Is it normal to not use abbreviation for titles in Mainland China? I notice people in mainland China use abbreviation for almost all titles.
Example:
習總裁 --> 习总
郎(平)教練 --> 郎教
任隊長  --> 任隊
This kind of abbreviation even appears in Hong Kong's TV dramas.
Example:
王法官 --> 王官
張大狀(大律師) --> 張狀
I personally think shortening a two-character word to a single-character one is too casual and may cause confusion (I am sure we will only find 习总裁 and not 习总 in official documents).
Notice:
习总 and 杂种 sound the same in Cantonese
任隊 in Cantonese sounds like "allow to stab at will"
王官 and 皇冠 sound the same in Cantonese
任总督--> 任督  make people think of 任督二脉 and sounds like  "allow to poke at will" in Cantonese
Question: Is not abbreviating titles in casual conversation considered normal in Mainland? (in other words, I wouldn't give it away that I was not a mainland Chinese by saying 郎(平)教練 instead of 郎教)

习总/習總 we say all the time (as someone pointed out, using this expression means a president of a company whose last name is Xi, not Xi Jinping). Similarly, you can say last name + 总, and it is acceptable for referring to a person or when calling them by name like "吴总，你好！“ (Hello, Mr Wu!) To your question, although it would not be weird if you don't use this abbreviation, it is very commonly used and saying "总裁/總裁" in full sounds too formal in most situations.
任队/任隊 some people do say, but most people would not abbreviate it. It is the kind of thing that policemen or firemen would call their superior. You don't have to use this abbreviation at all in mainland.
郎教 for Lang Ping specifically we do use that abbreviation for her sometimes, but we don't abbreviate for coaches in general. It is not a common usage. You shouldn't use this abbreviation in most circumstances.
王官 and 张状/張狀 we do not say at all. The first one is just an abbreviation that Mandarin speakers would not use. The second one is pure Cantonese. "状/狀" or "大状/大狀" are Cantonese words. In Mandarin, we would just say "张律师/張律師". It is also worth mentioning that the concepts of solicitors (律师/律師) and barristers (大律师/大律師) are not in the Mainland legal system, because we are not a common law jurisdiction.


Difference between 什么都不 and 什么都没 Is it a difference in the tenses? Like one's a present and the other is future? Explain with examples please
And can we say 什么也不 and 什么也没？

Let's begin with 什么都 meaning "everything"; see Expressing "everything" with "shenme dou" at the Chinese Grammar Wiki.  We can add a verb or an adjective afterwards:
什么都 + adjective

什么都美丽 (everything is beautiful)
什么都辣 (everything is spicy)
什么都简单 (everything is simple)

which we negate with 不:

什么都不美丽 (everything is not beautiful)
什么都不辣 (everything is not spicy)
什么都不简单 (everything is not simple)

This is the easy case.  See also the "Negating Adjectives" section of Standard negation with "bu".
什么都 + verb

什么都有 (to have everything)
什么都吃 (to eat everything)
什么都买 (to buy everything)

which we negate with 不 or 没 or 没有, which is where it gets tricky.
At this point, it's no longer about 什么都, but only about 没 vs. 不.  The most prominent Chinese.SE post about this is Why is 有 (yǒu) the only verb that requires 没 while other verbs can use 不?.  See also the Chinese Grammar Wiki's article Comparing "bu" and "mei".
The following is a common construction; how it's usually taught.  Given tsh's comment below, it looks like there are other constructions beyond this (which I'm unable to comment on).
什么都不 + verb vs. 什么都没 + verb
Indeed "没 + verb" often indicates a past non-event. From Negation of past actions with "meiyou":

Usually verbs can be negated with 不 (bù), but that construction is used for habitual or present actions. If the verb is about an action in the past, though, 没有 (méiyǒu) should be used.

So for example:

什么都没吃 = 什么都没有吃 (to not eat anything [in the past])
什么都不吃 (to not eat anything [present or future])
什么都没买 = 什么都没有买 (to not buy anything [in the past])
什么都不买 (to not buy anything [present or future])

Note that 没有 is an exception here, e.g. 明天什么都没有 (to not have anything tomorrow [future]) is okay.  I believe 什么都没是 is also incorrect (there's a mismatch between 没 and 是).
(Please note, I'm just a learner.  Hopefully if there's any misunderstandings on my part, someone can point them out to me in the comments.)


Why is New York called 紐約? New York (state and city) is called 紐約 (Niǔyuē).

Of course that sounds very much like the English "New York", but how come it's written with 紐 and 約?

When I look up the characters I get:

紐 knot; button; handle, knob; tie

約 treaty, agreement, covenant

Does the meaning of the characters have anything to do with them being used in this word, or is it simply that they sound similar to the English -- if so, why where these particular characters chosen to begin with and not some other characters that sound the same?

紐約 in Cantonese is nau2 joek3 (j- in jyutping is pronounced like y-). That's the closest Cantonese immigrants could come to New York, I suppose...

There aren't many syllabes in Cantonese that could match York:

jaak [ja:k]
jik
joek [jøk]
juk [jok] --> that last one could have been a better match.


Is there a list of medicinal plants and their translations in Mandarin? I am interested in both learning Mandarin and the names of traditional medicinal plants in China. I am also interested in the history of herbal medicine in China, and a resource to study this in English would help me to learn some more basic Mandarin vocabulary or ideas for basic phrases like the names of teas or preparations and tools used in Chinese medicine.

You may try the Chinese Medicinal Material Images Database, which is maintained by the Hong Kong Baptist University.
It contains 420+ entries, each with name in traditional Chinese, English and Latin; description and usage.


How to say "dull the knife"? I want to translate "Using the knife on these types of surfaces will dull the knife." This I find to be difficult grammatically as well. However, I'm not sure how to say "dull" in Mandarin, and google doesn't provide much help.

Dull (adjective) as in 'a dull knife' is 钝 in Mandarin. There is not a two-character version for it.
Dull (vt.) as in 'dull the knife' is 使..变钝, literally 'make .. become dull'.
Example of 钝 (adjective):

It's impossible to cut a pineapple with such a dull knife.
用一把这么钝的刀子切菠萝是不可能的。

To translate your sentence, which is also an example of 使..变钝:

Using the knife on these types of surfaces will dull the knife.
在这些类型的表面上用刀会使刀变钝。

Related words:

(Knife or blade) sharp (adjective): 快 or 锋利.

快 must be used in the same sentence as the noun (刀), otherwise it doesn't mean 'sharp'. 锋利 can be used standalone.

Sharpen the knife (V+O): 磨刀.

An example using all these words:

刀子用多了会变钝，磨一磨就又变快了。
Knife becomes dull after some use. Burnish it and it will be sharp again.


When 了 has the same verb before and after it, is it reduplication combined with 了1? Some sentences that I have seen contain the pattern "verb + 了 + verb". An example of this is:

"他們碰了碰杯子。"  [1]

Since in all examples that I have seen the verb before and after 了 is the same, I believe that this pattern is a combination of verb reduplication and 了1 (comes after verbs and expresses completion).

A very literal translation of the above sentence would therefore be:

"They have briefly hit the glasses."

So far, I have been unable to verify or falsify the above hypothesis. Am I on the right track or does the "verb + 了 + verb" pattern express something else?

[1]
https://www.chineseboost.com/grammar/peng-pengjian-pengshang/

Quote from the "Verb" page of the Chinese Grammar Wiki:

Reduplication
In Chinese, verb reduplication is a common phenomenon. Reduplication indicates one or more of the following:

A short, quick action
An attempt
Something being light and relaxed

When reduplicating single character verbs such as 看, 一 can optionally be inserted between them e.g. 看一看. On the other hand, when you are reduplicating two character verbs, (e.g. 整理整理), 一 can't be inserted between them. The reduplicated part of the verb is always pronounced with a neutral tone. If the aspect particle 了 is used, it must be inserted between the reduplicated verbs, not afterwards, so it would be "看了看" not "看看了."

Which shows that the structure is a reduplication of single character verb with aspectual le


What does 出马 mean in the below sentence? 这是我在做的一个课本练习：

用指定词语改述下列句子：
你还别不相信，他一到谁知道什么毛病。【出马】

我不知道这里怎么能用【出马】。下面这个句子是对的吗？

如果你不出马，他一到谁知道什么毛病。

而且我对这个部分不太理解：【你还别不相信】 是什么意思？【别+不】这个结合我不懂。
谢谢！

正确答案应该是:

  你还别不相信，他出马准知道什么毛病。

or

  你还别不相信，他一出马准知道什么毛病。

出马: take up the matter

你还别不相信: you should believe.

"别不"是双重否定，表示肯定。


meaning of 傳 in 傳不習乎? In Analects, chapter 4,
「吾日三省吾身
為人謀而不忠乎？
與朋友交而不信乎？
傳不習乎？」

I would translate it: Master Ceng said: everyday I check three things in myself:
do I plan my behavior without loyalty? do I make friends without confidence/trust (or deserving confidence - sincerity)? do I propagate (disseminate) the Practice.

James Legge (who is extremely competent in it) translates the last lines differently: whether I may have not mastered and practiced the instructions of my teacher.

Am I wrong that 傳 is about dissemination?

朱熹四書章句集注 「傳，謂受之於師。習，謂熟之於己。」

So 傳 means what you've received from your Master. James Legge's translation seems right.


What's the meaning of 上 in 你还自恋上了? 你还自恋上了.

What's the meaning of 上 here? Would this sentence be OK without 上? The context is here, in 29:45: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7TaJmcCYpI

Here 上 marks the entry into a state, the state of 自恋.
Without 上 it could also mean that the person entered the state of 自恋, because 了 at the end of a sentence has the meaning of 'change of state'.
But it would be less evident than with 上.


Ambiguous characters I found some characters, that look extremely similar to each other, like

Character
Pronunciation
Meaning

士
shi4
scholar/warrior/knight

土
tu3
earth/dust

Character
Pronunciation
Meaning

于
yu2
(surname), in/at/to/from/by/than/out of

千
qian1
thousand, a swing

干
gan1/gan4
dry/to concern/shield, to work/to do/to manage, manage/stem

Is this a real language phenomenon? What is the name of it? Can I get a list of such "homonim sets"?

There are some examples like that, but it's actually not that common, considering there are thousands of commonly used characters, and there's no name for this too (won't call it a phenomenon either).

熱 & 熟: I remember these words from my childhood. I thought they look so similar at that time. Notice I was a native speaker and already speaking Chinese fluently. This is just a part every Chinese learner must learn, and you will certainly get better at recognizing the differences as time goes on.

Those differences may be in a certain stroke (e.g. one character has an extra stroke 大 & 太, or a difference in length 士 & 土, or a difference in angle/order of strokes 千 干), or there are parts of those characters that are different (e.g. 熱 & 熟).

It might help to learn the basic strokes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stroke_(CJKV_character)?oldformat=true#Basic_strokes

Stroke orders matter too. Notice the first strokes of 千 and 干.

check stroke order here: https://www.chineseconverter.com/en/convert/chinese-stroke-order-tool

Here's a list of similar characters if you're interested: http://carlgene.com/blog/2016/06/top-258-most-commonly-confused-chinese-characters/


零售 - Why is the character for "zero" used in the Chinese word for retail? Why is retail referred to as 零售 in Chinese? Why the combination of "zero" with "sales"? Certainly one expects to make (hopefully many) sales in retail so why is the character for "zero" used here? It just strikes me as such a negative and inauspicious word.

零 means "a part (fraction,fragment) of something" here. Some examples for this meaning:

  零钱 small change such as RMB1, 2 or 5 (depending on how much you are talking);  It also has another meaning.
  I.e,you buy something at a total price of 8.3,and you give one note of 100 to the cashier, so the cashier needs to return you 91.7. in Chinese,we also call that 91.7 零钱(here,零 refers to fragment) . Usually,the cashier may ask you"您有零钱(here,零 refers to small amount)吗？" Here,he hopes that you have notes with a small face value.In this case, it would be 10 so that he doesn't need to return you too many notes.

  零件 part (in a machine) as a "part" is a part of a component in a machine.

Why is “零售” used?

Well, 售 means "to sell". We have another word opposite to "零售"; it's “批发 (wholesale)”. "批" means "a batch", "a package", and "发" means "to distribute, to sell".

The wholesalers (批发商) will buy a lot ("a lot" refers to 批 here)of goods from the manufacturers and sell them to different retailers(零售商). The retailers sell goods to end customers and generally a customer would only buy small amount (a small fraction, this is why we use 零 here) of the goods. You won't buy 10 soaps at a time, will you?


Translation of "Please tell me how to get to your house."? I can only get as far as 请告诉我怎么.

In a less westernised way, you may say,

"請問你的家怎麼走?"

https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%AD%90%E5%8C%96%E4%B8%AD%E6%96%87


Has "⿰面了" been suggested as a analogical simplification of 䩍? I was looking at: 䩍. I figured there might have been an analogical simplification suggested that looked something like: "⿰面了". Zisea doesn't offer any variant characters. Baidu offers zero results for a search of "⿰面了". Google gives two results for "⿰面了" but they're both false-positives.

I realize that 䩍 is not a very important(?) character. It was only added into Unicode in CJK Ext. A. But, it is not entirely uncommon for a CJK Ext. character to have an analogical simplification (e.g.: , CJK. C; , CJK. G).

Has "⿰面了" been suggested as a analogical simplification of 䩍? Perhaps it needs to have been published for it to gain any traction first, though.

Yes, but actually no.

Yes, because the 2.9.008 rule of the second part of the Second Stage simplifications (1977-1978) postulated simplifying 尞 to 了 wherever it occurs: 撩, 瞭, 缭, etc.

No, because all the simplification schemes are explicitly referring to popularly used characters only, and the practice was and remains to avoid overindulging in simplifications: texts where such characters can occur are probably about the character itself, and thus its original form is preferred. 䩍 (U+4A4D) is not even remotely a popular character, with its only claim of fame being the appearance in the Kāngxī Dictionary.

By the way, note that in the actual Second Stage, were it implemented, 面 is simplified into  (U+2BA51) as well (rule 1.2.009). So, ⿰了 is the actual IDS you are looking for, looking like this (http://glyphwiki.org/wiki/u2ff0-u2ba51-u4e86, just drew it):


The sentence structure of the following sentence In the following sentence:

  此前的摩拜单车以橙色为主色调，此次发布的新车型改用了白色。另外，在零部件的更换以及坚固性上也有所优化。

In the sentence bold above, if I understand it correctly, the meaning is something like the follows:

  The parts have been upgraded to more robust ones and to some extent optimized.

However, I don't understand the grammartical structure of the bold part. Specifically, what I don't understand are:

What does 零部件 (parts) modify via 的? Is there something omitted here? For me 更换 seems to be a verb so it is awkward that 零部件的 modify it.
以及 means "as well as", and works as a conjugate. But what does it concatenate here with what?
How does 上 work here?

零部件的更换
零部件=(mechanical, electrical, etc) part; 更换 = replace/replacement (it can be a noun), so 零部件的更换 = replacement of parts
坚固性= ruggedness
Have you noticed the structure 在...上 used here? It means "with respect to; regarding; in terms of", so the sentence may be split into (I think 零部件的 modifies 更换以及坚固性 here):

在[零部件的(更换/以及/坚固性)]上也有所优化
There are some optimizations regarding the replacement and ruggedness of parts.


What does 民以食为天 mean? How to translate the old saying "民以食为天"？ Would that be "Food is the priority of populace"? That doesn't sound right to me,  though.

First, as fefe said, this idiom should be “民以食为(wéi)天" and it comes from 《汉书·郦食其传》“王者以民为天，而民以食为天。” (biography of 郦食其 in the historical record of 汉 dynasty). That sentence means "People are the most important to an emperor, while foods are the most important to the people". Note that the correct pronunciation of the name is: lì yī jī
Why? Remember in ancient times, foods were not as sufficient as they are now (remember, even now some people in poverty are hungry all days), and foods are indispensable to the life.
Edit: More details
After reading that biography, I could explain more about the source. The context when 郦 spoke this was during the war time of 楚汉争霸, when he persuaded 刘邦 to occupy a city in which a lot of foods were stored. He spoke that to emphasize the importance of the foods (especially in the war time, if you don't have enough food supply, the soldiers won't fight for you, or even they would fight against you!)
Today, we usually use this proverb as an introduction sentence, when talking on the topic of foods. You would probably hear a sentence like this one from the host on the TV:

俗话说，“民以食为天”。今天，就让我给观众朋友们介绍几家以其特色菜闻名的餐馆吧。
It is popularly said that "foods are the most important to people". Now, please let me introduce you some restaurants famous for their featured dishes.


There is this song that I can't find the Pinyin lyrics to on Youtube Can someone help me find it please? This is just copied and pasted from what should be the songs title 凌震 尤金 多看一眼

To find pinyin for the lyrics, just  input it in Google Translate
Example: At Google Translate: 多看一眼

多看一眼

Duō kàn yīyǎn

If you don't have the lyrics, search Google for 多看一眼 歌词 and you will get it here
鳳飛飛
多看一眼
作詞：莊奴/ 作曲：湯尼
青山高　綠水長　藍天白雲好風光
芳草綠　鮮花香　比不上可愛的好姑娘
眼睛大　明又亮　神情好像水蕩漾
身材美　健又壯　烏黑的頭髮飄肩上
你看她一眼　一輩子都在想
她看你一眼　一輩子不會忘
誰不愛　好姑娘　美麗溫柔又大方
你若是　真愛她　緊緊的跟在她身旁

Also, just search YouTube for 多看一眼 and I got this video with pinyin (but no tone)
凌震 and 尤金 are two singers who also sang this song but 鳳飛飛 was the original singer


Using this Cantonese particle to indicate past tense I ran across this 'conversation piece' in a Cantonese study material.
填好地址未？
填好晒。
郵票貼好未？
貼好咗啦。
I found the usage of 晒 strange, because 填好 already indicated the action is done. The same is true with 貼好咗啦. 貼好 already indicates the action has been done, and yet there is an additional 咗. Is this all right? I would just use 啦, just to break the 'awkwardness' of having two characters only.
Please explain.

晒 as a verb particle here indicate - 'All; completely'
Example: 走晒 (all left); 死晒 (all dead; completely dead); 冇晒 (all gone)
填好晒 =  finished filling it all
The phrase 貼好  (finished sticking on) indicated the verb is completed already
Add aspect marker 咗 after 貼好 and say "貼好(咗)" reinforce the 'completed' aspect. Make it sound more asserting.
You can add the final particle 啦 to 貼好 (finished sticking on), 貼咗 (already stuck on) and 貼好咗 (finished sticking on already)
The final particle (modal particle) 啦 serves to express different emotion depend on the context and tone
Example: 貼好(咗啦)

If you stretch the 啦 sound, it implies announcement

If you strengthen the 啦 sound, it implies anger

If you lower the 啦 sound, it implies annoyance

Notice: 貼好(咗) only indicates it is a 'completed verb'. It doesn't mean it is a 'verb in past tense' because Chinese doesn't use tenses.
In this context, adding the final particle 啦 does suggest the action was in the past. Otherwise, it wouldn't affect your mood


What nuance does the `当` represent? In the following sentences:

 有一天他会当医生
 有一天我会当经理

what does the 当 mean? I think this means something like One day she would become a doctor. However, what kind of nuances does 当 include? Is it would be, would become, possible, or want to, or something others? How probable does the author think the noun after 当 occur?

当 is necessary here, it means work as; serve as; be.

有一天    他  会    当          医生
One day   he  will  work as     a doctor.

As you see, without 当, the sentence does not make sense.


What is the difference between 抽烟 (chōu yān) and 吸烟 (xī yān) which both pertain to smoking? Question: What is the difference between 抽烟 (chōu yān) and 吸烟 (xī yān) which both pertain to smoking?

I‘ve ordinarily asked people

  你抽烟吗 (nǐ chōu yān ma = "do you smoke?")

for which nobody has acted oddly about (at least, in regards to my Chinese), so I assumed it was correct, but maybe

  你吸烟吗 (nǐ xī yān ma = "do you smoke?")

is synonymous.

However, I ordinarily see

  禁止吸烟 （jìn zhǐ xī yān = "smoking is forbidden")

on No Smoking signs, e.g.

which, up until recently, I thought said

  禁止抽烟 (jìn zhǐ chōu yān = "smoking is forbidden" [presumably])

but this is incorrect, and it doesn't seem to be commonly used (possibly even an invalid phrase).

Basically they have the same meaning and could be used interchangeably.

The subtle difference is, 抽烟 is used in spoken language more than 吸烟. As you said, when asking people we usually say 你抽烟吗; of course 你吸烟吗 is correct too.

On the other hand, 吸烟 is more formal and used in written language more. As you've seen, for a slogon 吸烟 is used usually; 禁止抽烟 is not wrong, but not used in general.


Why use name of particular hairstyle 堕云髻 （low cloud bun？ The translation of Der Prozess (审判）by Franz Kafka contains the following sentence 他凝视着她的头发；她那头微微发红的头发梳得很整齐，中间分开，脑后束成一个堕云譬（apparently a misprint of 髻）corresponding to：＂He looked at her hair in front of him, parted, bunched down, reddish and firmly held in place＂。 http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/7849/pg7849.html（Vor sich sah er ihr Haar, geteiltes, niedrig gebauschtes, fest zusammengehaltenes, rötliches  Haar http://gutenberg.spiegel.de/buch/der-prozess-157/5

Question: is there a good reason, why the translation uses the name of the particular hairstyle 堕云髻 instead of simply translating the part "bunched down, and firmly held in place" more literally？

搜索一下＂堕云譬＂会直接导致＂审判 弗朗茨·卡夫卡 著＂。首先得指出的是＂譬＂好像是个讹字必须以＂髻＂字取代。搜索一下＂堕云髻＂也会说明指的是女子的某发型而
还有其他的包含＂云髻＂两个字的发型名字，即＂流云髻、随云髻、垂云髻、飞云髻、朝云近香髻＂，等等。

另一方面该句子似乎相当于 He looked at her hair in front of him, parted, bunched down, reddish and firmly held in place。就是说＂脑后束成一个堕云髻＂差不多理应相当于bunched down（niedrig gebauscht）即＂向下聚（束）成一串＂。问题就是，有没有更接近原文的翻译。其实按某些使用者看，可以把＂hair，bunched down,and firmly held in place＂翻译成＂在脑后紧紧系向下聚（束）成一串（髻）的头发＂。

The translator is being too clever. He forgot that there is no reason that Miss Bürstner would wear an ancient Chinese hairstyle. The word 堕云髻 is misused here.

It might be that the translator subconsciously wanted to show off his knowledge about hairstyles, which obviously have failed.

This translation is done by 曹庸, one of the best translators from the past generation. Translation is hard work. It shouldn't be surprising to see even the best translators make mistakes.


Need help translating this title and signature? (Characters identified: 古堂) Can someone help me with what this says?

(see also: full picture)

I've tried Google image search, and even looking for different signatures, but no luck so far.

Usually this is the name/signature of the author. Note that usually it's not the original family name, because traditional Chinese people styled themselves some particular names or titles apart from the given name from the family.

In your case it looks like "古堂" and it's not a famous name to me at least...

=== Update ===

Regarding the signature, 堂 usually means "hall" or a large room used for specific purpose. I'm not 100% sure the first character is "古", which means ancient/old. Although some people did use the title of his unique place to present himself, yet "ancient hall" here as a place is kind of neutral to me to be used by a famous people...

The seals (which is very blurry in your photo) in Chinese painting or artworks do not have to be the name/title of the author. In some cases it can also be the name/title of a place, short phrases, etc. as long as it's identical to the author.


Is there a difference between 传说 and 神话 The internet doesn't give much advice on this one. They both seem to be nouns meaning myth, legend, folklore. Not sure if natives make a distinction between the two...?

传说 : Legend (legendary tales. Some have reality base. Some don't.  Dragons exist is a legend, Bruce Lee in his prime was defeated by an unknown elderly man is also a legend)

神话 : myth (mystical tales involve gods and spiritual world)


An expression found in a short story by contemporary writer Han Shaogong What does the expression 赶马驭树 mean? Is it correct to understand it as: to gather firewood and transport it with horses?

Han Shaogong uses a lot of topolect phrases in his writings. This could be one of those.

Apparently 赶马驭树的人 means "people who pass by" in context. 赶马驭树 doesn't make literal sense, especially the 驭树 part, but a lot of things in language make no literal sense.

A similar, but more widely know case could be 偷鸡摸狗. It's just a general term of thieving. You don't need to steal a hen and touch a dog to be called a 偷鸡摸狗的人.

The story background is at Jiangxi, Han Shaogong himself is from Hunan. Perhaps someone from those regions could explain it a bit more.


Why is both 盐 (salt) and 咸 (salty) in 尝尝他们的盐一样咸的咸菜? From the book 活着 (on my Kindle):

(large image)

Transcribing this:

我最喜欢的是傍晚来到时，坐在农民的屋前，看着他们将提上的井水泼在地上，压住蒸腾的尘土，夕阳的光芒在树梢上照射下来，拿一把他们递过来的扇子，尝尝他们的盐一样咸的咸菜，看看几个年轻女人，和男人们说着话。

I'm interested in the part in bold, which I translate to:

... try [尝尝] their [他们的] salt [盐] type of [一样] salty [咸的] salted vegetables [咸菜] ...

Having 盐 in there makes no sense to me; it seems redundant and even ungrammatical (but presumably I'm incorrect).  Moreover, writing 咸的咸菜 seems tautological.  It seems to me that 尝尝他们的咸菜 would convey the same meaning.
Question: Why is both 盐 (salt) and 咸 (salty) in 尝尝他们的盐一样咸的咸菜?

The part is actually fine. This is a parsing problem; the whole meaning is

  trying their pickled vegetables which taste as salty as (pure) salt

「鹹菜」does not just mean salty vegetables, it's the name of a specific dish known as Chinese pickles in English.
「鹽」is used as a measure of saltiness (in taste) between Chinese pickles and pure salt.

Note that salty is actually a measure of the richness of flavour of 鹹菜, so while translating the above into English (as salty as salt) sounds a bit unpleasant, it's meant to be a praise of the tastiness of the villagers' dishes.


Usage of "danwei" in english Is the term "danwei" singular or plural?  Ie, if there are several, is it several danweis or several danwei?

looks through Google Books and what not comes up with a few instances of danweis:

From Family to Market: Labor Allocation in Contemporary China

  This danwei-based income discrepancy worsened drastically during the reform years as the danweis acquired more autonomous authority in allocating financial

Globalisation and the Chinese City

  Similarly, 'commercial land' refers to the lots occupied by the danweis under the administration of the financial or commercial system (Huang 1997).

上海新城: 追寻蔓延都市里的社区和身份

  Danweis ('danwei' literally means 'work unit') were cooperative or state-run companies whose members lived and worked communally, and often practiced one ...

The Chinese Dream: A Society Under Construction

  15 The new Constitution banned all land transactions and land was allocated to danweis* free of charge.

I would totally go with a pluralized danweis for multiple danweis.


Why do we have 好 in translation of "You're beautiful"? When I used a translation engine to translate You are beautiful, the result was 你好漂亮.

I know that 你 means you and 漂亮 means pretty. But we is there this 好 in the middle of the sentence. It means good, well, and this doesn't fit into the sentence at all!

Thanks a lot!

It's rare to use "noun + adj" as a whole sentence in daily life. Usually, people will add "adv" before adj to make the sentence sound more comfortable and normal.
For example, in your example, people usually say:

你好漂亮

你真漂亮

"好" and "真" means "very" here, but the speaker doesn't intentionally want to express this meaning. These words are used here just because this is a common structure "noun + adv + adj" to say in daily life.

Another example:

今天天气真好 What a good weather today
Without 真, it becomes 今天天气好, which sounds strange because of its core structure "noun + adj" as a whole sentence.


How do I say "Why not both" in Mandarin? Specifically, how would I say "Why not (choose) both?" or "Why not (do) both?"
Ex. "Do you want to go to the park or go watch a movie?" "Why not both?"
I tried to do some searching and found two possible answers:

为什么不两者兼得?

为什么不两样都做?

Can someone help verify if either are correct? If not, what's the most natural way of saying it?

为什么不两者兼得? - this is more likely to appear in books or writing.

为什么不两样都做? - this sounds more natual.

If you choose to say the second one, you may want to change it a little bit by saying 为什么不两个地方都去？

But I would say 不如两个地方都去！as this sounds more energetic, simpler and positive.

Reference: Native speaker


Need help finding the character encoding for my name Chinese here! I have a really rare symbol in my name. The symbol was originally in the ‘traditional’character set, written as 頔 (pronounced as ‘di’) , but later China came up with a simplified version of this symbol(shown below, picture of the symbol from my passport). I tried the drawing recognition on windows but was unable to find it.

I am in urgent need to open a bank account but because the banks cannot type out the exact character shown on my passport they refuse to open a bank account for me. I am just wondering if the character exists in GB18030 standard so I could give the bank the encoding for this symbol.

Or does anyone know how to write this symbol on the computer? Thanks lots!!

頔 U+9814

 U+2CC56

必需装含有“扩充-E”的字型才能显示。（请自己去找字型，noto 可能可以）GB18030 应该没有。


My dictionary shows 说 is both shuì and shuō I have installed Chinese character dictionary popup plugin into the browser and it showed for 说 character:

说   說   shuì   to persuade
说   說   shuō   to speak; to say; to explain; to scold; to tell off; a theory (typically the last character in a compound, as in 日心說|日心说 heliocentric theory)

Is this correct? Why does shuì go first?

Yes, it's correct.
shui4 说客 说士 lobbyist 说服 persuade 说导 enlighten etc.
However considering that many people today mix them up In pronunciation, 说 is supposed to be pronouned as shuo1 In both meanings, according to the latest edition of 《现代汉语词典》, with many other pronunciation adjustments as well.
The whole thing is controversial. Highly educated people refuse to succumb to the mispronunciation, though so prevalent nowadays.


Why "体贴先生" is wrong? And why so many people use it? Almost everyday and everywhere, we heard someone praising a wife by saying: “她很体贴先生。” or "她是一个体贴先生的太太。"  If it is wrong, why people kept on using it?

体贴 can be a verb or an adjective. So which one is it in 体贴先生? It feels to be a verb so it's a verb + noun phrase. But no, the missing subject makes the phrase incomplete in meaning. Why is it not interpreted as an adjective? A 的 is missing in the middle.
Yes, 的 is not necessary in some cases, e.g. 漂亮小姐 is fine because 漂亮 can't be a verb. How the word is used mostly affects how people interpret, and unusual ones will be strange to native people.
In both of your example sentences 体贴 is used as a verb.


What is this 喜迎十九大 event all over the recent Chinese news? A few days ago, I was browsing around CCTV and I found this page labeled "喜迎十九大", with the hammer and sickle next to it and I was immediately interested.

http://news.cctv.com/special/xysjd/index.shtml

I have yet to find a good translation for the phrase "喜迎十九大", which I'm sure means something other than "welcome nineteen big". Can anyone please help explain to me this event? Many thanks in advance for any responses.

喜迎 → Welcome (with fond)
十九大 is an abbreviation for 中国共产党第十九次全国代表大会. The 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.

It's an upcoming event starting on October 18, 2017. As a bad custom, Chinese news media have started propagation about such important events since a few months ago. It'd be absolutely normal to see a truckload of these spams.


Can the pinyin for 边 be either "biān" or "bian" in general? It looks like authors choose "biān" or "bian" as the pinyin for 边 haphazardly at dict.cn:

  东边 = dōng biān
  上边 = shàng biān
  右边 = yòu bian
  左边 = zuǒ biān
  旁边 = páng biān
  外边 = wài bian
  一边 = yī biān
  两边 = liǎng biān
  那边 = nà biān
  这边 = zhè biān
  里边 = lǐ biān
  天边 = tiān biān

(There's also 海边, 身边, 内边, and 谁边.)  It likewise seems haphazard at xiaoma.info.

Question: Can the pinyin for 边 be either "biān" or "bian" in general?

This question basically generalizes How come the first tone in the character of 边 in the word 东边 is not written?.  Maybe there's cases where "biān" xor "bian" is the only strictly correct pinyin (or pronunciation).

As I answered in another question you are referring to, those 边s should be pronounced as the first tone biān in standard mandarin except when 边 connotes 'positions' and 'directions', such as 里边 前边 东边 左边 这边 and 那边 in your list. Other than that, the rest are all first tone biān.

However, in spoken or daily usage, lots of people often pronounced it as neutral tone even for those that should be pronounced as first tone as dictionaries indicate.

The best way to get it correct all the time is to look up any authoritative dictionaries, such as 新华字典, 现代汉语词典 and etc. Some on-line dictionaries might not be right all the time because they are not well proofread. Usually, they just copy here and there.

Updates:

After I looked up in the latest dictionary 现代汉语词典， I have some updates on this answer above accordingly.


Is 做 necessary in the sentence 我不打算做决定 (wǒ bù dǎsuàn zuò juédìng)? I'm asking about this jukuu.com example sentence:

  我不打算做决定
  (wǒ bù dǎsuàn zuò juédìng)

(Jukuu.com's translation is "Susan, I don't plan to make any decisions Susan" which is clearly wrong.)

It breaks down logically:

我 = I
不 = don't
打算 = plan
做 = to make
决定 = to decide

So it means something along the lines "I don't plan to make a decision".

Question: Is 做 necessary in the sentence 我不打算做决定?

I'm not sure why 做 is in this sentence, but it seems unnecessary to me.  I.e., I would expect 我不打算决定 to be an acceptable sentence, but I'm unclear on this.

决定 in 我不打算决定 is a verb (I don't plan to decide)

决定 in 我不打算做决定 is a noun (I don't plan to make decision)

'做决定' means 'make decision'

in 我不打算决定 the object is omitted, It emphasizes the verb 'to decide'
我不打算做决定 is a complete sentence. It put emphasis on the object 'decision'.


How to use 读作 in the sentence "67.5读作六十七点五"? In the textbook, I read this: 67.5读作六十七点五.

Question:
What's the role of 读作？ Why 读作 is there？

谢谢您！

You can replace 读作 with 'read as'

The sentence can be translated as:
  67.5 reads as 六十七点五


How are Chinese words sorted? How do you sort Chinese words since they are not alphabetical? What sorts of sorting systems exist, and what is typical in dictionaries for example?
I am thinking how to do some programming stuff where I sort the words, but I am not sure how it typically works in detail.

Chinese dictionaries index the entries by Radical (部首) and Strokes (筆劃)
The character 人 is also it's radical. It is listed first in the 亻radical section

人

Radical: 亻 (#9)

Stroke count: 2

The radical of the character 仁 is 亻 and it has four strokes, therefore, it is listed after 人 in the 亻 radical section because 仁 has two strokes more than 人

仁

Radical: 亻 (#9)

Stroke count: 4

The radical of 靈 is 雨 which has a stroke count of 8, therefore, it is listed far down after 亻 on the radical list
The character 靈 itself has 24 strokes and would be listed far down in the 雨 radical section

靈

Radical: 雨 (#173)

Stroke count: 24

It is not as efficient as The Alphabetical indexing system but it is what we have. The major problem of the radical-stroke count system is the users need to know the radical of the character he is looking for. If you don't know it, you can't even start to search.
Even when you knew the radical and started your search in the correct section, you still need to spend some time looking up the character from a long list of characters that are arranged by ascending stroke counts order
If you can memorize all the radical numbers e.g. 亻(#9); 雨 (#173). You can find a character as quickly as using an English dictionary to search for an English word


Is "保守" considered derogatory in Chinese? In English, the word "conservative" seems neutral. However, the Chinese word "保守" seems to carry a negative connotation (Am I right)? What word should I use if I would like to express the english word "conservative" in a neutral way? How about in a positive way?

From the stand point of innovative and liberal thinkers, 保守思想 (conservative thinking) does carry a negative connotation of inability to adapt

For example: 思想保守的人不願譲子女與外國人通婚 (conservative thinking people do not want their children to marry foreigners) . Since most people nowadays do not mind international marriage, the ones who oppose it had became the minority.

You can say 保守思想(conservative thinking) is polite words for 陳舊思想(old thinking) or 落伍思想 (outdated thinking)

But 保守 as an adjective or adverb on it's own is neutral

For example: 保守估計 (conservative estimate); 保守作風 (conservative style); 保守(地)估計 (conservatively estimate)

  How about in a positive way?

You can replace 保守 with 穩建 (cautious) which implies "careful" and "steady" or 慬慎 (cautious)

Example: 作風穩建; 立場慬慎


Classifier choice for 荚谜 Cross-post notice

I usually wait for a week before cross-posting, but it's been 6 days, so I decided not to wait till tomorrow. Again, asked on Quora, no response, marked as needing editing.

Question

  What classifier is best suited for the word 莢蒾, "guelder rose"? In particular, is there a better choice than the general-purpose 个?

NOTE: I know "guelder rose" is actually 欧洲荚谜, but I used this in a song translation where I do not have enough syllables for that 4-syllable name, so I dropped Ōuzhōu, hoping the difference won't be excessive.

NOTE 2

While "guelder rose" suggests a flower and hence 朵, this is 欧洲荚谜 (aka viburnum opulus) and this is just 荚谜 (aka viburnum dilatatum). Both of these are more like bushes than flowers, so I feel 朵 would not be correct. One might argue that 一朵荚谜 would be a flower of viburnum dilatatum, but in the song I need this for I believe the whole plant is what is being referred to, not just the flower, so 朵 doesn't feel right to me.

i would suggest 叢 (u+53e2):

http://dict.revised.moe.edu.tw/cgi-bin/cbdic/gsweb.cgi?ccd=vZFQLg&o=e0&sec=sec1&op=v&view=0-2

eg 一叢莢蒾


How to wish people good health, etc during Chinese New Year 揮春 | 春貼 | 門聯、春仔 Every Chinese New Years I try to remember common expressions associated with huī chūn (揮春).

賀年的吉利字詞 (Hè nián de jí lì zì cí)

Some expressions that I have heard are usually only four characters. I believe that different customs exist depending on region. For example, in Cantonese all of these will sound differently and one can even make up new phrases.

  身体强壮 (shēn tǐ jiàng zhuàng)

  富貴吉祥 (fù guì jí xiáng )
  etc.

I would like to add more of these expression to my vocabulary. Could anyone provide some Chinese phrases or source information covering this topic? I understand that there may be a lot of regional variation and I am interested in learning more about all of these expressions.

(Here are some of the more elegant samples)

  万事平安幸福年，吉祥如意拜年顺。 (wàn shì Píng ān xìng fú nián jí xiáng rú Yì bài    nián shùn)
  人和家顺百事兴，富贵平安福满堂。(rén hé jiā shùn bǎi shì xīng fù guì Píng ān fú mǎn    táng )
  新春福旺鸿运开，佳节吉祥如意来。(Xīn chūn fú wàng hóng yùn kāi jiā jié jí xiáng rú Yì    lái)
  日子红火喜迎门，天随人意福星照。(rì zǐ hóng huǒ xǐ yíng mén tiān suí rén Yì fú xīng    zhào )
  门迎百福福星照，户纳千祥祥云开。(mén yíng bǎi fú fú xīng zhào hù Nà qiān xiáng xiáng    yún kāi)

(Source)

This is an incredibly broad question; books can be written on the subject. Because of this and I'm not an expert Chinese language user either, I'll only answer using broad generalisations (and exceptions will apply to everything I write here).

The contents

These are the words and phrases commonly used during Chinese New Year:

General well-wishes: as an important holiday, universal well-wishing themes can be used. Happiness (如意吉祥), prosperity (財源廣進), health (身壯力健), luck and success (心想事成) are all acceptable.
Chinese-specific wishes: as the festival is deeply intertwined with Chinese culture, culture-specific well-wishes are also good. Themes that are characteristic of Chinese culture include longevity (壽), harmony/serenity (四季平安) and national/cultural well-wishing (國泰民安).
CNY-specific wishes: CNY is known in Chinese as the "spring festival", so you can use the theme of spring/renewal (萬象更新); CNY is a time of family reunion so there's the theme of family/reunion (家和万事兴); according to traditional Chinese culture, everyone ages together during CNY (as opposed to the Western practice of individual birthdays), so age or birth related themes are sometimes seen; Zodiac-related phrases are also popular, for example this year is the year of the horse, so phrases with a horse (or a homonym) have been popular (马上有钱).

The forms

Chinese culture loves symmetry so the most common forms are power-of-two length phrases (4 characters, 2 characters, 8 characters). Couplets are also symmetrical in that the two lines mirror each other. Odd-numbered phrases are rare. Here are the most common forms:

Single character: by far the most common is 福 (happiness), and sometimes placed upside-down in order to invoke the phrase ‘福’倒了 / 福到了 (the ‘福’ is upside-down / happiness has arrived). Other commonly used single characters include 春 and 壽.
Four characters: four is a great number for symmetry so you see this form a lot, especially in chengyu. However, many 4-character 揮春 are not chengyu but simply phrases that are CNY-related.
Couplets: these days, couplets are most commonly used as 揮春. Basically, 春贴 are couplets that use CNY-themed phrases. There's a number of rules they have to follow which I won't cover in this answer, but the basic form is two symmetrical lines plus an optional 横批 that summarises; the 横批 is typically 4 characters.

So what should I use?

Although there are few hard and fast rules to follow, if you have to ask then you should avoid coming up with your own! It's somewhat like poetry, creative but it takes a high level of language proficiency to make good ones yourself. Here's my suggestions:

Use the most common, general phrases. These also tend to be the mass-produced ones. It may seem boring but most people do it anyway so you're in good company. I mean things like the single 福 or 恭喜發財, the ones that are never inappropriate. It's not a love letter, you don't need to impress anyone with your creativity.
Tailor to the recipient. As all well-wishing goes, personal touch almost always trumps all else. Health/longevity (长命富贵) for the elderly, profit/prosperity (生意兴隆) for entrepreneurs, growth (快高长大) for small children and so on. This is a great way to be creative, but just be careful you understand the phrases and don't commit faux pas (like 早生贵子 for unmarried/bachelors).
Find experts for bespoke phrases. Normally this is overkill, but if the occasion is very special (like a wedding, or business opening) and you have to use original phrases, get an expert. Even most native Chinese speakers find this difficult to do, or at least do it well.


Are 得到 and 接受 similar? I saw the previous posts about 接受 and  接收。 But couldn't find information about the difference between 接受 and 得到。 它们的对象可以是抽象的也可以是具体的？ 得到/接受的可以是好的也可以是消极的？
Or maybe I just need to memorize the “习惯搭配”？！

While similar, they aren't interchangeable. According to the dictionary,

接受:
to accept; to take; to embrace; to adopt; to bow to
Examples:
他已經接受了我們的邀請。He has accepted our invitation.
山姆因為窮只得接受這份工作。Sam had to take the job because he was broke.

得到:
to obtain; to receive; to acquire; to derive; to earn; to get; to gain
Examples:
他們從政府那裡得到一筆貸款。They obtained a loan from the government.
她應該得到此榮譽。She is worthy to receive such honor.

接受 is passive, such as when you accept gifts or accept a situation. 得到 is for when you actively seek out or ask, and as a result, you received.

Hope this helps!


Why is 真都不错 used here instead of 都真不错? 中国的风景都真不错。

A native speaker told me that the above sentence was wrong, so the corrected version should be:

  中国的风景真(的)都不错。

Is the first sentence's grammar wrong or it just sounds unnatural? Why 都 goes after 真? I was thinking of sentences like 他们都很聪明, where 都 appears before 很 (and because 很 is similar to 真).

很 is NOT similar to 真.
很 is used before adj or adv to form a compounded adj or adv phrase, 很 is at the phrase level (inner level). But 真 modifies the whole predicate (ourter level).
We can say:

中国的风景不错。
中国的风景很不错。 很 modifies 不错.
中国的风景真(的)不错. 真 modifies the whole predicate (不错).
中国的风景真(的)很不错. 真 modifies the whole predicate (很不错).

But we can't say:

(NO)中国的风景很真不错. It is wrong because 真 can't be used at the inner level.

We can say:

中国的风景不错。
中国的风景都不错。 都 modifies 不错. inner level.
中国的风景真(的)都不错. 真 modifies the whole predicate (都不错).

But we can't say:

(NO)中国的风景都真不错. It is wrong because 真 can't be used at the inner level.

Please Note: sometimes 真 is also used at the inner level.

他跳得真高. 真 modifies 高.
他真跳得高. 真 modifies the whole predicate (跳得高).
他跳得很高. 很 modifies 高.
他真跳得很高. 真 modifies the whole predicate (跳得很高).

I guess, when only 真 appears, it can be at inner level or outer level. But if there are 2 or more modifiers, then 真 should be at outer level.
Another way to explain this:
很, 都 and 真 work in different aspects.
很 describes to "what extent" the following adj or adv imply. 很 corresponds to "very", or "very much".
都 describes the scope the following adj or adv imply. 都 corresponds to "both", or "all".
真 emphasizes the following adj or adv.  都 corresponds to "really".
So the order of them is: 真, 都, 很.

中国的风景不错.
中国的风景很不错.
中国的风景都不错.
中国的风景都很不错.

中国的风景真不错.
中国的风景真很不错.
中国的风景真都不错.
中国的风景真都很不错.


Translation/Colloquial Equivalents: “There's More Than One Way To Skin A Cat” I've come across a few, very poor, literal translations for the English, “there's more than one way to skin a cat”:

  给猫剥皮不止有一种方法

  （谚）达到目的的方法不止一种

  到达目标的设施多得很。

What colloquial equivalents exist for this phrase? (which basically means: there's more than one way to do something)

各施各法

Each person does (it) his own way. It comes from a longer phrase:

八仙過海，各施各法

Which is about eight fairies in Chinese mythology. When they needed to cross the ocean, each did it his/her own way.


Translating "should" to express what is probable or expected I've struggled with this for a while, and I haven't found a definitive answer. In English we can use 'should' to indicate an estimation or probability.
Merriam-Websters 4th definition is that should

is used in auxiliary function to express what is probable or expected

For example:

He should be here by 7PM.
I should have it done by Friday.
It should run in Windows 95.

I use 应该 but it feels wrong since there is no sense of obligation or demand, whereas there is such a connotation in "should". What should I use?

Generally, you can use 应该. However, as Stan says in comments, it does carry the connotation that there is some reason why it "should" be. So, for example, you could say a sentence like:

[要是他六点离开了，]他应该七点到。
[If he has left at six, ] he should be here at seven.

If you're just throwing out an estimate, it would be better to use an "I think..." construction. This carries less of a tone of uncertainty than it does in English:

我认为我周五会把这个任务办好。
I think I'll have it done by/on friday.


What does 厉害 mean, and in what context does it mean what? This has to be one of the more ambiguous words I have struggled with.

厉害 can be:

very well performed = 玩得很厉害;
harsh = 骂得很厉害;
severe = 生病得很厉害;
probably a bunch of other stuff...

Can anyone give a comprehensive summary of the meanings and related contexts?

It is somewhat similar in usage to the word great in English, with the following meanings I can recall:
Impressive or skilled:

他的功夫非常厉害。= He is very skilled in martial arts.
太厉害了，他是怎么做到的？ = Very impressive, how did he manage to achieve that?

formidable:

厉害的角色 = A formidable figure (not one to be messed around with)
厉害的手段 = formidable tactics (in a sporting game, or as part of political intrigue)

severe:

某某股跌得太厉害了 = Stock X has taken a severe fall (in value)

However, 厉害 is not usually the phrase/word of choice to describe a performance (of the arts).


Why does 一幅幅图画, not 一幅图画? In the following sentence:

  于是，每天晚上，秀春都拉着丈夫坐在灯下，指着识字课本的一幅幅图画问丈夫。

It means:

  Therefore, on every night Xiuchun lets her husband sit under the light, points to the literacy book's 一幅幅图画 to ask him what they are.

I think 一 is an amount and 幅 is a 量词. But I don't understand why it is 一幅幅, not 一幅.

So what makes them different?

From  a previously asked question What does the second "幅” mean in the following sentence?

  一幅幅 is short for 一幅又一幅 or 一幅接一幅 (one after another)

  "一幅幅美丽的山水画" means "one beautiful landscape painting after another'

  'One after another' can describe 'a group of things or people at one time' or 'one individual after another individual across time or distance'

"指着识字课本的(一幅)(图画)问丈夫" =  "points at (a) (picture) in the literacy book and asks her husband.
"指着识字课本的(一幅幅 图画)问丈夫" =  "points at (one picture after another) in the literacy book, and asks her husband."

Update:

There are additional rules about reduplicated classifiers I want to make clear.

一幅幅图画 does mean 'one picture after another' but that's when the object is not confined by boundaries; When the object is confined by boundaries, the reduplicated classifiers indicates 'each and everyone'

Example:

'一位位英雄' = 'one hero after another'

'在这个大厅里的一位位英雄' = 'each and every hero in this hall' (the objects are confined by boundaries within this hall'

'一滴滴雨点' = 'one raindrop after another'

'在那片叶子上的一滴滴雨点' = 'each and every raindrop on that leaf' (the objects are confined by boundaries within that leaf'

In '指着识字课本的一幅幅图画' , '课本的一幅幅图画' should indicate 'each and every picture', but the verb '指着' (pointing at) indicates an action that can only be done one at a time, therefore, it is clear that the sentence means pointing at one picture after another.

For the same reason, '指着大厅里的一位位英雄' would mean 'pointing at one hero after another in the hall'

  is this rule applicable to all 量词?

The answer is no. We use classifiers because most of them roughly describe the shape, size and form of the object. 一片雲, 一團雲 give us the idea of what form of cloud we are talking about; 一個橙, 一籃橙 give us the idea of what form of orange we are talking about.

However, some classifiers do not describe the shape, size and form of the object. One good example is '名' . We do not say '一名名好漢' because 一名(a name of) doesn't describe the shape, size and form of a human, it is too abstract to be associated with a vivid image of a man.


are there region specific idioms? I am trying to learn more about idioms. I was told this might be a good place to ask this question, so please delete this if this isn't good for this exchange. Are there widely used idioms specific to Taiwan or Hong Kong but not used on the mainland or overseas? Thank you in advance.

中國成语 (Chinese idioms) are universal because they are all literary phrases. All Chinese no matter what dialect they are speaking  write in Standard Written Chinese (SWC)

On the other hand, common expressions or folk sayings are very regional because they are mostly colloquial phrases.

Some popular expression in one dialect would be picked up by near by regions. For example, many Hong Kong Cantonese created expressions are understood and used by many mainland Chinese in the nearby regions.

See 成语 versus 俗语 versus 谚语, what is the difference?


Can someone translate this Chop? My parents got me this chop when they went to China but I have no idea what it says... can someone translate? (Sorry for the awful stamping... I couldn’t get it to stamp super clear.)

The text is 我爱你 (simplified Chinese), meaning "I love you". The top of the chop is a symbol of sun-ray and the bottom seems like either cloud or sea wave ( it does look like the infinity symbol, but if that is the case, there should only be one)


What it mean the name Alexander Esam Abood in Chinese and what it is it’s calligraphy? I’m asking this question because, I’m really interested to know what does it mean that name in Chinese and how it is written in Chinese English, such as Cheng.

When I found this site, I thought it is what I’m looking for, but it is not.

Alexander means protector of men.

Esam means the one who guard.

Abood means unity.

Alexander is taken from Alexander the Great and the last 2 names are taken from Arabic language.

So what is the calligraphy for Alexander Abood in Chinese and what does it mean Alexander Esam Abood in Chinese language? Because, in here I found that it means this, this and this, and I was thinking that in other languages it has different meanings to it.

I’ve tried also to find in Google about what’s the calligraphy for this full name and what does t mean in Chinese language, but the search has failed. I do not know where to look for the answer I’m looking for.

Chinese do not usually translate foreign names by their meanings, we transliterate them.
For example, we do not translate the name 'Armstrong' as '手臂(arms)强壮(strong)' ; we transliterate it as '阿姆斯特朗 (Āmǔsītèlǎng) in Mandarin and '岩士唐'(ngaam4 si6  tong4 )  in Cantonese
'Alexander Esam Abood' could be transliterated as 亚历山大 伊泌 亞甫戶 and the meanings of individual characters in this transliteration are irrelevant.

Alexander means protector of men.
Esam means the one who guard.
Abood means unity.

If you know the origin meaning of the English name, you can just translate the origin meanings.

"Alexander Esam Abood" means "the one who guards, protects and unifies men"
"亚历山大 伊泌 亞甫戶" 的意思是 "守护，保护和达成统一的人"


What is the difference between 蟹 and 螃蟹? Both words seem to express crab in Mandarin. What is the difference between the two?

(It is so difficult to discern these words in Mandarin, where one word seems a subset of the others...)

Many individual characters are said to mean something even though they are not (or rarely) used as independent words. I think user6065 pretty much summarizes what is going on.

  although 蟹 can be used by itself, it is also part of many compounds, e.g. 螃蟹 crab， 龙蟹 lobster (for more see 小马词典），螃蟹 would seem to be a more precise unmistakable term for crab

螃蟹 is preferred because it is easily identifiable as meaning "crab", whereas xiè uttered in a different context could mean many things. There is even a famous play on words on 河蟹 illustrating this.

There is a preference in Mandarin for two syllable words where potential amiguity may arise. Standard Chinese (普通话) is a relatively innovative Chinese dialect in that it has lost many distinctions found in other Chinese dialects (for instance, in Cantonese, there are many more possible consonant sounds at the end of syllables; Mandarin only allows n and ng. Additionally, Standard Chinese has less tones than many dialects (once again, c.f. Cantonese). But speakers have more strategies beyond more complicated syllables and more tones to distinguish words. Words may be made longer, for example:

孩子 "child"
茄子 "eggplant"
狮子 "lion"

In the above words, the final character 子 doesn't contribute any meaning but rather serves to differentiate these words from others with the same first syllable.

Additionally, there is a smallish class of Chinese words that were always (as far as we can tell) polysyllabic. The most well-know of these is likely 蝴蝶 "butterfly", where neither the first nor second character are meaninful on their own, but they are now both understood to mean "butterfly" by virtue of mutual association. Perhaps 螃蟹 falls under this class as well.


How did 閒 end up becoming 閑 and 間? I can understand the link between 閒 and 間/间, being the empty spaces where moonlight or sunlight can shine through the doors --> empty space.
But how did this 閒 also end up becoming similar to 閑/闲? And how does a "moon behind the door" or "tree behind the door" correlate with the meaning of "free time"?

Outlier

PY xián (or jiān, jiàn)
FORM
閒 originally depicted a door (門), such that the moon (月) could be seen through a crack in the door, indicating the original meaning “crack, split.”
COMPONENTS
門
In 閒, 門 “a double-sided door; door, gate; opening” is a form component, pointing to the original meaning “crack, split.”
月
In 閒, 月 “the moon” is a form component.
MEANINGS
xián
1 (orig.) crack, split
2 ○ leisure, free time
jiān
1 → room, space (same as 間)
2 ⇒ duration of time
jiàn
1 → space in between (same as 間)
2 ⇒ separate

The reference they give:

p. 837
季旭昇，2004《說文新證》，台北：藝文印書館印行，2014年9月第二版。

It looks like the entry in Xinzheng actually begins on page 836. Here is the combined original

The idea of free time is another phonetic loan again. Seems a bit climatic, I know.

Here is p. 1043《字源》talking about 閑

The last sentence is quite interesting.

如今“閒”废止不用，“閒”的空间义由“间”表示，閒的空暇义由“闲”表示。

閑 was originally a character that meant, "fencing around a door."
閒 was orignally a character that meant, "crack/split."
閑 was borrowed for it's sound to indicate, "free time."
間 has derivative meanings of "room/space" from the idea of "crack/split."


Were the choice of characters in compound words based on their intrinsic meaning, or are their meaning derived from their use in compound words? It is sort of a chicken and egg question. Before I started to think (maybe too much), I just assumed that Chinese characters had their own independent meaning and got chosen in certain compound words because of this, but maybe in some cases it's the other way around?

Most compound words in Chinese appeared later on in the history of the language. In ancient Chinese, just about every single character had it's own meaning. Later on when the language started becoming more modern, many words became compound words to simplify the language by making it easier to differentiate homonyms and to make the language sound more fluid when spoken. I've had a teacher explain that Chinese people feel that characters sound more natural in pairs.

I don't know the exact history in how the compound words were created, but having studied some ancient Chinese, I can say that the individual characters came first :) .


求解释: "我有问题" 和 "我有个问题" 中英 | Chinese & English 这个问题我找不到解释， 希望哪位高手可以帮下 ^^

学生想说 I have a question, 常常会说成 "我有问题."
我会教他们用 “我有个问题” 或者 “我有一个问题。”

原因是听到 “我有问题”的时候， 我的第一联想就是 “我脑子有问题。" 可是我语法上面解释不来也查不到。

现在我自己都快糊涂了。 所以我想问：

1） “我有问题” 是正确的吗？ 我左看右看都觉得是错的。 可是百度上却有人怎么用。 求解释。
“我有问题” 可以用的情况下为：
我有问题想问你。
你有问题的话， 去问老板。 (不过这句话， 我个人还是比较喜欢用 “如果你有任何问题的话， 去问老板”）

2) 在百度上也常常看到 “你有问题吗？”， 如果我的话， 我会想用 “你有没有什么问题？”。 但是这句话只要不从贬义的角度来看的话， 是没有什么问题的。 你是怎么看待这句话的？

谢谢。

这问题也发表在另一个语言论坛上。

English version

"我有问题" vs "我有个问题" - Grammar explanation if possible?

I can't find an answer to this question, so I hope someone here will be able to help out ^^
Students often say, "我有问题" when they want to say "I have a question."
I will have them use "我有个问题" or "我有一个问题" instead.

The reason is because when I hear "我有问题", my immediate thought is "我脑子有问题" (I have some "mental" problems). But I can't explain this phrase in term of grammar, nor can I find an explanation online.

You know how sometimes when you keep on digging into the basic things, you end up confusing yourself? (Or maybe that is just me -_-). Anyways, now I am confused. So I want to ask:
1) "我有问题" is this correct at all? It sounds wrong no matter how I look at it. But, people use it on Baidu. Explain please?

Now, I know that "我有问题" is corrected (with no ambiguity) when used in the following sentences:
我有问题想问你。
你有问题的话， 去问老板。 ( Just a personal preference, I prefer to say “如果你有任何问题的话， 去问老板”）

2) I see a lot of "你有问题吗?" on Baidu. If it were me, I'd prefer to say "你有没有什么问题？“ But this sentence is fine with me as long as I don't view it from a negative perspective. What is your opinion on this?

Thank you.
Cross posted on a different language forum.

It's actually very common to say “我有问题”, and indeed it would cause ambiguity without contexts.

I think it's because 问题 could be both "question" and "problem". The ambiguity can only be cleared within the context.

Although ambiguous usage should be avoided when it's likely to create confusion (actually, eliminating ambiguity in sentences is a vey common practice on language classes in China, but it's not a very strict grammar requirement), this kind of situation is very common in Chinese because the language is an Analytic Language which depends heavily on contexts where English depends more on the inflection of words and grammar.

This reminds me another similar situation when I was learning English. I thought "I'm hot" in English technically could mean "I feel hot", but it seems that to avoid ambiguity, most people probably would say "it's hot" or "I feel hot".


What is the equivalent of "冒昧打扰" in English? In Chinese, we have the expression "冒昧打扰" màomèidǎrǎo.

To put it into a sentence: 冒昧打扰,请您见谅。 màomèi dǎrǎo, qǐng nín jiànliàng

Is there a similar expression in English?

I would say it is equivalent to "Excuse me" in context when you need ask some people for help or a favor.

冒昧打扰, 请问去这个车站怎么走？ - Excuse me, do you know how to get to this train station?

but 冒昧打扰 is kind of formal, we usually just say "打扰一下" in everyday life.


I need help with this painting I found this painting online, is there any way to know who made it?

The regular script transcription looks like

朎
This is probably an art name

秵山
This is probably the artist's real name; also appears on the calligraphy as the last two characters

I cannot find any artists being referred to by these names.


Can 使劲 only be used for physical effort? Can 使劲 (put in effort, strain at) only be used for physical effort? If no, how does its usage differ from 尽量?

使 = utilize/ apply
劲 = force / power
'使劲' as a verb means 'apply force' ; as an adverb, it means  'forcefully';  Since 'forcefully' is an adverb that modifies action verbs,  it is mainly be used for describing physical effort.
For example: 使劲打(forcefully hit), 使劲拉(forcefully pull)

how does its usage differ from 尽量?

使劲 is an adverb for 'forcefully'

尽量 is an adverb for 'to the greatest extent / as far as possible'.

For example: '尽量不让人知道' (go to the greatest extent not letting people know)

'使劲' and '尽量' are not very similar in meaning

May be you were thinking of '尽力' (with all of one's strength) which can be used to describe physical effort, similar to '使劲' .
For example: '尽力打' (hit with all your might),  '尽力拉' (pull with full strength)
In this sense, '使劲' and '尽力' are very similar.
But 尽力 can also be used metaphorically for 'do one's best' or 'try one's best'
For example: '尽力忍笑' (do one's best not to laugh)

Finally, '用力' (用= utilize/ use) (力 = force/strength) is synonym to '使劲'
出力 (出 = output /use) (力 = force/strength) is also a synonym


Difference between 我饿了 and 我很饿? Someone tried to explain the difference in this answer https://chinese.stackexchange.com/a/43/38 saying that 我饿了 means "I became hungry", but I don't see the difference because we don't say I became hungry in English, you are either hungry or you are not (I appreciate this could be a cultural difference).

So can someone try to explain to me further the difference between the two.

Same with similar constructs like 我累了 and 我很累.

I think that this is more a product of the fact that 我饿了 is something we don't commonly explicitly express in English.  We say "I am hungry" and let context and tone of voice determine whether this is some new information (I am hungry now) or merely the expression of a continuing state of affairs (I have been and continue to be hungry).  I have become hungry (to stick with the present) may sound like an awkward translation because it is trying to make the exact meaning of the expression explicit.  If we were translating a novel (and not tying to explain the language) we would probably translate it as "I am hungry" and allow the nuance to be suggested by the context.


Can someone translate "capital stacks" to Chinese? This is a financial term, and I'm hoping for the most professionally used term.

Capital Stacks:

  A description of the totality of capital invested in a project, including pure debt, hybrid debt, and equity. The stack is described as containing the most risk at the top, traveling down the stack to the position with the least risk. Higher positions in the stack expect higher returns for their capital because of the higher risk. Lenders and equity stakeholders are highly sensitive to their position in the stack. Typically, the stack is arranged as follows.

I found it in a bilingual ppt on real estate finance. It shows capital stack means 资本结构, but as I know, English financial terms are often translated to different Chinese terms by different people, so this may be not the only one correct.

source: 中美房地产开发和金融比较/Real Estate Development and Finance in China and U.S.
http://wenku.baidu.com/view/cf8b56313968011ca30091b8.html, page 62,63.


What to reply to "祝你好运" (I wish you good luck)? Does "祝你好运!" expect any "predefined" reply? Which one?
If not, what should be replied?
Would just "谢谢" be appropriate?

“祝你好运” means “Good luck!”
“谢谢”Just be appropriate.


What’s the difference between 善于 vs 擅长 What’s the difference between 善于 vs 擅长? I know they both mean “being good at” but can they be used interchangeably? When should you use one over the other and why?

For example, how should I say: “I am good at being the director” or “You are good at playing this game”.

Thanks

善于 = good at (general)
擅长 = skilled in/ good at (specific)

Example:
善于交際 - good at socializing (O)
擅长交際 - skilled in socializing (O)
~
善于打网球 - good at playing tennis (O)
擅长打网球 - skilled in playing tennis (O)
~
善于反手削球 - good at backhand slice (X) (too specific)
擅长反手削球 - skilled in backhand slice (a specific tennis technique) (O)
A more detailed example:

他擅长用斧頭在米粒上刻字 - He is good at lettering on rice grains with an axe
This skill is too specific to use 善于
善于用斧頭 or 善于刻字 would be fine.


how to translate "请优先发给我，抄送其他人" in an email? 请优先发给我，抄送其他人

Is it: "please reply to me and cc others"?

Or does 优先 express the priority, the emergency of the issue and that translation should be: "please reply to me ASAP, and keep others in the loop"?

优先 expresses priority/precedence/privilege, but not urgency.

In this specific sentence it feels redundant to me. I think the person was trying to emphasize that he/she should be the only one on the TO line and others on CC line are FYI (for your information) only.


Did the ancients really think mangoes were garlic like? Flipping through Endymion Wilkinson's Chinese History: A New Manual I came across the following excerpt:

36 Food & Drink
36.7 Ming-Qing
Mangoes: fansuan 番蒜, mangguo 芒果 (Malay mangga?)

番蒜 is a very funny word to call mangoes. 番蒜 is basically made up of two parts:

番 = foreign
蒜 = garlic

Did the ancients really think mangos were garlic like? Or am I missing something?

Actually the 蒜 is evidence of a substrate influence from an Austroasiatic language (ancestor of Vietnamese xoài or Khmer ស្វាយ [svaay]) in this context. Indeed, this lexeme actually does have its own Chinese character, 檨, with Mandarin pronunciation shē (ㄕㄜ).
It is the Hakka and Min varieties which use this 檨 lexeme:

Taiwanese Min Nan: soāiⁿ (Peh-oe-ji), suāinn (Tai-lo), ㄙㄨㆮ˫ (Zhuyin)
Fuzhounese Min Dong: suông (Bang-ua-ce)
Taiwanese Hakka: sôn (Phak-fa-sü)

In many of these varieties, the pronunications of 蒜 are very close:

Taiwanese Min Nan: soàn (Peh-oe-ji)
Fuzhounese Min Dong: sáung (Bang-ua-ce)
Taiwanese Hakka: son (Phak-fa-sü)

Hence the substitution of 蒜 was motivated by phonetic similarity (假借) with the lack of "availability" of this 檨 character.
In many of these, the collocation 番檨, preferred in Min Dong and certain varieties of Hakka, may help distinguish it from just 蒜. Or it may just be that mangoes came a bit later to the northeastern Fujian area than the southern area.


Narrow fonts for Chinese characters? Is there a half-width font for Chinese characters? I have a half-width font for Japanese and it covers a lot of Chinese characters but not all. By "half-width", I mean you can display Chinese characters like English alphabet as shown in this pic. I quickly looked it up in English but no result. I feel there must be some somewhere, since there are narrow fonts for English and Japanese at least, as far as I know?

I believe the option to choose "half-width" or 半角, as opposed to "full-width" 全角, is used in Chinese input systems only for punctuation and other symbols, but not for Chinese characters.

You can read more about it here:

http://blog.csdn.net/kevinhg/article/details/8702462

From what I can discern, the original reason for having "narrow-width" and "full-width" characters was to make sure that CJK and English text could be properly aligned.


Different accents/dialects applicable to the pinyin "r" sound When I first began learning Mandarin and was struggling with some of the different pronunciations I heard 2 different representations of the "r" sound in pinyin. The first representation suggested to just treat identically to how you would treat an English "r" and native speakers will understand you well enough, and the other said it was closer to the "s" sound in the English word "measure".

Obviously these are two completely different and contradictory representations, and as an native English speaker I should have just ran with the first, but I grasped the latter almost instantly and have been pronouncing it in that way ever since (to myself in private, the only communication I ever have with native speakers is through text).

This has been fine for me, I've since heard numerous audio samples that use either or, which has lead me to believe that it didn't really matter. I even recall reading somewhere that the latter representation is common in northern dialects (citation needed).

But just now while watching this YouTube video at 0:45 the woman speaking says the word 别人 and then follows it up by saying 人 by itself. The first time she pronounces the "r" sound using the first method, nearly identical to the English "r". The second time she used the method I'm more familiar with, and I corroborate that the way she says it is exactly how I've learned to pronounce it.

So I guess the question I'm asking is, what is the history behind this distinction? Is it a north/south difference or is there more to the story?

There have been three major ways of transcribing Pinyin r-:

voiced retroflex fricative /ʐ/
voiced retroflex approximant /ɻ/
voiced postalveolar approximant /ɹ̠/

In English-language pronunciation manuals, the first is closer to English measure, the third is the English red across most accents (with the caveat that it is not labialised in Mandarin Chinese).

There are two reasons why the first one, as a fricative, has become deprecated:

Phonologically, it means that Pinyin sh- vs r- becomes Mandarin's one phonemic voicing contrast.
High friction leads to a "rather unnatural" pronunciation.

Hence, in the words of Třísková (2008):

  [ʐ] can be considered as a free variant

... but also:

  Lately there is [an opinion] that [ʐ], [ɻ] are free variants of the phoneme /r/ (we can [observe] a considerable variability of pronunciation).

So what is this variation then? An acoustic study from 王祥灿 (2013) concludes that:

  PTH 辅音r变体类型分布较为复杂，易受到具体语音环境的影响，当后接i,u,e高元音时，或音节声调为去声调时，或音素 r 位于双音节中时，多表现为擦音类型，其他情况下通音类型居多。

That is to say, use of the fricative / high-friction variant is more likely:

in Pinyin ri, ru, re
in falling tone (Pinyin fourth tone)
in bisyllables / bisyllabic compounds

I would clarify that last one by saying it's more likely directly after a consonant, e.g. higher friction in 当然 dāngrán than in 偶然 ǒurán.

Dialectal/regional differences are also found for Pinyin r-, but the approximant vs fricative difference is more contextual than regional.


Can someone translate this for me? http://m.imgur.com/i7FcLqc This is from the top of a container my friend found at work. I was wondering if someone could do a quick, easy translation. I tried to draw it in Google translate, but it didn't make any sense.

一本萬利 in Traditional characters (as in your image) or 一本万利 in Simplified Chinese, the writing goes from top right to bottom left.

The expression means "small capital, huge gain/profit".


What is the relationship between 尉-shaped characters and the pronuncation yu? I'm curious about the relationship between 尉-shaped characters and the pronunciation yu. I'm not sure if this is just a Sichuanese thing or not, but here's what I know:

In some Sichuanese topolects 蔚蓝(色) is read yu lan.
It has been said that Deng Xiaoping often said: 芋问, which is really just: 慰问.
告慰 can also be read gao yu, in some Sichuanese topolects.
蔚 can also be a surname that is read: Yu.
尉迟 is also a double barreled surname.

The yu pronunciation seems like a bit of an anomaly and I'm not really sure how it fits in here. Perhaps it was that the surname was so strong in some areas that it affected the pronunciations of these other words.

Any ideas?

The two syllables are related.「尉」(Baxter-Sagart OC: /*ʔut-s/) has two Mandarin descendants, which are approximately yu and wei.

Several OC syllables with initial /*ʔu-/ basically evolved into Mandarin w and Mandarin yu; you can see the same phenomenon with the phonetic component「」:

溫 wēn
慍 yùn


Is there a traditional Chinese New Year greeting? I know people often say 新年快乐 to mean happy new year, but is there a traditional greeting used in Chinese to express your good wishes for the new year? If so, what, and how did it originate?

The most common I have heard is

  恭喜发财 gōng xǐ fā cái

Which is a wish of a prosperous coming year. This is very common in Hong Kong and Taiwan, but I heard that it was frowned upon by the communists on the mainland, since it is a wish that does not align very well with communistic ideals.

One story I read related to this is that there was a legend about a monster called 年 (nian2) that would come down from the mountains around new year and eat people. He is afraid of the colour red, so that's why people would put up red paper on and around their doors. The following morning, when you see someone, you would greet them with 恭喜!; 'Congratulations (to still being alive)!', and then wish that they will 发财; 'get rich', i.e. will have a fruitful and prosperous year ahead.

In Taiwan there is a playful childrens' rhyme related to this. The tradition is that adults give children (without an income of their own) red envelopes with cash, 红包. So the adult says "恭喜发财" and the child immediately (and greedily) replies "红包拿来"; 'Give me the red envelope'.


How to answer "wait" in a conversation in simple Mandarin? Conversation example:

A: Take that box upstairs!
B: Wait. (while he is busy doing something else).

How to say that wait in conversational Mandarin?

I feel 等一下 is too long. If you know Hokkien (Min Nan) language, people can say: tan lah.

I don't think 等啦 has equivalent feel with Hokkien "tan lah".

等一下 is fine, but if you want shorter answers, there are other options:

等等：pretty much the same as 等一下
馬上：means immediately, will be there in a moment

These are the two word answers I can think of right now.


If Chinese characters are ever used like numbers like in English In English, especially in the software/programming world, you use letters as numbers a lot such as with hex encoding, using the alphabet 0123456789abcdef for 16 numbers, so you might write a number as af. Other times we might do a bulleted list and go:

a) something...
b) another thing...
c) ...

I'm wondering if there is anything like that in Chinese, for example, like a list like:

顧) ...
書) ...
媽) ...
找) ...
...

Or a hexidecimal-like system, numbering 123...顧書...

If so, wondering what are some examples of it so I can see what it looks like.

Here are some common choices

Use Arabic numerals

This is the most common way nowadays.

1) 第一点
2) 第二点
3) ……

Use numbers in Chinese

It's OK but why not use Arabic numerals?

一）第一点
二）第二点
三）……

And their 大写数字 form

壹）第一点
贰）第二点
叁）……

Use 天干 and 地支

They are quite rarely used today.

天干：甲(jiǎ)、乙(yǐ)、丙(bǐng)、丁(dīng)、戊(wù)、己(jǐ)、庚(gēng)、辛(xīn)、壬(rén)、癸(guǐ)
地支：子(zǐ)、丑(chǒu)、寅(yín)、卯(mǎo)、辰(chén)、巳(sì)、午(wǔ)、未(wèi)、申(shēn)、酉(yǒu)、戌(xū)、亥(hài)

Use them like this:

甲）第一点
乙）第二点
丙）……

and

子）第一点
丑）第二点
寅）第三点

Use Latin Letters

Use a ~ z would be acceptable some how. I would say they would appear more common than 天干/地支 system.

When try to write hex numbers, you should use 0-9A-F as they are in English. At least I don't know any other way to write it in Chinese.


Use 個 if the correct measure word is unknown How bad does it sound if I use 個 for everything if most measure words are just still unknown to me, or I don't want to end up using a wrong one?

You should learn those measure word one by one because most of native speakers don't use "個" for every nouns. But sometimes if you forget or don't know the word you should use, most people still know what you're referring to with the word "個" in most case.

Why I said in most case? Here's an example: (Actually, it's a joke.)

The foreigners usually have a big trouble if they should use "個" and "子". "個" is a measure word(量詞) when you have no idea which word you should use while "子" is something we add after a thing for better reading, like "桌子", "椅子".

So, one day. Tom walked into a watch store and ask for a new watch: "老闆，我想要買一個錶子。"(Lao ban, wo xiang yao mai yi ge biao zi).


How to state unpleasantness in written form? let becomes make In English, unpleasantness can be stated by changing let to make.

Classmate sharing pleasant things to classmate:

My parents let me eat chocolates.

  我父母让我吃巧克力

Classmate complaining to classmate:

My parents are making me eat vegetables.

  我父母让我吃蔬菜

As both use use 让, the second example does not sound complaining at all. Or perhaps it sounds complaining, as most kids universally hates vegetables.

Here’s an example where enjoyment/non-enjoyment can’t be inferred:

My parents let me eat apples.

My parents are making me eat apples.

Both are translated as:

  我父母让我吃苹果

Unpleasantness can be stated verbally using length of tones, sound volume.

However, in written Chinese, what’s the best way to state unpleasantness  in place of the word "making me"? Aside from prefixing the sentence with 哎呀

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

you can use:

强迫/ 迫: "to force" . e.g. 我父母迫我吃苹果 (my parent force me to eat apple/ my parent make me eat apple)
硬是要/ 硬要: "to force" . e.g. 我父母硬是要我吃苹果 (my parent force me to eat apple)

  我父母硬是要[让]我吃苹果 (my parent stubbornly/ forcefully [make] me eat apple)

  我父母硬是要[让]我吃苹果 would not be misinterpreted as "my parent stubbornly/ forcefully [let] me eat apple)

Side note: "係都要" is the Cantonese equivalent of "硬是要". e.g. "我父母係都要我食苹果"


Why do native speakers often say a character has "no meaning"? Many times I will know all the characters in a name but one & I'll ask what that one character means. 9 times out of 10 the response is, "That character has no meaning".

While it might be true that the character isn't used on its own, of course it must have meaning otherwise it wouldn't exist.

If someone asked me about a character, I might say, "Oh, in this phrase XX it means something like 'luck' but it isn't ever used alone".

Why does it seem that native speakers aren't willing to answer in that way? Why would a native speaker choose to say that a character has no meaning?

I found the same situation, living in China for quite some time, and unlike some other people who have answered, I understand exactly what you're asking. It was quite annoying to try to learn new words when the native speaker just tells you the meaning of 3 characters together and doesn't know or can't explain each character's meaning. I think the answer is related to how derivations work in English. Keep in mind that to us, the word duibuqi seems to be 3 words together because technically it is, but to Chinese people who aren't language experts, they will just think of it as one word, essentially.

There are some parallels in English. Think about it in the reverse. Imagine you are Chinese and you are asking an English speaker this question:

You say 'sorry' to mean duibuqi. What is 'sor' and what is 'ry'?

Can you answer that off the top of your head? Most English speakers incorrectly assume that prefixes and suffixes and word derivations aren't "words." They are words. Or at least they used to be words.

From an online derivation dictionary, this is how we have the word sorry:

Old English sarig "distressed, grieved, full of sorrow" (not found in the physical sense of "sore"), from Proto-Germanic *sairiga- "painful" (cf. Old Saxon serag, Middle Dutch seerigh "sore; sad, sorry," Dutch zeerig "sore, full of sores," Old High German serag, Swedish sårig "sore, full of sores"), from *sairaz "pain" (physical and mental); related to *saira- "suffering, sick, ill" (see sore (adj.)). Meaning "wretched, worthless, poor" first recorded mid-13c. Spelling shift from -a- to -o- by influence of sorrow. Apologetic sense (short for I'm sorry) is attested from 1834; phrase sorry about that popularized 1960s by U.S. TV show "Get Smart." Related: Sorrily; sorriness.

So it appears the answer to what is 'sor' and what is 'ry' would be:
"Sor" means grieved or distressed
"ry" (from online dictionary) means "indicating a state or condition."

Therefore while you may be asked by a Chinese speaker "What is sor and what is ry?" and you will feel like saying "Nothing, it's just one word," in this kind of context you would be wrong. They are two words indeed, we just don't usually use them separately. Sound familiar?

Disclaimer: I'm not a native Chinese speaker but the above answer does seem to be the most rational, to me.


ㄍ一ㄥ? What dialect? What character? I know ㄍ一ㄥ[gīng] is used extensively in Taiwan and in Taiwanese media, but my question is what dialect/topolect does this come from and what exactly is the character for this word?
I know a lot of people are going to tell me - it's just used orally and there is no way to write it but that's just a bunch of baloney...
edit:
Examples:
youtube: ㄍ一ㄥ舞曲
个性测试：你是否ㄍ一ㄥ一族. 个性测试开始....
msn: 【測驗】妳到底ㄍ一ㄥ在哪？
別ㄍ一ㄥ了,你可以吐苦水| Facebook
國際書展《創意不是用ㄍ一ㄥ的》新書發表會| Facebook
安海瑟威上錯車愛面子死ㄍ一ㄥ| 蘋果日報
[不負責任健康講座] 為什麼搖頭丸能讓你ㄍ一ㄥ？

你是否ㄍ一ㄥ一族 - 星座屋
"ㄍ一ㄥ" | Flickr – 相片分享!
张克帆_百度百科: 个性:温暖,很ㄍ一ㄥ 最爱吃的食物:玉米
阿喜扮「猫熊圆仔」! 收起丑脸硬ㄍ一ㄥ清纯模样 | ETtoday影剧...
...确实,作为闷骚而又很ㄍ一ㄥ的A型血,实在不能理解B型血到底在想什么,...

edit 2: my guess is the character will be something like: '硬'

This wikipage says that 台語正字 is 矜/楗(教育部用字).

Also this online dictionary of Taiwanese dialect lists 楗 to be the character in question.

However, it is possible that neither is the true character. They just made up some characters in order to transcribe the word. The ancient phonetic books describe that 楗 rhymes with 偃/鍵/建/件, which rhyme with -ian or -iann in Taiwanese， not -ing. On the other hand, 矜 has a historic pronunciation that ends with -m instead of -n or -ng, and the meaning does not really match 硬撑 either. A wild guess of mine is that the character might be 经/擎.


Why use 的 at the end of a sentence such as 我一定會去看他的? I'm looking for confirmation of the way I'm parsing a sentence with 的 at the end, and I'd appreciate some background or other examples of this usage.
I found this sentence on tatoeba.org:

我一定會去看他的。
I'll certainly go and see him.

The sentence is pretty clear to me, until I get to that 的 at the end. Is it one of the many "emphasis" patterns? I'm familiar with 是...的, but I haven't seen 的 on its own before.
The CEDICT definition of 的 includes, "used at the end of a declarative sentence for emphasis," so it seems like that's what's going on here. What exactly is it emphasizing? When would you use this pattern?

"的" in this case means "certainly", "really", "I am sure that..." as the conclusion says in your question.

For me, such sentences are the same.

  我会去看他的。
  我一定会去看他。

You can say "我一定会去看他的". The mood sounds stronger (I think it's not much stronger), but I can't tell you how strong it is (this is a natural language, not math). I would use this when I want to express that "please don't remind me of it any more. I am sure to do that. I won't forget it". For example:

  Mom: 别忘了早点回家过年。— Don't forget to come back home early for the Spring Festival holidays.
  You: 知道了，妈妈。— I will, mom.
  Mom: 一定要早点啊。— make sure [you will come back] early!
  You: 我会的。— I am sure I will (mom, you don't need to repeat that. I will. I am sure.)

Also, you don't need to treat "的" seriously. It's used very common.


Help translating a Chinese character So I came across this character and I have no idea what it means. I've tried looking it up in an online chinese dictionary but was unable to find anything. Does anyone know what this character is and what it means in English? Thanks.

The Chinese character is 愣 (lèng). Usually characters with the 心-radical (on the left) are related to emotions.
From Oxford Dictionaries:
adjective

distracted
blank

verb

stare blankly
look distracted

Common collocations include 愣住 (～住 roughly means 'to a halt') and 發[发]愣 (發～ suggests initiation; see 發瘋 'to go mad'). Sometimes 愣乎乎, but this is more colloquial than the rest. A synonym of 愣 is 呆; you may say 發呆 as well, occasionally 呆住.
Examples:

他原地愣住了 'He stood still, flabbergasted'
別老站那兒發愣了 'Don't just stand there staring blankly (at nothing)'


Segmentation of Pinyin syllables with diacritics Does anyone know of any open source code for segmenting Pinyin syllables that has diacritic tone marks?

Example:

yìrúfǎnzhǎng -> yì rú fǎn zhǎng

C#, Python, or Lex is preferred but any language will do.

I've searched the internet but I'm coming up dry.

Edit: This is the algorithm I'm thinking of implementing myself:

Sort the standard list of all 414 syllables * 5 (tones) distinct syllable+tone combinations by length.  Starting at the beginning of the text, look for the longest pinyin syllable that matches.  Once a match is found move to the end of the syllable and repeat.  Of course, there is the problem with syllables like xian matching xi'an.  This happens because xian is longer than xi.  For short passages of text and given the expected number of syllables I think I can figure this out by backtracking.

zhon would cover this I believe

Example:

        pinyin_a_re.findall('Yǒurén diūshīle yī bǎ fǔzi, zěnme zhǎo yě méiyǒu zhǎodào.')
    ['Yǒu', 'rén', ' ', 'diū', 'shī', 'le', ' ', 'yī', ' ', 'bǎ', ' ', 'fǔ', 'zi', ',', ' ', 'zěn', 'me', ' ', 'zhǎo', ' ', 'yě', ' ', 'méi', 'yǒu', ' ', 'zhǎo', 'dào', '.']


Understanding the role of 將 in a sentence I was trying to write a short text about 姜子牙。Due to my limited success, I searched for Chinese materials and found a folktale here. It says:

  周文王請呂尚上車，屏退拉車手，親自將姜尚請回都城

My problem is with the last part. Is the 將 here the written equivalent of 把，or is it something different, because a 把 feels superfluous. Is it just a reformulation of:

  周文王親自請姜子牙與他回都城

or is there any special meaning?

Is the 將 here the written equivalent of 把

Yes, and it's more formal than 把. According to the context, especially "屏退拉車手", "親自將姜尚請回都城" indicates that "周文王" pulled the cart by himself; while "周文王親自請姜子牙與他回都城" doesn't have such intent strongly. With the usage of "將" (or "把"), the object of the action, "姜尚" (and then the action, "親自拉車") gets emphasized.


Why is 就 needed in 美國國務院稱華府仍未就卡舒吉案下定論? If it's needed, shouldn't it precede 仍未? This news article contains the following title: 美國國務院稱華府仍未就卡舒吉案下定論

1) Why is the 就 needed? If it's needed, shouldn't it precede 仍未?

2) Is 仍 the literary version of 還？ In other words, if you were to speak this instead of write this, you would say, "美國國務院稱華府還未就卡舒吉案下定論"?

For question 1

The word 就 actually bears a lot of meaning, you can check it out here.

Commonly, we use 就 as would, for example,

 你   再    吵  ,  你  就    死     定    了.
You again noisy, you would die for sure.    (Literal translation)

But, in formal literature (such as news), 就 is normally treated as a preposition as with regard to. To be simple, you can think of 就 as 對 in such situation.

For question 2

In modern Chinese, adverb comes before preposition.

adverb -> preposition

Since, 就 is a preposition in such situation, and 仍未 is an adverb. It is normal that 仍未 should come before 就.

P/S: You won't want to use 就 as with regard to when speaking, people won't understand it.


How to say this specific number in chinese? How can I tell this number in chinese,
“three million five hundred sixty-seven thousand”?
Thanks

3,567,000 separated every 3 digits in English
356,7000 separated every 4 digits Chinese
三百五十六万七千


公共职员在超市进行了调查 sentence order I've been looking at this sentence 公共职员在超市进行了调查 and wondering if it could be reordered and still be grammatically correct.

I came up with 在超市公共职员进行调查了 but my grammar textbook answer only shows 公共职员在超市进行了调查.

Please help.

Your sentence 在超市公共职员进行调查了 is ok. It's better you put a comma: 在超市，公共职员进行调查了. But logically, 公共职员在超市进行了调查 sounds better. You can split it like: 公共职员在超市/进行了/调查. The first part 公共职员在超市 talks about: 公共职员 is in supermarket; The second part talks about the action 进行了; The third part talks about the target of the verb: 调查;

As for 进行了调查 vs 进行调查了, 进行调查了 takes 进行调查 together as a verbal phrase while 进行了调查 separates it into two words 进行 and 调查. 进行了调查 put an emphasis on the word 调查, which is what 公共职员 have done in the supermarket.

Hope this clear.


Difference between 发愁，着急，担心，关心，操心，烦恼 In addition to this post: Is there a difference between 担心 (dānxīn) and 着急 (zháojí)?

HSK contains a lot of words which relate to being worried:
发愁，着急，担心，关心，操心，烦恼
- am trying to distinguish the difference between them. This is what I have so far, which I assume is accurate (please let me know if not!)

发愁 - worried, concerned - but not in an emotional way, Ex: the manager is worried about finding enough qualified staff / the economic situation.

着急 - adj. worried, anxious (optional: that can cause reduction in quality of output). Ex: Mother can't find her kids; (+ optional:) child is about to give a piano recital.

担心 - v. to worry about possible future event, but assume that it won't come to pass - Ex: to be worried about the small chance of not passing an exam.

关心 - v. care, worry in a general sense, i.e. not for a reason that is currently evident - mother worries about her children, i.e. cares for them, likes them, but there is no immediate danger or risk.

However, I am quite unsure about these two:

操心 - Not sure what kind of worry this is and how it can be differentiated from the other entries

烦恼 - v. to be worried, n. worry (emotionally disturbed) - Or does this mean annoyed?

Any help with understanding these would be much appreciated!
Many thanks in advance

发愁 - The things to worry are like huge fruits hanging on their stem. It burdens.

着急 - So worried to urge oneself to "do something!" (at all)

担心 - Concerned about something, say a friend's health. The heart feels like hanging in the air.

关心 - Generally care about something, may or may not to an extent of concerning. (Btw, I so agree with your definition for this one)

操心 - Devote oneself into something, put a lot of efforts or thinking's into, because one cares about it or is concerned about it. For example, a parent may be so worried about the child's study, that they take a lot of efforts to research which school is better, which teacher is better, which major is safer, etc.

烦恼 - It can be both a word or a noun, either "to worry about" or "worry". But the degree of worry can be a bit intense. 烦 means annoyance and 恼 means anger. They together lean more towards annoyance, or generally anything that's mentally disturbing or causes discomfort. Or as a verb, it means staying full of those annoying emotions.


What's the Eye of a Hurricane called in Chinese/Pinyin? For a role playing game I'm joining, my character is a monk of Chinese origin.

Trying to come up with a name I thought of "Eye of (the) Hurricane/Typhoon" as the monk is a very calm character caught in the turbulence of the real world outside of the monastery. I tried to look for a Chinese translation of which I would want to use the Pinyin equivalent, but I couldn't find it.

Does anyone know what the eye of a hurricane or typhoon is called in Chinese and if so, could you provide me with a Pinyin alternative?

I tried this dictionary: http://tool.nciku.com/pinyin-translator/#results
But the server isn't responding. Couldn't find any other good dictionaries.

It's 风眼(feng1 yan3) or 台风眼(tai2 feng1 yan3), simply the word-by-word translation to the English word "Eye of (the) Hurricane/Typhoon".

You can see it on the wiki: http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%A2%A8%E7%9C%BC


How do you answer the following question when someone asks: 我想认识一个美国朋友，你给我介绍一下，可以吗？ 我想认识一个美国朋友，你给我介绍一下，可以吗？

My Chinese teacher asked me the question above ^. Am I supposed to say:
这是我的中国老师, 王朋.

or
这是我的美国朋友, Rodger Smith.

Basically, should I be introducing my Chinese teacher who asked the question to my American friend, or should I introduce my American friend to my Chinese teacher?
Thanks in advance.

Depend on who you are speaking to. If you are speaking to your teacher, "这是我的美国朋友, Rodger Smith" is correct; If you are speaking to your friend, "这是我的中国老师, 王朋." is correct. But neither is the answer to the question.
The question is "我想认识一个美国朋友，你给我介绍一下，可以吗？". Your immediate answer should be something like "當然可以 (of course, I can)". If you want to answer more detailedly, you can add "我明天就给你介绍一个美国朋友"
Then you can go get your friend and introduce them to each other
"Rodger, 这是我的中国老师, 王朋."
"老师, 这是我的美国朋友, Rodger Smith."


比较你们国家和中国对颜色、数字的看法: How can I compare two country's opinions on "colors" and "numbers"? 发展汉语，高级口语（I） has this problem (page 24):

  比较你们国家和中国对颜色、数字的看法

It translates to something like:

  Compare your country and China's opinions on colors and numbers

I'm confused about what it's asking me to compare.  For the question to make sense, I'll assume 你们国家 refers to Australia (where I was born).  So it seems I supposed to compare the "opinions" = 看法 on "colors" = 颜色 (race? scenery? artwork?) and "numbers" = 数字 (population? numerology?) of Australia and China, but I don't really understand.

Question: How can I compare two country's opinions on "colors" and "numbers"?

for colour, compare people’s perception of the colour white, black & red.

eg. in the context of funeral, chinese were/are in white colour (traditionally were, i’m not sure the situation in “that area” now; at least, in macau, taiwan & hong kong, we follow this custom); while in australia, people wear black costume.

the ceremony of marriage, bridal gowns are in white (in australia), while it’s equivalent in chinese, these’re in red colour.

again, the colour of red, chinese would perceive it as “happiness”; well, in australia (actually in most cultures), red implied danger.

if you dare, you may quote the sample of pedestrian lights, the “red man” means stop, don’t cross, universally.

about number:

again, in occidental cultres, the number of seven (7) and thirteen (13) have special meaning.

such as friday 13th, it’s considered an unlucky day in western superstition.

however, in chinese view, to know a day is “unlucky” or not, most people need to consult the “folk almanac” (通勝). (it’s an extremely complicated calculation of yin yang & five elements; beyond average knowledge of laymen.)

just a reminder: in communist’s point of view, suitable for / incompatible (宜忌)or choosing a date (擇日) is superstitious. beware, don’t talk too much :)

for the number of seven (7), find it yourself :)

have fun :)


What is the right Chinese translation of the technical term 'Data Feed'? In most dictionaries, 'feed' is translated to '飼料' (Food for livestocks).

However if the word 'feed' is used in a computer technology context as to mean 'data feed', what is the right Chinese translation?

Edit:

My ideal translation is to be able to convey an imagery of a continuous flow of data to the user's end.

It is because the word 'feed' is used to describe a UI element on a website which supports an 'endless scroll' feature.

馈送

MDBG

  to feed (a signal to a device, paper to a printer etc)

It also happens to be an alternative name for web feed.


What type of rhetoric (if any) is this? The following is from a forum on Chinese football:

In this reply, the name "马德兴" is posted as "马兴", very likely on purpose hinting that this person lacks "德" (virtue).
Is it some type of rhetoric? If yes, what rhetoric is this?

諷刺: to satirize; to mock

暗諷: make an innuendo; indirectly mock

禮義廉:  諷刺某人「無恥」。

Calling someone 「無恥」is 明駡 (direct insult)

Calling someone「禮義廉」is 暗諷 (indirectly mock)

As for the technique of omitting part of a phrase to imply someone is lacking the omitted part -- it is called  暗示 (hinting)

Similar example:

他這人有勇無謀 (he has courage but doesn't have any strategy) clearly stating (明示) he is not smart

他這人很有勇 (he has courage) hinting (暗示) he is not smart.

It works because 有勇無謀 is a common phrase, therefore, the hint is strong enough that anyone who know the phrase 有勇無謀 can correctly understand what is being hinted. Same goes to 禮義廉恥 --> 禮義廉


沒地X, what is the third character? I was watching a TV show, and some of the dialogue is giving me trouble.

The father is teasing his son's love intrest (the pictured girl). At least I think that's what's happening. They as her if she has 地X, and she says she does not. She then asks the family the same question, and it definately seems like a big deal.

I can't figure out the third character. It sounds like mei di xi, or perhaps mei di qi.

I thought it could be related to the word place, since the 地 is from 地方. So maybe it's about owning land? It is on a Taiwanese drama from 2007, so if anyone has any cultural context t ogo along with the answer, that would be great!

The words are "mei di qi". "地契" is a whole word, which means lease.


What is the original quote of “To be calm is the highest achievement of the self"? This is allegedly a "Zen proverb":

  “To be calm is the highest achievement of the self”

I tried to look for it by searching on Google, but I could not find the original. What is the original text of this translated quote?

To be calm is the highest achievement of the self.---Yogi Bhajan.

Note that based on Wikipedia

  'Yogi Bhajan was born on August 26, 1929 into a Sikh family in Kot Harkarn, Gujranwala district, in the province of Punjab (now in Pakistan)'.

Firstly, he is not Chinese, also he don't speak Chinese, the original text certainly not in Chinese.