I know you can calculate Gematria on UTF8 (Hence Unicode and all the chars) using the Online Gimatria Calculator http://www.gematrix.org - it worked for me in Hebrew too: http://www.c2kb.com/gematria - Hope it was help full.


Which word to use for "day" when talking about lengths of time? I know of the words 日 and 天, which both mean "day" in Chinese, but I'm not sure which to use in phrases such as "I've been in Taiwan for 25 days".

When I look in Wiktionary I'm even more confused:

日 is marked "literary or dialectal"
天 is marked "Obsolete sense in Modern Standard Chinese - may be preserved in fossilised compounds and expressions or other varieties of Chinese."

So which should I use for saying things like "I think I will stay two or three days"?

Maybe there's a third word I don't know about?

Both of the "天" and "日" as the "量词" are correct.

In the modern standard Chinese, people will say "我觉得我会待两三天" in their daily life, and will say "我预计我将停留两三日" in the formal situation such as applications or official documents.


Ten obligations in 三字经 Here's the final excerpt from part one of 三字经 [1]:

  父子恩 夫婦從  兄則友  弟則恭  長幼序  友與朋 君則敬  臣則忠  此十義  人所同

Simplified Chinese:

  父子恩  夫妇从  兄则友  弟则恭  长幼序  友与朋 君则敬  臣则忠  此十义  人所同

Translation [2]:

  Kindness between father and child,

  harmony between husband and wife,

  friendliness from elder brothers,

  respect from younger brothers.

  Precedence between elders and youngers,

  support between friends,

  Respect from the sovereigns,

  loyalty from the subjects.

  These ten obligations are the same for all.

I count only eight obligations in this excerpt. Where, then, are the remaining two that the autor of the poem speaks of?

[1] http://www.dfg.cn/gb/zhhy/whdc/04-sanzijin.htm

[2] https://www.yellowbridge.com/onlinelit/sanzijing.php

the trimetrical classic (三字經) is extracted from ancient confucianism literatures, in three characters verses.

the eight verses in question are derived from 禮記　禮運

  父慈．子孝．兄良．弟弟．夫義．婦聽．長惠．幼順．君仁．臣忠十者．謂之人義

if you've some knowledge of confucianism, you can find components of 五倫 from these eight verses:

  君臣．父子．兄弟．夫妻．朋友

each one of these have two "人義"; so five of them makes ten "人義".

have fun :)


How to say "歪打正着“ in English? How do you say "歪打正着“ in English?

I brought a gift to someone's place for appreciation of his help, but he wasn't there. Several days later, I went there with the gift again, and he was there, and that day happened to be his birthday. So the gift happened to be also for his birthday celebration

So in Chinese, it is kind of "歪打正着“. How would you say it in English for such an example?

You could also call that... serendipitous!


Is it more natural to express "0" with a negative form? In English you could use two forms when expressing a sentence that has a plural form with a value of "0". For example:

You have 2 unread messages.

Could be either:

You have 0 unread messages.

Or the negative form:

You have no unread messages.

It would be the same thing in Chinese:

您有0条未读消息。

Or the negative form:

您没有未读消息。

Is using negative forms a common way to increase fluency in Chinese or are both forms equally fluent? In other words, if we could pick both form, would one be better than the other?

Also, is this a general recommendation or are there exceptions around this?

Like in most languages, expression of the concept of not having anything in Chinese is most naturally done as a negative, viz

  您没有未读消息。

My English voicemail employs "You don't have any unread messages" in the same way.

However, the use of 零 líng + a classifier like 個 gè is attested, albeit in very limited contexts, most commonly in temperature (to "count" 0 degrees of the scale, e.g. 零度).


How can you discern which meaning of 怎么 as an interrogative should be used in a sentence? In Mandarin, 怎么 has three major meanings as interrogatives - how, what, and why. It is quite perplexing for me to understand which interrogative someone tries to ask in.

For example, when I posted in WeChat that my weather app predicted the today's weather terribly in Shanghai, my friend added the following comment:

  怎么又到上海了。

However, while I assume she tried to ask me "Why have you come to Shanghai again?", it can also be translated as "How have you come to Shanghai again?", which I will reply with "In flight".

Sometimes it is difficult for me to understand why this word has three interrogatives and which one is correct in the context. I also wonder why people don't avoid the potential conflict of meaning and instead just use a more easily recognizable word like 为什么 and 什么, if possible.

Or do Chinese people discern this difference pretty easily? Or is it completely dependent on the context? Any tips on discerning it better?

Ermm, you posted " that my weather app predicted the today's weather terribly in Shanghai, "

Which I presume to mean: "Today's weather in Shanghai will be terrible."

That is the context: The weather.

There is no reason for your friend to then ask how you got to Shanghai, that lacks coherence. Her or his comment:

怎么又到上海了。 means: 'How come we are getting bad weather in Shanghai again!'

怎么How又again到to上海Shanghai了。


Difference?? : 聊，聊天，聊聊，聊聊天，聊一聊，闲聊 What's the difference between 聊，聊天，聊聊，聊聊天，聊一聊，闲聊？

All of the words you have chosed have similar meaning to each other and in most cases can be used interchangeably. But I guess you knew that, because that's why you're asking.

All of the differences are very subtle, and the most notable ones are the differences in formality. There are also slight differences in the linguistics of usage, but I'm not familiar with much of that. Also, note that on the face of it, 聊 itself and its extensions are generally more informal compared to words like 谈 or 讨论. Its direct English translation is "to chat", and I think that that definition carries the notion of informality over quite nicely. Below, I'll discuss formality in levels, from 1 (most formal) to 3 (least formal).

Formality Level 1:

聊 is the most general form; when you wish to chat with someone on no particular topic (or one you don't wish to disclose) you can say something like "我现在跟你去聊。" Compared to the other versions and extensions, this is generally more terse and laconic than the others, and thus more formal. It shares the same formality as 闲聊, although this one is used more when one wants to emphasize that it's a friendly and informal discussion with the addition of the 闲 in the beginning.

Formality Level 2:

聊天 takes the spot for an intermediate formality. It is slightly more informal than 聊 or 闲聊, but also more formal that the remaining few. This phrase, like 闲聊, emphasizes the "chatting" quality of your discussion. With its addition of 天, it references the weather, and links it to the fact that most people talk about the weather in a situation where you want to "catch-up" with someone. However, you don't have to talk of the weather when you use this phrase. Most of the time, both 聊 and 闲聊 can be interchangeable with it.

Formality Level 3

The remaining 聊聊, 聊聊天, and 聊一聊 are the least formal, and are common colloquialisms. We see it a lot in the Chinese language, but typically when one repeats a single-character verb like 聊 to 聊聊 or 说 to 说说 it shows informality, almost like talking to children (one very good example of this can be seen in the names of Chinese children; a lot of the time, children have nicknames that repeat a single-character, such as 茜茜, which is associated with a juvenile tone). 聊一聊 is also regarded in the same manner, used in sentences such as "我现在跟你去聊一聊！". However, out of all of the words, 聊聊天 is probably used the least, because the same informal effect can be accomplished with 聊聊 or 聊一聊, and there is already a 聊天 that is already popular in the mainstream.

Keep in mind that these are very subtle differences. My knowledge on this topic is merely from my own experience speaking Chinese in mainland China and Taiwan. If you are interested in even more linguistic subtleties or social conventions, consider talking to a Chinese language expert at your local university, or even looking into it yourself. That stuff is out of my scope.


What is the meaning behind "淵騫"? What is the verbatim meaning?
What is the meaning of the concept within Chinese philosophy?
Well i do not know why the algorithm keeps asking about the quality of standards,
this makes me want to change to another Q&A forum.

They are two famous disciples of Confucius. 淵: 顏淵 (顏回)、騫: 閔子騫 (閔損)。

It is common practice in classical Chinese literature to label chapters in a book by the first word of substance, regardless of whether it actually pertains to the central meaning or not. In this case, the chapter begins with a question on the practices of these two disciples of Confucius, and their names are taken to form the chapter name.


What is the difference between 免费 and 无偿？ I'm trying to sort out the difference between 免费 and 无偿 as adverbs. Would you say 水果店的老板免费送了我六个苹果。 or would it be 无偿送了？

免费 means free of charge. As pointed out by Wikipedia, it is usually applied to commercial products or services that normally charge money and now for free as a part of business strategy. E.g. 免费的午餐 (free lunch), 免费试吃 (free sample of food), etc.

无偿 means no compensation, or 'not asking anything for return'. It is usually applied to non-profit, voluntary activities. E.g. 无偿献血 (blood donation), 无偿社区服务 (community service provided by volunteers), etc. There are usages of 无偿 in legal space which can be connected with commercial activities, but that's a completely different way of expression in a completely different context.

Strictly speaking, '免费给了我六个苹果' means he gave you six apples for customer relationship for reasons like you're a frequent customer or you just make a bulk purchase of other stuffs. '无偿给了我六个苹果' means he gave you six apples out of kindness because you lost your wallet or you're starving. In spoken language, however, their usages are usually mixed and both of your sentences are fine.

BTW, '送' already implies 'for free'. So '免费送了' is unnecessary repetition but again sounds fine in spoken language.

Update: As the other answer pointed out, 无偿 is almost never used in Hongkong which indicates that the usages can be highly regional. Something to keep in mind.


Does 越来越多的中国人步入二次购车的行列 talk about second cars or second-hand cars? I'm pretty sure this sentence is referring to '2 car families', but I'd like to check. How should I interpret ‘二次购车’ here？

Maybe they are talking about second hand cars, or families that have previously bought a car and are replacing it???

  越来越多的中国人步入二次购车的行列，市场细分化程度越来越高。

（As）More and more Chinese people are joining the ranks of the 2 car families, the market is becoming more and more subdivided.

In fact, ‘二次购车’ might not refer to '2 car families', it would be 'previously bought a car and are replacing it' as you said in most cases, but I'm sure that it is not 'second hand cars', since 'second hand cars' is translated as '二手车'.

In my opinion, this sentence may translate as 'More and more Chinese people are buying cars for the second time , the market is becoming more and more subdivided.'


Why does 赤道 mean Equator? Since 赤 means red, bare, and 道 means way, path?

Actually there are three of these words: 赤道, 黄道, 白道, where '赤' means 'red', '黄' means 'yellow', and '白' means 'white'.

赤道 is the equator. 黄道 is the sun's track in the sky. 白道 is the moon's track in the sky. As for why they are named so - they are named using "the five colors corresponding to five directions", according to 《汉书·天文志》. If you know Chinese, you can refer to this question on 知乎: https://www.zhihu.com/question/21376627


Why do the Taiwanese have such strange characters for names? It seems like every time I look up a CJK ext. B character it invariably says:

  台湾人名用字。

For example I just looked up the character:

zisea notes:

  拼音peng2。台湾人名用字。

A few days ago I was looking up , which zisea again notes:

  台湾人名用字

And before that, I was looking up , which again zisea says:

  台湾人名用字。

These just don't seem like characters that people would use for naming names.

I'm just glad the other characters I came across: ,  and  - weren't considered characters for names.

Why do the Taiwanese have such strange characters for names?

TL;DR
Because some "fortune tellers" would suggest these characters.

Lots of parents go ask fortune tellers for names before giving birth to their children.  Now young people in these generation seldom do that, but some of their parents(the children's parents) still ask them to do that.

And sometimes, for example, fortune tellers would suggest that there should be some "火(fire)" in the baby's name because that child will be too tender.

Not every Taiwanese believes in this, but some really do.


Does 危机 really mean both crisis and opportunity? A lot of people, mostly those who haven't studied Chinese, like to claim something along the lines of

"In Chinese, the word for crisis 危机, also bears the meaning of opportunity."

This is usually said right before or after making a remark that a crisis can also be a possibility.

My thought on this is that it was originally written as 危险机会 (or 危险的机会), meaning a "chance of danger", or "possibility of danger". And then, as in many other cases, character 2 and 4 dropped, to make the word 危机. In this way, it has become a misunderstanding that the word means both "danger" and "opportunity", as both of these words are represented.

My questions are

Am I totally wrong?
Do Chinese speakers really think of 危机 as both "crisis" and "opportunity"?
Do Chinese speakers use 危机 to describe some kinds of crises (possibly fortunate ones, less severe etc), and use another word for other kinds?

Victor Mair has an essay answering your question directly:
Danger + opportunity ≠ crisis, how a misunderstanding about Chinese characters has led many astray.

[...] Like most Mandarin words, that for “crisis” (wēijī) consists of two syllables that are written with two separate characters, wēi (危) and jī (機/机).
[...] While it is true that wēijī does indeed mean “crisis” and that the wēi syllable of wēijī does convey the notion of “danger,” the jī syllable of wēijī most definitely does not signify “opportunity.”
The jī of wēijī, in fact, means something like “incipient moment; crucial point (when something begins or changes).” Thus, a wēijī is indeed a genuine crisis, a dangerous moment, a time when things start to go awry. A wēijī indicates a perilous situation when one should be especially wary.
[...] jī added to huì (“occasion”) creates the Mandarin word for “opportunity” (jīhuì), but by itself jī does not mean “opportunity.”


Meaning and usage of 得瑟（嘚瑟） 嘚瑟 [dè·se] (usually written 得瑟 in my limited observation) is apparently 东北方言. I've seen a couple dictionaries/explanations that say it means to "show off". I hear this word fairly frequently, but I haven't really grasped its full meaning yet. Is it just "show off" or is there a more subtle usage to it?

Doing a search in my WeChat 朋友圈 for 得瑟 gave me the following example. (Skip to the last line if the context is not important)

  一男的微信上摇一摇，摇到一美女，聊天:“小姐，你真漂亮，请问你是做什么工作的？” 女说：“我是干服务工作的。” 那哥们欣喜地说：“啊，我多想成为你的顾客！请问你在哪里上班？” 女说：“我是在火葬场给尸体化妆的，你啥时候来？”…….. 献给那些一见到女的就得瑟的人。

As you can see, "show off" doesn't really seem to make sense here. Or does it?

I believe the core of the meaning is overly expressive with gallantry or proudness.

Although the most common usages are when guys showing off in front of girls, it can be used in other contexts as well. For example if someone keeps talking proudly about some small deed to his friends, they may react with '你今天怎么这么嘚瑟？', which could be a neutral question, or '你嘚瑟个什么劲儿？', which is a slightly negative critique.


Did some people only have names like 张三? Some novels seem to say that in village life (or within a hutong) poorer children often had no personal given name.  Some characters in realistic seeming novels are known only by family name and birth order and have no other name.  But I have only seen this in novels and I wonder if it really happened.

In Europe even into the 20th century some people had no family name but were known only as say "Nathan's son John" where Nathan was literally the father and not a family name.  On the other hand, in places where childhood mortality was high, many children would not be named until they reached a safe age of 10 or 12 years.  Such a child might be called "The oldest Jones girl" or "the middle Jones boy" but I do not think it was ever so organized as "Jones one, Jones two...."

Many good sources discuss highly developed Chinese customs of having personal names and public names, and changing these over a lifetime, in well-off families. I have not found good historical sources for naming practices among farmers or the poor.

Were some people in the past actually known just by names like 张三?

Were some people in the past actually known just by names like 张三?

Yes. It is the official name of some people, not just one. Some female even names as 张三妹. Bu the way 刘三姐 is a very famous movie.

张三, 李四, etc. are not nicknames, they are real names, they are also used as a "any one" placeholder, as in the answer of other question. For example, 你到那儿去，认识谁是张三，谁是李四啊. Going to that far, you do not know whom to contact.

Add more: (How are those names now?)

My father has a very close relative who is 李四 officially. He would be 80 or 90 now.

On my mom side, there are two brothers having names 大水, 二水. The man 大水 was born the year of a huge flood. It is smart to use 大 for big/huge and also for the first son. In Chinese 老大 means the eldest son.

Ha, you will see, 老大 is the head of an criminal gang. Haha, again, you understand the joke, Xi DaDa.

By the way, check out sons of 赵紫阳, from 赵大军 to 赵五军, (at least five).


How to translate "evaluate, estimate" [time for smt.]? There are lots of synonims in Chinese for "evaluate, estimate", so my question is: what is the best match for "evaluate/estimate time needed for something"
E.g.

I want to estimate how long it will take me to prepare for examination.
我要 [评定] 准备好去应考需要多少时间。

UPDATE (15.01.2018)
Till now there are four answers and comments and all of them give different versions:

@Diaph - 估计 or 评估 (我想要[评估]准备应考需要多少时间?)
@user6065 - 计算、估算，琢磨
@Pedroski - 预测 (我想预测准备这场考试要多长时间。)
@dan - 预估 (我想预估一下我要花多长时间来备考。)

So please provide some prove or explanation why this translation is used in your answer.

UPDATE (some examples from internet; English translation is mine):
估计 [gūjì] is mostly used as a noun:

时间估计能准确一些 (Time estimation could be more precise)

But also:

估计备份处理时间 (Estimate backup processing time)
正在估计时间 (Estimating time...)

I want to estimate how long it will take me to prepare for examination

In this case, I will use 预估.
我想预估一下我要花多长时间来备考。 备考 is short for 准备考试.


When do I use 着 to indicate action in progress? It seems like for some verbs (正)在 is used to indicate action in progress, but I have also encountered 着 for some, like 穿着. When should it be used, is there a rule to follow?

This is used for both actions in progress and things that are happening in present tense, such as "she is wearing a dress".

I sometimes equate this to the -ing suffix.

Examples:

  他穿着西装弹吉他

He (She) is wearing a suit and playing guitar

  你帮我看着他

Help me look out for him (her) (at this moment)

  你看他扛着那么大的一个东西

See him carrying such a big thing

However, this is not used as -ing with actions as you would expect:

This is wrong:

  他在游泳着

The 着 here should be applied to the 游 i.e.

  他在游着

Wrong:

  他在弹吉他着

Right:

  他在弹着吉他


What is the significance of the phrase “二十五，糊窗户”？ The phrase “糊窗户” refers to the practice of pasting paper cutouts (similar to the one seen here) on one's windows. There's a common larger saying, “二十五，糊窗户”, which I assume means that this is usually done on the 25th day of the lunar month. (I'm not sure which one.)

What is the meaning and significance of this phrase? What does it refer to? When is it used?

Traditionally, the Spring Festival starts from 23rd December (lunar month), 23rd December is also called 小年 (little Spring Festival)

There is an old saying...

二十三，祭灶官；二十四，扫房子；二十五，糊窗户 (or 磨豆腐)；二十六，割块肉；二十七，杀只鸡；二十八，贴gaga(嘎嘎音，意为贴春联)；二十九，灌壶酒；年三十，包扁食。

Basically, it describes what people do each day from 小年 to Chinese New Year Eve (三十).


Why add 左右 ("approximately") to the precisely stated time 25日17时15分左右? 当地时间25日17时15分左右，……

I was reading a newspaper, and stumbled upon the above.  I'm puzzled as to why someone would state a time as precisely as 25日17时15分 then add 左右 (= "approximately") afterwards.  I'm wondering if the author is just exceptionally pedantic, or if there's an actual reason to add 左右 I'm missing.
Question: Why add 左右 to the precisely stated time 25日17时15分左右?

It just means "around".
In this case 左右 applies to the preceding "17时15分", to express that the time is not exact. The writer notes that there is a margin of error or uncertainty.

当时时间25日17时15分左右
Today around 17:15 local time

The English translation also conveys the same meaning. You state a time, 5:15 PM, but also warn readers that it may be imprecise up to a certain degree.


How are "vernacular" and "literary" readings of characters chosen and used outside of Mandarin? There are other posts that mention the relationship between classical Chinese vis-a-vis Mandarin (e.g., this one and this one), but what defines the use of "literary" and "vernacular" readings in other dialects? Are all "literary" Chinese readings all derived from the same sources (i.e. classical Chinese), and their use and resultant "speech register" derived the same way? Or is the choice in other dialects based on other principles?

For example, the word 新加坡 consists of the characters 新, 加, and 坡, two of which have separate "literary" and "vernacular" pronunciations in Teochew. Would saying "Sing-gia-bo" (maximizing the use of 文 pronunciations) be considered more like saying "Republic of Singapore" while saying "Sim-gê-bo" (maximizing the use of 白 pronunciations) be considered more like saying "Singers, lah"?

(I am aware that "Republic of Singapore" would be 新加坡共和国, though it too has other characters that have divergent "literary" and "vernacular" pronunciations; would there be a difference in the way "Sing-gia-bo Gang-hua-gog" and "Sim-gê-bo Giong-huê-gog" would be understood when spoken or read out loud?). (Or would such a case be a fixed phrase anyways, and the distinction not be applicable?)

Firstly, let us clarify one distinction:

"literary Chinese" (文言文), a register of the written language in common use across the East Asian Sinosphere before the early 20th century. Its opposite is "vernacular Chinese" (白話文)
"literary readings of Chinese characters" (文讀), a set of readings mapping Chinese characters from written form to spoken form. Its opposite is "colloquial reading" (白讀).

The literary readings are derived from the correspondences to higher prestige variants, usually a form of Mandarin, from the historical capital at that time. They generally diffused into the local speech through education, and it is perhaps due to the meritocratic nature of the 科舉 (imperial examination) that this influence was exerted on "rural speech" at all.

Colloquial readings on the other hand arise from "native" sound changes, and are generally closer to Middle Chinese phonology (or even Old Chinese phonology in the case of the Min group) than the literary readings.

The exact nature of the literary / colloquial split varies across the varieties of Chinese, but it must be emphasised that each reading is generally fixed, and despite the "literary/colloquial" moniker does not correspond directly to linguistic register. Instead, the situation is much more similar to that of Japanese 音読み (on'yomi) vs 訓読み (kun'yomi), where on'yomi was borrowed from a form of Chinese, whilst kun'yomi was "native". However, there is little if any choice to use one or the other; the expression itself dictates which is used.

These factors include:

Names: for Min, given names are in literary, surnames are in colloquial. Country names are overwhelmingly in literary, especially if they are transliterated from other non-Chinese languages. Other geographical names are interesting, as there is a distinction (at least in Min Dong) between locations which are colloquial (nearer to the speech community geographically, hence in-group) and those which are literary (further). In Fuzhou Min Dong, 江 is colloquial gĕ̤ng in 閩江 Mìng-gĕ̤ng, the Min River, which flows through the city of Fuzhou; whereas it is literary gŏng in 江蘇 Gŏng-sŭ, referring to Jiangsu.
Neologisms: anything perceived in the language environment as "modern" and therefore a loan from the prevailing standard speech will be in literary.
Bound vs free morphemes: most free morphemes are in colloquial, whereas bound morphemes in compound words have a higher probability of being in literary (although not always).  Occasionally, the same character's literary and colloquial readings will have spawned two lexemes with different meanings, e.g. Cantonese 驚 has the colloquial reading geng1 meaning "to be afraid, to fear", contrasted with literary ging1 "to frighten". But ging1 is found primarily in compounds whereas geng1 can be used independently.
Idioms: chengyu (成語) are in literary, but suyu (俗語) are generally in colloquial.

So I would expect 新加坡 and 新加坡共和国 to have only a literary pronunciation in Teochew (as well as all other Chinese topolects), and for that to be the only pronunciation used, both in formal and in informal settings.

EDIT: I have seen the following claim (Rethinking East Asian Languages, Vernaculars, and Literacies, 1000–1919, p.279) -

  in other [regional languages and dialects], speakers may shift between the two, though not always consciously; the choice is dictated by habit, local convention, and circumstances.

Though there is no a priori problem with the claim, the data used was a particular stylistic form of storytelling from Yangzhou, rather than general speech.


which sounds more natural? 我今天已经把猫食放了 or 我已经今天把猫食放了 我今天已经把猫食放了 wǒ jīntiān yǐjīng bǎ māoshí fàng le

vs

我已经今天把猫食放了 wǒ yǐjīng jīntiān bǎ māoshí fàng le

(if it matters, the context is that every day the cat should be fed once, and the husband is informing his wife that the cat has already gotten their food for today)

I've checked my standard resources like ChineseGrammarWiki, but they don't address this point.

I'll accept answers to the main question above, but as a subsidiary question: if this were in speech, would it it fine to say

我今天已经把猫食给放了 ／ 我已经今天把猫食给放了?

(i.e. adding 给 gěi for emphasis)

The first one is definitely natural, and moreover, the second is not only unnatural, it is not grammatically correct.

You would put 已经 in front of a time period when an action is happening, for example

  我已经三年没回家了

However, in your sentence, 今天 is the time point when you did something, therefore you would like to put 已经 after it.

For your subsidiary question, it is still the first one that is correct, which is

  我今天已经把猫食给放了


What does “大概” mean? Are there any words with the same meaning? I looked up in the dictionary, there are 12 meanings for it!

well
aiblins
anywhere
belike
supposedly
probably
prob.
maybe
mayhap
presumedly
presumably
ordinarily
somewhere
easily
mainly

Just wonder when to use which for “大概”? Are there any words with the same meaning?

I think these other answers are more harmful than they are helpful and here's why: none of them have addressed how 大概 is applied in the real context of using the language. Anyone can look up a word in the dictionary and copy/paste the results here. OP's question is what does 大概 really mean (aka how is it used) and is there anything else like it?

大概 is generally used to mean "approximately", "more or less", or "something like that". Here's an example:

我大概明白你的意思。

What this sentence is saying is: "I don't understand what you're saying completely but I get the gist."

And another:

A：你打了多少个电话？ (How many phone calls did you make?)

B：大概50个。(Approximately 50.)

In terms of other words that capture a similar meaning, the closest approximation I can think of is 左右. Here's how this word could be applied to the example above:

B：50个左右。(50 or thereabouts.)

Here's another example of how using 大概 and 左右 are approximately the same but have a different connotation:

A：你的车买了多少钱？

B1: 大概三十万人民币。(Around 300,000RMB.)

B2: 三十万人民币左右。(300,000RMB more or less.)

In this example, 大概 implies the speaker is unclear or uncertain about the amount, or perhaps they don't remember. The use of 左右 implies a greater level of accuracy or certainty on the part of the speaker but they don't care to go into greater detail. The listener could press the speaker for more detail, in which case they would follow up with a more exact number if they were able.

The thing I rarely if ever hear 大概 used for is to express possibility. What this means is I don't think other words like 可能, 或许, and 也许 are similar in meaning. That said, I'm not a native speaker so I'm willing to allow for a number of use cases I'm not familiar with.


How did Chinese people know in the past the pronunciation of words? Nowadays a Chinese person seeing a character for the first time can look it up in a dictionary (it doesn't matter how) and get the phonetic or Pinyin transliteration, so that the pronunciation is obvious.

How did people get the correct pronunciation of unknown Chinese characters without Latin or phonetic alphabets? I mean, I would expect the language to be "self-contained", so to say, without resorting to external alphabets.

The pronunciation of characters was glossed using the Fanqie (反切) system, which uses two existing characters whose pronunciations are known to determine the pronunciation of the unknown character.

Suppose that I wanted to know the pronunciation of「東」. Looking this character up, I'd see that it was phonologically glossed in dictionaries as 德紅切, which means to take the onset (basically the initial consonant) of the first character, in this case「德」, and the "final" (which really is everything after the onset) of the second character, in this case「紅」. In Pinyin,「東」is dong, and reconstructing this syllable with the fanqie system we'd get the initial of「德」(Pinyin de) and everything after the onset of「紅」(Pinyin hong) to get dong.

Note, fanqie dictionaries were compiled by scholars in consideration of all the varieties of Chinese, not favouring any particular topolect, which means that they work equally well for all these varieties. In addition, they also work for Sinoxenic pronunciations of Chinese-originated vocabulary in Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese. This is possible because the two characters used to construct the pronunciation are not phonetic symbols like alphabet letters, but have their own unique pronunciation in all the varieties of Chinese (as well as Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese, due to centuries bordering on millenia of cultural and language diffusion across East Asia). The caveat is that the phonology guide is a good approximation but not always an exact match, as the sound evolution of the different varieties of Chinese from the ancestral language is not always consistent everywhere.

This requires the reader to be somewhat literate already, of course - but then again, which dictionary in any language doesn't?

Demonstration that it is a good approximation for other languages which have used Chinese characters:

東, 德紅切:

Japanese: 東 (tō), 德 (toku) 紅 (kō)
Korean: 東 (dong), 德 (deok) 紅 (hong)
Vietnamese: 東 (đông), 德 (đức) 紅 (hồng)


Is there any different meaning between using 真 and 真的 in a sentence? I came across some sentences in which 真 or 真的 have been used.
Sentences with 真 only.
你真不知道我是谁
这事真不能怪我

Sentences with 真的 only.
我真的不想去
我真的后悔说过的话

Is there any different meaning between using 真 and 真的 in a sentence or it does not matter at all?

When 真 is used as an adjective, or adverb here in all your examples, "的" can sometimes omitted. When "的" is used however..in my personal opinion it just makes the sentence longer and sometimes you could emphasize the tone on "真的". When emphasized in an question, it'll feel like you're surprised someone really don't know the subject. When emphasized in a plain sentence it'll feel like you're emphasizing you really don't know it.
But if you're using it as a noun, then it's just "真"
Some examples:#
"不知道這個新聞的真假" (used as noun)
"不知道這個新聞是真的假的" (used as adjective)
"真(的)不知道這新聞的真假" (used as adverb first, then noun at the end)


What is the correct measure word for 问题 (question)? I'm not sure if I should say 一件问题 or 一项问题. I know I can get away with 一个问题, but I'd like to know the "correct" measure word.

Note: I would like to use the tag measure-word, but I can't. I used "writing" instead, because using the right measure word (instead of 个) seems to only matter in writing.

These are the standard measure words for 问题:

Normally you would use 个.
If there is a stream of questions you can use 串, for example 一大串问题.
If there are a couple of questions, you can use 些
If you are talking about kinds of questions, you have to use 类, for example   这类问题 (this kind of problem)

件 is used, but not very often, even in writing. 项 is not a standard measure word for 问题, but it can be used when talking about problems (for example software problems), not when talking about questions.


What's the meaning of 擦脸? Neither mdbg.net nor Yellowpage nor Pleco seem to know this word, though it seems to be common. It stumbled over it in the first HSK4 mock test:

  这个节目我一直在看,它介绍了很多生活中的小知识,包括怎样选择牙 膏,擦脸应该用什么毛巾,怎样远离皮肤病等等。很多以前我没有注意到的 问题,现在通过它了解了不少。

I thought it must be to clean one's face or something similar. A web result suggests you can use Vaseline for it, so it's focus might be more on grooming rather than cleaning?

Anyway, what does this mean and why don't dictionaries know that? Is it very colloquial?

擦脸 is not a single word but a verb (擦 cā: wipe) plus a noun (脸 liǎn: face) that serves as an object. "擦脸应该用什么毛巾" means "what kind of towel you should use to wipe your face [dry]".


Does Chinese have a saying about Cantonese people eating almost anything? Wikivoyage's guide to Guangzhou, amongst others, says

  A well-known Chinese joke is that they eat anything that has four legs other than a table, anything that flies other than an airplane, and anything that swims other than a submarine.

However, I've also heard it attributed to Prince Philip.

Does Chinese have a saying about Cantonese people eating almost anything?

The saying I heard was: 「有四隻腳嘅除咗檯，有對翼嘅除咗飛機，廣東人都會食。」

It is quite wordy and very likely a direct translation from English.

There's however, an elegant saying about Chinese wide range of food choice. It is 「背脊向天人所食」(if something's back is facing the sky, it is for people to eat)
That includes almost every living creature.


How to translate "I have always been" I have always struggled with this translation, but have never quite figured it out. How do I translate

  I have always been ...

Some examples would be:

I have always been an academic
I have always struggled with this translation
I have always told you to be more mindful of others

I think the first one would best be translated as

  我从来（都／就）是个 （academic)

But using ”从来“ doesn't seem to work quite well for the other two.

You have a few options. As @NS.X. pointed out 一直 is a good one, but you can also use

一向, e.g.我一向很懒。I have always been very lazy.

向来, e.g. 她向来就是个书呆子。 She has always been a bookworm.

从来 is more likely used together with 不 or 没 conveying negation, of course that is not necessary.

A conjecture of mine: 一直 is often used with a certain beginning in the speaker's mind, which is not always pointed out of course. 自从饭后我一直忙的很。Since dinner I have been very busy.


Differentiating the words 阿姨 親阿姨 and 姨 correctly When I started learning Chinese, I learned that 阿姨 can refer to both older female friends and the maternal aunts. I was therefore told to refer to my aunt as 親阿姨, at least upon first mention.

Today I wrote

  我的親阿姨搬到這裡快要二十年了。

My teacher corrected my mistakes meticulously, but he only speaks Chinese, so I often don't understand the reason. He corrected it to:
我姨搬到這裡快要二十年了

Should I use 我姨 in writing?

You mandarin teacher just too ignorant to tell about different region Chinese language usage custom, and fail on learning the importance of presenting language in explicitly ways. Perhaps I will say , "for the sake of correcting to correct".

You can write it, but please don't use "我姨" in speaking, unless you are comfortable to the regions custom that use that(perhaps Beijing?).

Mandarin depends heavily in vocal rhythm changes, many verbs shared the same vocal rhythm. It is bad in vocal saying "我姨", because the vocal "姨" shared with different meaning vocals(like 已，咦， 宜, 疑,etc）

So Chinese already invented the sharp vocal "Ar" as people calling reference, thus when you speak  "我阿姨”， all Chinese in different region will understand you. You will get a blank face when you say "我姨", even native mandarin speaker will have trouble fetch the meaning.

Now, back to "我親阿姨", it is quite redundant in Chinese speaking custom. Normally, just say/write "我阿姨" is enough. Chinese always treat 阿姨 as close relative.

When come to 阿姨, Chinese only explicitly define ladies who is NOT your relative, for example, the housekeeper 管家阿姨, the lady stay at the floor below you 楼下的阿姨。


佢 read "jì" from Hakka? Looking through the book 四川德阳方言语音演化与接触研究, I came across the following chart excerpt:

表1-6 四川境内非西南官话方言岛与湖广方言特征词对比

In some locales 他 is documented as being read: 佢, tɕi⁵¹ -or- jì, if you prefer.
Places of influence are limited to either:

老湖广话

or

或客家话方言岛

Xiang, Cantonese or Hakka.
Hakka seems to be the most likely, but the readings are all closer to:

gi

rather than ji.
Are there Hakka topolects that read 佢 as [tɕi]? Or perhaps Cantonese topolects? Xiang is not very likely I'm guessing.

Yes there are Hakka varieties that have palatalised 佢 and other former velars in front of front vowels, specifically in various Hakka varieties of Jiangxi and Hunan (寧龍片, 于信片/雩桂片 and 銅鼓片/銅桂片).
Without context, it is rather difficult to determine the tone category of the phonetic "51". But I shall assume it is a 陽平 tone.
A list of pronunciations for 渠 in a greater range of Hakka varieties can be found at zdic.net (where it also specifies that it is equivalent to Modern Standard Mandarin 他 for some varieties). I could not however find /tɕi51/ on the list, although there are several /tɕi24/ (陰平 tone, characteristic of 銅桂片).


How am I supposed to understand 充分一些？ What does the phrase 尽量准备充分一些 mean?

I have this sentence: 并非每个人都适合创业，但有想法的人可以大胆去做，尽量准备充分一些。

As much as possible prepare ample a little
尽量准备充分一些
Should I prepare a little, or a lot??

First: 充分
I feel like the definition ample is slightly misleading, although it could be translated this way in specific contexts.
A Chinese-English Dictionary:

2 to the full; as fully as possible
充分利用
fully utilize; make full use of

Oxford actually translates, what most translate as ample, as abundant.

Second: 一些
Oxford

3 略微 [placed after an adjective, indicating a slight change in degree]
请走慢一些
Please walk more slowly

So, we can think of an 一些 suffix as "a little more....blah blah blah", it is adding to whatever is already there.
一些 = and some

Now we have 充分 + 一些 = a little more abundant (-or- a little more ample, if you really want to use ample) -or- with 准备 in mind: to prepare a little more fully

Now 尽量
KEY:

to the best of one's ability; as far as possible

尽量准备充分一些 = you should prepare a whole lot (more), as much as you possibly can


What does 现代化 ('modernize') mean in ...兴建了百万平方米的现代化厂房...? In Chinese, putting 化 after a word often seems to have the same effect as the suffix -ize in English.

I have: 公司在全国建立了进150家分公司，兴建了百万平方米的现代化厂房，形成了年产数百万吨的强大产能。

If I translate '兴建了百万平方米的现代化厂房', 'modernize' or 'modernization' do not make much sense. I would like to simply use 'modern'. Dictionaries tell me '现代化‘ means 'modernize' or 'modernization'. Am I missing something here?

兴建了百万平方米的现代化厂房
'built 1 million square metres of modern factory space,'

Literally translated, 现代化 is "modernised". Actually I think the construction of Adj+化 in Chinese is actually mimicking the construction created by -ize in English.

Considering only the language aspect, I think 现代化 means the same as 现代(adj.) does. If there is any difference, 现代化 might implies a process of transforming something to be modern, hence "modernized". But in many of its modern usage it is does not. For example, I don't think the sentence in this question implies that those factories or plants were not "modern" but become "modern" by renovation or upgraded equipment. I feel they were built to modern and simply are modern.

This lead to my other point. I think 现代化 is overused in modern Chinese. You see 现代化 was a widely used propaganda term in the context of stimulating industrial and economy growth in the history of PRC. The proper term are "four modernisations", which basically equalised to "better" in the eyes of public. Nowadays, everything is already quite "modern", so there seldom be a "modernisation" process happened to an object described as 现代化的. Most of the time, they are just modern. However, we still see the world quite often, mostly in official speeches or promotional materials.

I'm not sure what is the best way in English that can capture this subtleness, and it's now become more or less a style thing. So in most of the cases, 现代化 = 现代 unless you want to give it an official or tone that relate people to that ideology.


exact meaning of 你自以为的极限只是别人的起点 the translation for this sentence 你自以为的极限只是别人的起点 is "your peak is just the beginning for others". this is about a love story the guy just gave up chasing the girl and the girl said this sentence to him. what i'm confused is does she mean your peak is the begining of other people to court her? or does she mean the guy's peak is suppose to be just the beginning as a reference in courting rituals here in China? so technically is the girl saying you and i dating is just the start you gave up too easily?

"你自以为的极限只是别人的起点"
"The limit you thought you had reached, is just a starting point for some other people."

She was saying the guy gave up too easily.
He thought he had reached the limit of his ability to continue on with this relationship; The woman disagreed, suggesting the level of obstacle this guy facing was no more than a starting point of a challenge in many people's eyes.
A challenge get harder and harder after it started. But the starting point of a challenge is easy--  all you have to do, is to 'decide to take it on.'


How to translate "and" to Chinese I would like some clarification on translating 'and' into Chinese. I know 和 and 跟 can be used as 'and' with nouns, 也 can be used with verbs, and often 'and' isn't translated but a comma is used. But recently I encountered 与 as 'and' where I thought 和 would be used. My question is, are there other words that are  typically translated as 'and' in Chinese, and in what situations do you use these characters as 'and' (I still don't have a great understanding of 也 or 跟 as 'and'), and when do you not need to translate 'and' at all. In other words, I am looking for a summary of 'and' in Chinese.

My summary of 'and' in Chinese:

  "財富 (和) 聲望" = "wealth (and) prestige"

'和' denotes 'wealth' and 'prestige' are at the same level in term of emphasis (implies they come in together as a unit)

  "財富 (與) 聲望" = "wealth (and) prestige" / "wealth (and also) prestige"

'與' emphasize the first item 'wealth' slightly more than the second item 'prestige' (imply prestige comes after wealth)

  "財富 (及) 聲望" = "wealth (and) prestige"/ "wealth (and) prestige (in addition)"

'及' emphasizes the first item 'wealth' more heavily over the second item 'prestige' (implies prestige is an addition to 'wealth'

Notice the compound word '與及' (also/ in addition of)

~

  "你 (和) 我" = "you (and) I"

'和' indicates 'you' and 'I' are at the same level of emphasis

  "你 (與) 我" = "you (and) I" / you (and) me (also)"

'與' emphasizes the first item 'you' slightly more than the second item 'I' (implies thing effect you slight more than me)

  "你 (跟) 我" = "you (and) I" / "you (with) I "

'跟'  emphasizes the second item 'I' more than the first item 'you' (implies 'you' following 'I'. e.g. "你跟我一起工作" = "you work with me together")

  You can omit '和' just like you can omit 'and' in English sometimes

"財富聲望" = 'wealth, prestige' (as a single unit)

"你我" = "you and I" = "we" (it is a classical style of speech)

  也 means 'also' or 'too', as in "我也是中國人" (I am Chinese too/ I am also Chinese),  "我也去 (I would also go/ I would go too )

In Cantonese '同' is equal to '和'


How many homophones for "shi" are there in Chinese - with or without considering tones? I'm curious as to how many Chinese characters correspond to the pinyin "shi", such as 是 时 十 事 史 and so on. Is there an exact number of how many words (besides really archaic ones nobody uses) use this pronunciation?

Please see the pictures，the characters in the red box are common used.
The link is https://zidian.911cha.com/pinyin_shi.html


Help translating writing on a bowl Hi there! Could anybody translate what is written on the bottom of this bowl? It is at the request of an elderly relative who is computer illiterate! Many thanks!


Why are certain Chinese surnames common in certain provinces? I am referring to the figure below, obtained from Wikipedia

I am aware that about 40% of all Chinese can be characterised into 10 or so surnames. However, breaking it down, there are particular surnames that are common in certain provinces.

I was wondering if anyone knows the history behind this geographic distribution?

I know that certain surnames, such as 陳 were named after their vassal states of China (pre warring state). But obviously, the geography has changed significantly since then.

Are there any other reasons for the high concentration below?

When the Chinese children grow up, usually they don't leave their hometown. And there is an old saying "父母在，不远游". It's just our culture.


Do Cantonese 畀 and Mandarin 被 have any historical connection? 畀 and 被's modern pronunciations are quite similar.
Although 畀 can mean “give” like the Mandarin 给 it also can work like 被:

佢畀人睇見
他被人家看見

Do Cantonese 畀 and Mandarin 被 have any historical connection?

畀 and 被 are not related.  In Old Chinese (F. K. Li's system) 畀 was pjidh, and 被 was bjiarx/h, phonetically quite different.

被 (the qusheng reading) was, and still is, a coverlet, etymologically related to the verb 'to cover' (the shangsheng reading). How 'cover' became a marker of passivity in a sentence is a long story; when something is laid on you, it's never you that does the laying, and the fact that it's an action external to you gives it a very passive feeling.

畀 originally meant 'give' in the sense of to 'bestow'; it came to be a passive marker is a very different fashion from 被; in fact, in most southern dialects, passive is marked by co-verb like structures with the meaning of 'give'; this is a regional feature, though the actual word differs from dialect to dialect; in the Minnan dialect, for example, it is 'ho', and its usage is very similar to 畀 in Yue dialects.


Error in Book? Need help I was reading Assimil Chinese with Ease and came across this.

你见过他？

Since this is a question, is 吗 necessary for the question? Perhaps an error? Or can you omit 吗？

You can omit the "吗", but:

In writing, you need a question mark.

In speech, a rising intonation must be used.


difference between 伤痕， 伤疤 and 疤痕？ Recently, I read that someone's  额头上有一个伤痕 。   I knew that the sentence literally meant that there was a scar. But then I thought "Why didn't they say "伤疤” or “疤痕”。 All three of these translate to scar in english, is there any simple way to divide them in Chinese?

Often "疤痕" is reserved for "physical scar", while "傷疤" and "傷痕" can mean more; they can even mean a mental scar.

Therefore, being a 疤痕 implies being a 傷疤 (resp. 傷痕); being a 傷疤 (resp. 傷痕) not necessarily implies being a 疤痕.

Nevertheless, please bear in mind that these distinctions are subtle and not dogmatic. :)


"tā gāoxìng de tiào qǐlái" distinguishing 得 vs 地 If you hear, "tā gāoxìng de tiào qǐlái," there are two interpretations:

他高兴地跳起来。 He jumped up happily.
他高兴得跳起来。 He was so happy that he jumped up.

Or another example: tā shūfu de shuìjiào.

他舒服得睡觉。 He is comfortable enough to sleep.
他舒服地睡觉。 He slept comfortably.

Are these actually ambiguous when spoken, or are there other rules or clues that help determine the meaning?

Do native speakers use 得/地 carefully in situations like this when writing?

You won't hear any difference in spoken because both are pronounced the same de.

In writing, 他高兴得跳起来 is correct.  他舒服地睡觉 and 他舒服得睡觉 are not idiomatic because they are  not a typical Chinese way but English.  We'd say 他睡得很舒服 in this case.


What is the precise meaning of 還虧空？ I have been reading a text, that I broadly understand, but which is still too advanced for me to grasp in every detail. The complete text can be found here.

In the text there appears a passage:

  回家變賣典質，父親還了虧空;又借錢辦了喪事。

I interpret this as:

  upon returning home, father pawned some （of our) belongings and called in a debt. Moreover he borrowed some money, to (be able to) tend to the matter of the funeral.

But I am very unsure, whether I translated 還虧空 correctly. I found 虧空 in several dictionaries, but never with 還！

虧空 is debt

還 is repay (還款) here.

so, 還了虧空 is repay the debt.

have fun


What's the function of 让 here? I read this sentence today :

  你想让我给你打电话吗？

Translated as : "Do you want me to call you?"

My question is :
What is the function of 让 here?

I have read that 让 can be used to form causative sentences but I don't think that one sentence has any correlation with causative.
Why doesn't the speaker just say :

  你想我给你打电话吗？

instead???

see examples for 想让 at bkrs: https://bkrs.info/slovo.php?ch=%E6%83%B3%E8%AE%A9 and iciba: http://www.iciba.com/%E6%83%B3%E8%AE%A9: 想让某人／事物做某事  want sb./sth. to do sth. (approx.= want to cause sb to do sth.) it would seem to observers that, 让 reinforces wish，(wish is to cause action), redundancy not uncommon phenomenon in Chinese,

想 has many meanings besides (6) 希望, 想要 hope; want 料想; 猜想 [anticipate]
余读孔氏书, 想见其本人 among 1-12 at bkrs, so that 让 seems to clarify the meaning as "want"


What is Chinese for "Arts Festival"? I am referring to events such as the Edinburgh Festival.

Ha.. found it by looking up the Chinese Edinburgh Festival site. Guess I should have searched around more before asking here. Answer is:

  艺术节

节 means festival in most situations where the English word would be used, so Edinburgh Festival is 爱丁堡节, film festival is 电影节。


How did Middle Chinese "hæwk" evolve into Mandarin "xué"? So I was wondering why the on'yomi reading of Japanese 学 was "gaku" and the Korean reading of 學 was "hak", since I knew that in Mandarin, 学 was "xué", which is radically different from the two.
I did some research and learned that the Middle Chinese reading of 學 was "hæwk" (IPA /ɦˠʌk̚/). That left me to wonder: how did Middle Chinese "hæwk" evolve into modern day Mandarin "xué", considering that modern day Cantonese 學 is "hok6"?
It seems like no other Sinitic or Sino-Xenic descendants differed vastly from the original pronunciation of "hæwk" as much as Mandarin did. Is there a reason for Mandarin specifically differing so much as well?
Linguistically I know the least about Mandarin since I'm a heritage speaker and I didn't learn it as a language learner like I did the other languages, so I apologize if this is a stupid or bad question

I'm not an expert on historical Chinese phonology, but this doesn't seem like an uncharacteristically distant sound evolution compared to other words:
           Baxter       (Zhengzhang
           –Sagart       Shangfang)
Hanzi | Old Chinese | Middle Chinese | Mandarin
 學   |  *m-kˤruk   |      ɦˠʌk̚      |   xué
 穴   |  *[ɢ]ʷˤi[t] |      ɦwet̚      |   xué
 血   |  *m̥ˤik      |      hwet̚      |   xuè

Between Late Middle Chinese and Modern Mandarin, the final consonants /p/, /t/, /k/ were dropped. In Mandarin the only consonants a syllable can end on are n or ng.
/ɦˠ/ and /ɦw/ - back-of-the-mouth velarized and labialized fricatives, respectively, - likely shifted towards fricatives farther forward in the mouth.


Regional variations on 三更半夜 A couple years ago, I was at a Chinese(-American) gathering and the topic of 成语 came up. One of them was 三更半夜. My family is from Hangzhou, and previously I had always known of it as 深更半夜. On the other hand, someone from the northeast noted that she was accustomed to saying 三经半夜. After comparing among all of ourselves, it seemed that southerners tended to use 深更半夜 while northerners tended to use 三经半夜.

Is this a well-documented phenomenon? That is, is this actually a thing, or was our observation due to pure coincidence?

Both "三更(gēng)半夜" and "深更(gēng)半夜" are correct. They are listed in most modern Chinese dictionaries. And "半夜三更" and "半夜深更" could also be used as there are no change in the meaning at all, although they may sound peculiar to some people, but they are totally correct to use. (Actually, in Chinese reverse such word constructions are widely used in many case to improve the variety of the text).

However, 三经半夜 is not valid or formal Chinese. 经 cannot be used to substitute 更 both in writing or in pronunciation in formal Chinese. However, it is widely used in speaking but it's widely believed to be a mispronunciation widely adopted. There are many similar cases that average Chinese use pronunciations which is not listed in dictionaries. You could say there is a gap between the speaking system and the writing system of Chinese. But those mismatches are normally minor and most of the time the meaning can be inferred from the context.

About 更

The essential meaning of the character is "Change"

It is also used as a time unit. In ancient China, a day is divided into 12 parts. Each part is called 时, thus it is equal to two hours. According to http://www.guoxue.com/?p=4025 in Han dynasty, there were five shifts during the night in the palace.

一更/头更：戌时　19:00 – 21:00
二更：亥时　21:00 – 23:00
三更：子时　23:00 – 01:00
四更：丑时　01:00 – 03:00
五更：寅时　03:00 – 05:00

So 更 actually means the change of shift originally.

Regarding the difference between 三更 and 深更, from the table above you can see 三更 is actually midnight. 深更 means deep in the night, so basically they are the same thing except 深更 could also be used to refer 四更 or 五更 literally. But when used in 成语 and in combination with 半夜, they don't mean the literal, exact time, they just mean late in the night or midnight in general. In the past, numbers in Chinese are often used figuratively rather than indicating the exact.


What verb is the 捏 in the Min sentence 将你捏絚絚? There is this song called 不能讲的秘密 (well, technically it's best spelt as 袂使讲的秘密), "Secret I cannot tell", and it is in Min Nan. At a certain point, there is this sentence:

  将你捏紧紧

That's how the lyrics spell it. I already restored 絚絚 | ân-ân from 台湾闽南语常用词辞典, but I have a hard time figuring out 捏. I mean, according to the aforementioned dictionary, 捏 means "pinch", so "I pinch you tight"? This is a love song, "you" is the singer's loved one, the lyrics continue with "因为惊失去你", "because I fear to lose you", so what is "pinch" doing there?

Surely it must be "hug", right? But then what is the spelling, and how is it pronounced?

捏 transliterates to tēnn, so it fits what I hear, but the meaning is off. Looking for the Min version of 擁抱 with the 对应华语 feature of the dictionary only yields 相攬, looking for the Min version of just 抱 leads to many results with no trace of something sounding like "te", my only suggestion (probably from looking for "te" in the dictionary) was 缔 | tè, but that has no entry on the dictionary, and doesn't seem to mean "hug" in Chinese.

So what verb is this? Am I right that it means "hug"? How is it spelt and how is it pronounced?

捏 http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/characters/2049/
(1) pinch; hold with fingers (2) knead; mould (3) bring together (4) fabricate; concoct; cook up (5) clench

hold with fingers / clench= grab ; hold on tight

"因为惊失去你", "because I fear to lose you"

Imagine a mother turns to leave after she dropped her kid off in daycare. The kid just grab holds of her pants leg and wouldn't let go.


How much did the Cultural Revolution change the Chinese language on the mainland? I've always had an inkling that the Cultural Revolution drastically changed the Chinese language (think: TW 国语 vs. mainland 普通话). [Some even claim TW doesn't even have the concept of 书面语 pk 口语, it's not hard to buy into either].
Then today I came across these two entries in《四川方言词典》

盖盖
gai4 gai4-1
(名) ①盖子。②(～儿) 小盖子。③(～儿) <粗>指男朋友。(文革期间产生的新义，与*盒盒儿相对。)

and

钢鞭
gang1 bian1
(名) 比喻能置对方于死地的证据(文革期间产生的新义) ▷老人把刀交给公安人员说 ▷“这是我那逆子犯罪的～!”

Both specifically mention: 文革期间产生的新义.
Obviously there were changed to the Chinese language, including topolects, during the Cultural Revolution but to what extent?

A second thought: if intellectuals were attacked wouldn't that lead to a automatic dumbing-down of language, to avoid being attacked?

From what I understand, there are indeed some new words created, or given a new meaning, during the years of cultural revolution. However, those words quickly lose their popularity soon after the arrest of "Gang of Four". Actually, as someone who is born many years after that period, I can hardly think of any word that is still used in the ordinary context, be it oral or written language. And even the Communist Party government tries to avoid using those words, due to the special meanings attached to them. So you can hardly see them apart from the history book, or people telling stories of that era.

However, there are a few exceptions in the recent years, notably the use of "篡党夺权" from the remarks by Liu Shiyu, chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission during the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.[1][2] And there has been a rise in the use of "伟大领袖" in local newspapers as well.

For a comprehensive list of new words or words given a new meaning during the cultural revolution, I've found a paper from search engine here. But it's in Chinese, and it also requires purchasing to read further from page 1.

As to the difference between TW国语 and mainland普通话, they are completely irrelated to the cultural revolution.


The examples make no sense (translation) I have a kid's book for learning "378汉字.“  Each page has six or eight entries, each comprising a photo, the character, and what I suppose is an example of use.  But none of the examples make any sense.  I have looked up the words (according to how a segmenter program divides them) but cannot come up with any reasonable English translation.  I've only tried one page, which has:

刀   刀口刀柄
勺   马勺铁勺
筷   筷筒火筷
尺   格尺尺度
叉   交叉叉烧
帘   纱帘帘幕

Also tried Google Translate, but (no surprise) the results there were worse than my attempts—and I can't even pass HSK 1 yet.

The punctuation marks are missing

刀 :  刀口; 刀柄 = knife : knife edge; knife handle

勺 :  马勺; 铁勺 = spoon : ladle; iron spoon

筷 :  筷筒; 火筷 = chopsticks : chopsticks canister; stove chopsticks

尺 :  格尺; 尺度 = foot (measurement)/ ruler : ruler; criterion

叉 :  交叉; 叉烧 = fork : cross; BBQ pork

帘 :  纱帘; 帘幕 = curtain : screen; window curtain


How to translate 目的性？ This text is talking about the contrast between students in the past and now. In the past students blindly sat for exams whether or not they were relevant to their future job. Now, they are more choosy about what exams they take.

因此现在考证的人 更加注重考证的实用性，有更准确的目的性。

I think I can break this sentence into 2 sentences:

1。 因此现在考证的人更加注重考证的实用性。

实用性： usefulness

2。 因此现在考证的人有更准确的目的性。

目的： goal, purpose, aim,
目的性： goal ？？

Therefore today's examinees have a more precise 'sense of purpose （目的性）'?

Or did the writer just write 目的性 because he wrote 实用性？ Or is there some other meaning in '目的性’？ Could we just forget the 性 and write 有更准确的目的？

性, in this context, means 有...性质， having the characteristic/sense of ...

So, 目的性：有 目的 性质， 实用性： 有 实用 性质.

You could translate 性 according to your contexts, and sometimes you could even ignore it when you feel it's unnecessary. It's all at your own discretion.

In this context, I suggest using noun words, like 实用性: practicality, 目的性: purposiveness. And purposiveness is the same as "sense of purpose".

有更准确的目的性。could be "be more clear/precise on the sense of purpose/purposiveness".


Translate 主播 in this context This article is talking about speaking books, e-books.

与国外相比，中国的有声书产业尚处于起步阶段，行业规模和标准亟待统一。此外，优秀主播的培养也是一大缺口。

Normally, 主播 refers to a TV or radio anchor person, the host of a show. That makes no sense to me here.

此外，优秀主播的培养也是一大缺口。
Also, there is a big shortfall （缺口） of training （培养） for outstanding （优秀）readers （主播）.

主播：here the people who originally read the recording? Is that correct, or am I missing something?

Why not write: 阅读者？

You are correct. 主播 (anchor person/ program host) makes no sense in this context

The one who read out the content in an 有聲書 (Audiobook) should be called  "誦讀者" (one who recite text)

Or "朗讀者" (one who recite text in a clear voice) if the content is of poetic nature

阅读者 mainly mean the one who read (with eyes, not reading out with voice)

I own a few Audiobooks, the one who read the book out is listed as "narrator" (叙述者), So. 叙述者 could be used in Chinese Audiobooks titles too


Are the Chinese characters really pictorial? Are the Chinese characters really pictorial?

There is a discussion Here. What is your opinion? Please see the link and come back to give your insight. To be specific so that the question would be able to survive, please provide some good examples with your answer.

The real question behind the issue is that "Is it possible to have a language that is really pictorial or ideograph without any sound indication?"

No. Chinese writing certainly has an early origin in logograms, but so does the Latin alphabet we use – the "A" is actually an ox head, tilted 90 degrees, and borrowed from the first Sumerian cuneiform script.

Since classical times, only a few percent of the Chinese language retains such logograms, while the vast majority (+90%) of characters are phonetic compounds, essentially a rather large and fuzzy alphabet with functional elements as hinting.

几 might be a table, but 叽, 饥 and 肌 haven't got much to do with a table, but are used phonetically.


What sickness was 瘦? “Skinny” (瘦) is clearly written with a sickness radical (病字旁): 疒.

Outlier, also, writes the following in its definition:

  FORM
  瘦 shòu is composed of 叟 sǒu and 疒 “to be sick, not well,” pointing to the original meaning “to have little muscle or fat; to be skinny.” 叟 gives the sound.

What sickness was 瘦 actually referring to though? Or is it simply that all these people vying to loose weight just can't wait to be “ill”?

「瘦」is comprised of semantic「疒」(sickness) and phonetic「叟」, indicating the meaning underdeveloped muscles and fat; emaciated (speaking about the body).

The skinny meaning is not how we view the meaning skinny in modern terms.

Today, especially in countries which are not struck by famine or poverty, skinny is viewed as a better state than obese. To become skinny/thin is to change from an unhealthy obese weight.
In the olden days, skinny is a synonym for malnutritioned/pallid/emaciated, hence the use of「疒」.


Replacement for "他一个人" when used in a sentence about an animal In the sentence:

  他一个人在搬东西

Which could be translated as "He is moving it by himself", the important information is 'by himself' (他一个人).

In English we could point to an ant and say "Look, he is moving it by himself". So the sentence can be used for both humans and animals.

What I am trying to find out is the correct way of changing this sentence so it could be used with something that is not a person (人).

Yesterday my son said:

  "看，他一个人在搬东西"

When referring to an ant that had decided to carry off a large piece of something and he was impressed that the ant could do it "by himself". But the '一个人' part doesn't seem correct to me since the ant is not a person.

So is the right way to say this:

  "看，他一只蚂蚁在搬东西"

Or what is the right way to say this if you don't use '一个人', assuming that is incorrect.

An alternative way is to say 它自己在搬东西. but what your son said (he's cute!) feels natural to my ears too. What he used in this sentence is a technique called 拟人手法. :)


How to start a letter with self introduction to a friend you haven't seen for ages? I'd like to write a letter to a friend I haven't seen for ages. And it would be nice to remind who I am because I am not sure my name is just enough.

So I'd like to write the next sentence:

  This is your sports friend Xxxxx from [some country] writing to you.

Word order does not matter, the main purpose is clear chinese language to address to a friend.

你好，我是 Ivan Gerasimenko。
Hello, I am Ivan Gerasimenko.

我们之前在XXX的比赛第中见过一次面， 你还记得吗？
We met once before at the XXX sports competition, do you still remember?

距离上次见面已经很久了，你现在过得怎么样？
It's been a long time, how are you getting on these days?

(PS: Are you from Serbia? We just found out, Chinese people can go to Serbia without a visa.)


Is "一“ in 一线城市 first or second tone? Quick question: Is "一“ in 一线城市 first or second tone?
If it is first tone, is this because it is being used as a number?

Cheers,

Stephen

一 in 一线 has two kinds of tones, and two corresponding meanings:

yi1 xian4 (1st tone), means front line / 1st line, such as 一线城市 (first-tier city), 亲临一线, 一线队.
yi2 xian4 (2nd tone), means a gleam of / a ray of, such as 一线光明, 一线生机.

Basically, before the word with 4th tone, 一 should be pronounced as the 2nd tone (“一”的音变), such as 一样, 一辈子. But if it is used as ordinal, should use its original tone (the 1st tone), such as 第一名, 第一线. Note in this case 第 could be omitted, but still should keep its original tone (the 1st tone). So if 一 is used as the meaning of 第一 (the 1st), it should always be pronounced as the 1st tone.

Reference:
试析“一”声调的读法
“一”的音变
“一”的变调


What is the difference between 这类 and 这种? As far as I know they both mean this kind (of).
Is the latter more versatile or less?
Does that have any influence on the choice of word?

Is it an etymological feature that provides or shows a differentiation, if such a differentiation is existent ?

种类 (n): 'kind, sort, kind, species'

  种 as a noun means carries the meaning of 'seed'

种: things came from the same origin and divert slightly, but still belong to the same kind nonetheless.

For example, knife and sword are both a kind(种) of cold weapon because 'created to be a cold weapon' is their origin; Football and basketball are both a kind of a ball sport because 'created to be a ball sport' is their origin.

  类 as a verb carries the meaning of 'to classify'

类: things that's being classified into the same sort, type or kind based on similar origin, feature,  function or other qualities

For example, knife and sword are both a kind/ class/ type(类) of cold weapon ; Horse and cow are both a kind of cattle; Football and basketball are both a kind of ball sport. (we classify them based on their similarity)


How to learn pronunciation effectively with help of books? I'm learning Chinese on a book and it shows the words sometimes in Latin alphabet such as Ni-hao, but it doesn't show how to spell the word with the right pronunciation. Can someone help how I can learn the pronunciation and accent with the aid of the books I have?

I would consider it practically impossible to learn how to pronounce words correctly in Chinese without audio.  There's many obstacles:

The initial x of 需 (xū) doesn't seem to have an equivalent sound in English.  (Have you heard news reporters try to pronounce 习近平 (Xí Jìnpíng)?)
The final u in 出 (chū) and 去 (qù) are pronounced differently (compare their bopomofo), despite being represented by the same letter.
The difference between e.g. 上 (shàng) and 向 (xiàng) is very subtle, likewise for nasal vs. non-nasal finals, e.g. 京 (jīng) vs. 津 (jīn).
There's also tone sandhi, where the tone changes in words，e.g. your example 你好 may be written as two third tones (nǐ hǎo) but this changes to one second tone and one third tone (ní hǎo) when its pronounced.

It may be possible to benefit from knowledge of bopomofo.  However, it's like trying to fight with one arm tied behind your back.  It's vastly easier to simply listen to the sound on some video (or the book's accompanying CD); there's zillions of them available free online.


Is "可以来 (ke3 yi3 lai2) ..." an idomatic way to say "please bring me ..."? The vocabulary flashcard website "Memrise" has in one of its Chinese menu learning modules as entry:

  Word: 可以来...
  Definition: please bring... (food or dish)

But one of the comments says:

  I thought this might mean something
  like "bring me a plate" in English. But I
  can't find any reference to this
  phrase. I think it might just mean
  "can come".

So is this a mistake that should not be in something purporting to teach Chinese? Is the commenter right or wrong? If this is the wrong way to say it, is there a right way?

It is a euphemistic way to say so, as it would seem more polite.

We would use subjunctive mood/subjonctif to translate this expression, as "Could I have..." or "Puis-je avoir...". Note that this is always in the form of a question, so please do not forget to add "...吗？" in the end.


Which is correct: 已经毕业了两年大学 or 已经大学毕业了两年? I know 大学毕业 is a verb phrase that means "graduate from university". I have 2 questions.

(1) In expressing the duration of completed action, which is correct: 他已经毕业了两年大学  or 他已经大学毕业了两年?

(2) If I change the word order, is it still grammatically correct: 他大学毕业已经两年了?

The verb phrase is "大学毕业"

Following the rule of verb particle 了 must be placed after a verb or verb phrase, the following are both correct

[已经][大学毕业][了][两年] (了 is a verb particle )

[大学毕业][已经][两年][了] (了 can be a verb particle or a final particle)

Since 大学毕业 is [n + v] not [v + n], you cannot insert the verb particle 了 between verb and noun. e.g. 读完大学 --> 读完了大学.

We can say 吃饭  but not 毕业大学 because 吃 is a transitive verb (take object), but 毕业 is an intransitive verb (doesn't take object)

毕业大学 is not grammatical, therefore 毕业了大学 is also not grammatical.


What does 家 mean in 家医院? I came across 家医院 in example sentences in an anki deck I downloaded.
I know that 医院 means hospital. I tried to look up 家医院 in two dictionaries but could not find it.

What is 家医院? Is it equivalent to 医院?

It appears for example in the following sentence:

他在那家医院工作。


Subtle definition of 喜欢 喜欢她就主动一点儿， 机会是不回自己跑到你面前的。

I ran into such sentence and had trouble understanding 喜欢她就主动一点儿。

Does this mean, I would prefer she acts more proactively?

One correction from the original sentence:

  喜欢她就主动一点儿， 机会是不 会 自己跑到你面前的。

It means: if you like her, you should be proactive / take initiatives, since chances wouldn't run for you automatically(implying she wouldn't call you first).

The sentence can be paraphrased as: 如果你喜欢她，你就主动一点儿， 机会是不会自己跑到你面前的。


脑袋 vs 脑子 vs 头脑 vs 脑筋 Based on the dictionary, I get the meaning that all 4 words mean brain, mind, head. So what's the difference between each of the words? And what is the usage of each word? It will be really helpful if to me if you guys can provide sample sentences to show me how to use the words. Thanks!

脑袋 is literally referring to the head, the biological head of a person.
脑子 is also referring to the biological brain. You can say

他的脑子里有许多奇怪的想法 means he is having a lot of weird thoughts in his brain
他脑子不好使 means he is not smart

头脑 and 脑筋 are similar, they both mean mind in some way, but are used in different places

他很有头脑 means he is a smart guy
脑筋急转弯 is a puzzle game like the following
Who is closer to you, your mom or your dad?
Mom is closer, because dad is farther.

头脑 and 脑筋 are most commonly used in those two places, so you are good with them once you have those two examples in mind.


Can 太久 be used to refer to time past between two dates? As an example, if I am making plans to meet with a friend, and I say I am free on a specific date, say 2 weeks from now, and then I follow up by asking my friend "Or is that too far ahead?" To translate "Or is that too far ahead?" into Mandarin, can one say "会不会太久？“? Or is there a better translation?

It's pretty good.

Besides, I want to explain the difference between "太久" and "太迟".

"太久" means you spend long time. "太迟" means you spend long time and don't know whether something will what happen.

for example:

Your friend live the same city with you. You are going to visit him after two weeks.

you can say "我两个星期后来看你，会不会太久？";

Your friend has a trip in your city. You plan to meet him after two weeks. But you don't know when he will return home, you are afraid that he will have gone back home by the time you visit him.

You can say "我两个星期后来看你，会不会太迟？";


Is there an equivalent of "alpha, beta..." for enumeration of software in Chinese? In English I can do:

1, 2, 3...
I, II, III...
alpha, beta... (for instance, the "alpha version" of a software)

What options are available for enumerations in Chinese? Specially to identify versions of not yet released software?

一，二，三...
?

I know Chinese use the Ten Celestial Stems and Twelve Earthly Branches for enumerations. Is this the best way to describe initial versions of a software? I only need to translate alpha and beta right now.

China software company use:
1, 2, 3...
I, II, III...
alpha, beta
内测版, 公测版
I am a developer.


Using 都 when refering to both subject and objects I saw this in a lesson:

你都会去吗?

In this context, 都 refers to islands, as in "Will you go to all of them [the islands]?" But, when I hear that my brain thinks 都 refers to the subject, as in "Will all of you go?"

Could 都 refer to both the subject and the object, depending on context? How would one translate, "Will all of you go to all of them?" ?

Yes, 都 can refer to either subject or objects.

When subject is plural, 都 refer to "all" of the subject.

For example:

  你们都来嘛？Are all of you coming?

  同学们都交按时交了作业。 All of the students in the class handed in their homework in time.

When subject is single, and object is plural, then 都 refers to "all" of the object.

For example:

  你把糖果都吃了？ Did you eat all of the candy?

  这些衣服你都买吗 ？ Are you going to buy all of those clothes?

  那些岛屿你都会去吗？Will you (single) go to all of the islands?

When both subject and object are plural, if only using 都, it is ambiguous as we don't know if it refers to the subject or object or both. So we either need to draw more info from the context, or if no context, we will have to ask the speaker to clarify on this.

For example:

  那些岛屿你们都会去吗？Will (all of ?)you (plural) go to (all of?) the islands?

When we mean all of the subject AND all of the object, then we will have to use TWO words meaning "all" (所有/全部/都/全/全都) together.

For example:

  你们都交了全部的作业嘛？  Did all of you guys hand in all the homework?

  你们都会去所有的那些岛屿吗？Will all of you (plural) go to all of the islands?

But sometimes it is still ambiguous even we use TWO such words.

For exmaple:

  所有的那些岛屿你们都会去吗？

  In this sentence, 所有 refers to the islands for sure, no doubt about it. But 都 may refer to either object or subject. So we still need to ask the speaker to clarify on it.

  For this sentence, if there is no context, and we are not able to ask the speaker to clarify, then my intuition of interpreting this sentence is that both 所有 and 都 refer to islands.

Conclusion: The things 都 refers to are somehow impacted by the sentence structure.


成语 versus 俗语 versus 谚语, what is the difference? I know the rough difference between a 成语 (4-character proverb)and a 俗语 (8-character or so saying), but what is a 谚语, and how does it differ from these?

I am also interested in 熟语。 How does this differ from these three?

成語 and 諺語 are well established common expressions , well known by the whole population. 俗語 is more often, limited to regional use.

成語 mostly refer to Chinese idiom.
諺語 can be from different countries.
Chinese 成語 are uniformly four characters phrases.
For 俗語 and 諺語,  number of character are flexible, some come in two parts.

Examples:

俗語 : "有便宜唔好使頸" (Cantonese) : "If there's benefit to be have, don't be stubborn."
諺語: "神要毀滅某人，必先使其瘋狂" (western): " "Those whom the gods wish to destroy they first make mad."

諺語 (proverb) include  "common sense" and "words of wisdom". from known or unknown origins.
俗語 (folk saying) include "situation description", "common sense" and "words of wisdom".
成語 (idiom) include  "situation description" , "common sense", and "words of wisdom".  Mostly came from known historical references, like poems, classical literature or famous quotes by historic figures .

Edit:
熟语 (Well known phrases) include:
惯用语(common phrase), usually contain three characters, for example: "打秋風"，"拍馬屁" , 成語, 諺語, 俗語, 歇后语(two-part allegorical saying), for example: "和尚打傘，無法無天" and 格言(motto), usually from famous people, for example: "We have nothing to fear but fear itself." by Franklin D. Roosevelt.


What are the most common mistakes when pronouncing Pinyin? For example, 'shuo' is sometimes mistakenly pronounced 'shou'. 'Juan' is often pronounced 'zhuan'.

Can anyone think of any others? I want to highlight some common mistakes to teach pinyin pronunciation.

For people from south China, the following may be confused:

z / zh
c / ch
s / sh
n / l
l / r

Many Pinyin input methods include "fuzzy pronunciations", a feature that automatically matches these confusable pronunciations. For example, if you input zui, the results will also include all characters of zhui.
The Google Pinyin input method uses the following list:

z / zh
c / ch
s / sh
an / ang
en / eng
in / ing
l / n
f / h
r / l
k / g
ian / iang
uan / uang


How to type a Simplified Chinese degree symbol on a regular English keyboard? Anyone knows how to type a Simplified Chinese degree symbol (°) on a regular English keyboard? Thanks.

Chinese word processors have the option to use U+2103 ℃ or U+2104 ℉, to get over the typographical problem of displaying a degree much closer to the C or F than otherwise allowable in fullwidth text.

However, it is also true that the Chinese 度 is used more commonly in everyday text and in most newspapers; my personal contact with ℃ has been in academic papers.

Both of these are in the Unicode block "Letterlike Symbols", alongside ℏ, the  "Planck constant Over Two Pi" U+210F and Ω the Ohm sign U+2126; most common is likely the ™ trademark sign U+2122, also repurposed in modern Chinese's Internet slang.


Express that an event in the past could have occurred, if not for some condition How do I express that an event in the past could have occurred, if not for some other condition that prevented it from occurring?
For example:

We could have deployed the code on Tuesday, but our tests were failing.
I would have bought groceries, if my car had not broken down.
He almost passed the test; unfortunately he ran out of time.
She might have finished the race, however she was dehydrated.

In English we have a lot of different words that can be substituted in for the bolded words above.
What is the simplest way to express this pattern?
What are some other variations that can also express this pattern?

All the conjunctions in the examples you stated are applicable in Chinese

but = 但是/但
Example: [本來][X][但][Y] = [originally][X][but][Y]

~

if not for = 如果不是/如非 (literary)
Example: [如非][Y][那][X] = [If not for] [Y] [then] [X]

~

unfortunately = 可惜
Example: [應該是/應該會][X][可惜][Y] = [should be][X][unfortunately][Y]

~

however = 不過/只不過
Example: [原本][X][不過][Y] = [originally][X][however][Y]

X = event should had happened; Y = reason it didn't happened
Other example:
[明明][X][卻][Y] = [clearly][X][but][Y]
[本應][X][最後][Y]= [originally should][X][at the end][Y]
Y= what ended up happened instead
Depend on the context, some conjunctions are interchangeable
Examples:
[本來][X][但][Y] --> [本來][X][不過][Y]
[應該是][X][可惜][Y] --> [應該是][X][不過][Y]


Is Google Translate image feature accurate at this? (Characters identified: 金陵子弟來相送，欲行不行各盡觴) I couldn't find a good translation for this since Google Translate with picture feature probably is not as good for such a long sentence
So I came here: Google Translate says "Jingling children come and go in the wish" is google translate accurate at this?
I was unable to identify even the first character; see my attempt here.

These two verses came from 李白 (Li Bai)'s poem
https://fanti.dugushici.com/mingju/9526

"金陵子弟來相送，欲行不行各盡觴。" 出自於李白的《金陵酒肆留别》
朝代：唐代
作者：李白
原文：
風吹柳花滿店香，吳姬壓酒喚客嘗。
金陵子弟來相送，欲行不行各盡觴。
請君試問東流水，別意與之誰短長。

~

註釋
1.金陵：我國今江蘇省南京市。
Jinling: Today's  Nanjing City , Jiangsu Province, China

~

3.子弟：指李白的朋友。
子弟(sons): Refers to 'native sons of Jinling' -- Li Bai's friends

~

4.欲行：要走的人，指李白自己。不行：送行的人，指金陵子弟。
'欲行' (about to leave) refers to 'the person who was about to leave'. And that person was Li Bai himself.
'不行' (not leaving) refers to 'the people who were not leaving'. And they  were Li Bai's friends.

~

5.盡觴(shāng)：喝盡杯中的酒。也指乾杯。
盡(finish)
盡觴: drink down the whole cup of wine. Also refers to the cheers

~

"金陵子弟來相送，欲行不行各盡觴"
" The native sons of Jinling (my friends) came to see me off; I, the one who is about to leave, and my friends who are not leaving, all drunk down a cups of wine (before we part). "


Hand and Fist gesture of gratitude What is the gesture called where you put a fist in a flat hand and slightly shake it to show gratitude? Here is an example: https://youtu.be/cB59VmnK52I?t=15m47s

Do you have any other examples where it is still used today?

作揖 has 3 variations. One is hold your fists, the other is touch your fists with your palm. The last one is the typical 作揖.
Nowadays, only A and B are still used.
Their usages are roughly same, for greeting, appreciation, say goodbye...
The differences are B is prefered by martial arts people, A is a gesture which anybody could use, C is a traditional gesture used by scholars.


时量补语：modal and verb 了 Is there any difference between these two sentences: 我们已经分别了十年了  and 我们已经分别十年了 , the question is regarding 了 in these sentences, should we put one or two 了?

Thanks.

In practice, there is no difference. Both sentences mean

we have been separated for 10 years

and that's the information most natives would get from it.
In theory though, textbooks and/or particularly pedantic speakers might point out that there is in fact a difference: the presence of the first 了 as a marker of aspect could signal that the separation has ended. Thus, you might get two different translations:

我们已经分别了十年了
We were separated for 10 years (implying now we're back together)

and

我们已经分别十年了
We have been separated for 10 years (implying we still are)

However it can be argued that the presence of the adverb 已经 (already) helps discriminate in favor of the latter, i.e. that being separated is an ongoing situation.
Anyway, as an unrequested comment: personally I would use the verb 分开 here, instead of 分别


What is 輸打贏要? (Cantonese expression) In this puzzle game I included a Cantonese expression 輸打贏要. and explained it as 'Very bad sportsmanship'
A user asked what it means in the comment section. I replied he can Google it, but the result is in Chinese and most importantly, the term is not explained very clearly.
I post this question so I or someone else can post a better answer than Baidu and in English

The Cantonese expression 輸打贏要 came from Mahjong lingo
'Play Mahjong' in Cantonese is "打麻雀(麻将)'

輸 means 'lose'

輸打 means 'continue to play when losing' (so when the game ends, he will have the chance to promise a gambling debt instead of paying the cash)

贏 means 'win'

贏要 means 'demand payment after every winning hand' (so when the game ends, he will get the cash and not a promise of repaying a gambling debt)

As a former Mahjong player, 輸打贏要 to me refers to the behavior of refusing to pay up after every losing hand when he was losing, insist on continuing to play, until he was winning, and then comes the 贏要 part -- Now he is demanding payment right after every hand.
In short -- Refuse to end the game when losing; eager to end the game when winning'; pick and choose the rules to obey when it benefits you
It is similar to the English expression 'Keep moving the goalposts';


Can 适合 ("to suit") be used as an intransitive verb? There's Difference between 合适 and 适合, which explains how 合适 is an adjective:

不合适的性行为有什么害处 (source)
Unsuitable sexual behavior has what harm
找个合适的结婚对象，真的好难 (source)
searching [for] a suitable marriage partner [is] really difficult

whereas 适合 is an verb:

那种牧草最适合牛吃 (source)
That kind of pasture most suits cows to eat
我适合什么职业? (source)
I suit what occupation?

However, YouDao lists 适合 as both a transitive and intransitive verb (i.e., no object):

vi. fit

I'm not sure this is correct as I don't recall ever seeing it as an intransitive verb, so want to check.
Question: Can 适合 be used as an intransitive verb?
If so, please give some illustrative examples.

Don't mind it. Youdao is an online dictionary aiming at helping Chinese learn English. When it lists 'v.i. fit' as a translation for 适合, it means that 'fit' is an intransitive verb (though not always the case).


Does 华裔 mean 'overseas Chinese'? Is 华裔 a term that means an ethnically Chinese person born and raised abroad? What about 2nd generation? Does it apply to, say, American born Chinese, Chinese-Canadians, Chinese-Australians, Chinese-Singaporeans, Chinese-Vietnamese etc?

It obviously does not apply to Chinese born and raised in mainland China. But does this term apply to people born and raised in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau?

Or let's say you are a Uyghur 维吾尔族 living overseas - do you identify as 华裔 Or 华人?

Maybe depends on political view and not the etymology of the word...

Also, how is 华裔 different from 华侨 or even 华人?

华裔：华夏族的后裔，但大多数指华侨在侨居国所生并取得侨居国国籍的子女

华侨：尚未加入外籍的中国公民，但长期居于国外；包括已取得居住国永久居民身份者，仍保留本国公民身份

华人：属于中华民族的人的泛称

华人： All Chinese

华侨： Chinese Live overseas but no citizenship

华裔： 华侨's children, get the citizenship

Taiwanese, Hongkongese, Macanese, called 同胞

Uyghur living overseas, you can call him 华人, if you dont know his identity.


呢 meaning "where", is it possible? Is it true that 呢 can mean "WHERE"??? If so, then what is the difference between 呢 and 哪儿???
I've seen those sentences and they made me wonder:
"我的杯子在哪儿? - where is my cup?" and "我的杯子呢? - where is my cup?"
The dictionary said that 呢 means "particle indicating that a previously asked question is to be applied to the preceding word ("What about ...?", "And ...?"); particle for inquiring about location ("Where is ...?"); particle signaling a pause, to emphasize the preceding words and allow the listener time to take them on board ("ok?", "are you with me?"); (at the end of a declarative sentence) particle indicating continuation of a state or action; particle indicating strong affirmation".

I don't think so as a native speaker.
呢 is only a modal particle while it is pronounced as "ne" in Pinyin.
You can use it for:

Interrogative mood. Use it at the end of a sentence. Sometimes you can use it for probing somebody.

For example:

你在做什么呢？ What are you doing?

You can remove 呢; then you are not probing.
Another usage:

我的杯子呢？ Where is my cup?

In my view, this is an elliptical sentence. It should be 我的杯子在哪呢？. And 在哪 means WHERE.
哪 is also has interrogative mood. So you can remove 呢 if there is 哪. (or keep it is also ok)
You must keep 呢 if you use the elliptical sentence. Because there is no interrogative mood in the rest of the sentence.

Emphatic mood. Use it at the end of a sentence.

我在跟你说话呢！ I am talking to you!

Something or action is happening. Use it at the end of a sentence.

我在学习呢。 I am studying right now.

Indicating a pause.

现在呢，已经完全不一样了。 Nowadays, well it's totally changed.


What does "叱吒" mean? After some searches here and there, why does "叱吒" translate to "rebuke"? Could it also mean something like "being at the top of [location]"?

The translations on internet are not very accurate. I will give the best translations of 叱咤 and 叱咤风云 below. :P

The word chì zhà can be written as 叱吒 or 叱咤, but not 叱诧 (chà）。

Originally, it means 大声吆喝、呵斥 (shouting loud and powerfully)。It is often used in the idiom 叱咤风云。It means 怒斥之声,令风云失色。形容轰动一时的人物。(Thundering voices out-powered roaring storms. It describes a phenomenal and influential character.)


Meaning/Usage/Translation: 耳膜 vs. 鼓膜? What's the difference between: 耳膜 and 鼓膜?

Apparently they both check out to eardrum in English.

汉语大辞典, even, defines 耳膜 as

  耳中鼓膜。

Can 鼓膜 be used in other places then?

The dictionary takes extra caution and says it's the membrane in the ear, because 鼓膜 literally means "drum membrane", which might be taken by someone as the membrane on a real drum.

In real usage, however, 鼓膜 is just the eardrum. The membrane on a drum instrument, or the drum head, is called 鼓皮.