How can I translate "The Ghost Town's Beauty" into Chinese? I want to write a short story and I want to give it both an English and a Chinese title. I can read a little bit of Chinese, but unfortunately I was unable to properly translate the title myself.

The English title would be "The Ghost Town's Beauty" - referring to the town's beauty (not a beauty, as in beautiful woman).

Would "鬼城美" be a correct translation? If not, how could you translate the title? It would be fine if it ends up sounding a little like a world play - so that it isn't obvious whether its referring to the town's beauty or a beautiful person.

Thank you in advance.

鬼镇风光 / 鬼镇美景

Gost town : 鬼镇

By beauty, I suppose you mean good view of the town.


Chinese idiom for "tilt at windmills" or "fighting against windmills" Is there a Chinese idiom for "tilting at windmills"?
This expressions stems from "The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha". In that book, Don Quixote attacks windmills, incorrectly (and absurdly) believing them to be giants.
From Wikipedia:

Tilting at windmills is an English idiom which means attacking imaginary enemies. The word “tilt”, in this context, comes from jousting.
The phrase is sometimes used to describe confrontations where adversaries are incorrectly perceived, or to courses of action that are based on misinterpreted or misapplied heroic, romantic, or idealistic justifications. It may also connote an importune, unfounded and vain effort against confabulated adversaries for a vain goal.

The closest I can find is 水中捞月 (shuǐ zhōng lāo yuè). From 汉典:

  到水中去捞月亮。比喻去做根本做不到的事情，只能白费力气。

Trying to scoop up the imaginary moon from its reflection in the water. That is, trying to do something in vain or making a futile effort.

If you want to emphasize on the physical effort, 以卵击石 (yǐ luǎn jī shí) might be better:

  拿蛋去碰石头。比喻不估计自己的力量，自取灭亡。

Using an egg to hit the stone. Overestimating one's ability and courting certain "death". The death here usually refers to failure.

I am not sure if you will be able to find an idiom that matches all the characteristics in the English idiom.


How many non-native speakers of Chinese are there? I have been reading about the rapid expansion of the Confucius Institute program and am interested in what its 'results' have been in terms of actually producing people who can speak 普通话.
I have found an answer in the context of Australia, where the estimate was about 130:

"while there were probably more than 130 Australians of non-Chinese
background who could speak good conversational Chinese, there were
probably fewer than 130 who could read, write and speak Chinese with
the proficiency necessary for the highest professional levels."

I am particularly interested in the context of Africa, although finding good data on this from anywhere has proven difficult.

I found this report provided by the institution that runs the Chinese Proficiency Test (HSK). The report was about the tests that took place in year 2010, which was ten years ago, so things may have changed a bit, but I think we can still get a general idea from it.
According to the report, before November 2009, HSK had three levels: elementary, intermediate and advanced. After then it became the new HSK, which has six levels where six is the highest.
Since there is no good definition of "can speak Chinese", let us assume people who passed the highest level of HSK can speak Chinese. (The two concepts do not equal, but that's the best we can get.)
I don't know how to edit tables here, so I had to paste pictures of the tables (translated into English by me) from that report.

As we can see, there were 12099 people who passed the HSK 6 test in year 2010.

It is noted in the report that in the second half year of 2010, the test stopped asking examinees for this information of whether they are of Chinese origin or not, so the numbers here are smaller than the total number.
From the table we can see there are only about 15% of people who are of Chinese origin, so most of the examinees are not of Chinese origin.

So most examinees are from Asia. The other continents have only a few hundreds together for HSK 6, and we don't know how many of them actually passed.

Country information. We don't know which level they took or whether they passed, but if the proportion does not vary very much, we can have an educated guess.
12099 people passed the HSK 6 test in year 2010 and 86.75% of the total examinees of HSK 6 are non-Chinese, so that's about 10 thousand people. Let us multiply that with 20 for all the years and that makes 200 thousand people globally. Africa only has 0.64% so that's about 1000 people. Oceania (0.77%) has only a few more than Africa. That's above 130, but maybe the source in the OP has a higher standard for Chinese proficiency, or people of Chinese origin has a higher chance of passing the test, so for such a rough estimation, I think the numbers are reasonable.
Other interesting statistics:

American people are actually very good at listening!


Can you use 希望 for actions in the past? For example, if I want to say "I wish I learned Chinese when I was little", is it ok to say "我希望我小的时候学中文"?

If not, is there another word I could use instead? Possibly "我最好小的时候学中文"?

Or do I need to entirely rephrase and say something like "我小的时候学中文更好"

As a 老外 saying this, maybe: 我希望从小就开始学中文了。 Using 希望 is good.


How can I say the phrase “go places” in Chinese? I need a translation for the phrase as a whole not two words separately.
I need it in common Chinese if that’s a thing, but I mean the most general simple Chinese there is.

Cambridge Dictionary: Go places: to be likely to be successful in the future:

It is "有好前途/ 有前途 " (have a great future) in Chinese
Example:
如果你想有好前途，你需要跟随我 - If you want to go places (have a great future), you need to follow me
這傢伙終有一天會有好前途 - This guy will go places (have a great future) someday
You can also use 前途光明 (have a bright future)


How to negate an adjective in the past? How can I negate an adjective in the past?

For example:
这是红色的。It is red.
这不是红色的。It's not red.

How could I say 'It was not red'? I read somewhere that 没有 only negates action verbs. If that's true, would the sentence in the past be the same (apart from time expressions) as the present?

How do you specify past tense for 是?

From my answer:

You have to remember, unlike in English, we do not have past tense for verbs in Chinese grammar. Both "is" and "was" is written as "是" in Chinese.


Why are measure words sometimes omitted? For example, "我有房子", but why not "我有一栋房子"? Why "我有孩子" and not "我有一个孩子"?
Why "我不是坏人" and not "我不是一个坏人"?

Thanks

Your first two examples are not proper ones, since Chinese grammar do not usually use plural or singular form, 我有房子 could mean "I have a house" or "I have houses" ; 我有孩子 could mean " I have a child" or "I have children".

As for the third example, 我不是坏人, since 坏人 is a description word for the subject, no matter the subject is singular or plural, therefore, classifier is not needed.

The subject can be 我，我們 or 我們三個,

我不是壞人

我們不是壞人

我們三個不是壞人

in all three cases, 壞人 does not require a classifier

if you write 我們三個不是(三個)壞人 , the second qualifier (三個 ) would be redundant, we know it is three from the subject 我們三個
if you write 我不是(一個)壞人, (一個) would also be redundant, we know it is one from the subject 我
if you write 我們不是(兩個/一群)壞人 ,  (兩個/一群 ) would be redundant, we would know the subject is "two people" or "a group of people" from previous context.

Although writing "我不是一个坏人" is not grammatically wrong, keeping your writing as direct and as simple as possible (for example, omitting subject, object whenever possible) is considered good form of writing by most writers.


why is ‘fruit’ referred to as 水果 if 果 already means fruit? i’m trying to learn chinese again for the first time after a very long time and i’m just looking at meanings of words to see what individual characters of certain words mean (like 饭 is rice and 店 is shop so 饭店 is restaurant).

anyway, i looked up 水果 and i saw that 果 means fruit already, so i was just wondering why the 水 is there.

(i’m really sorry if this doesn’t make sense or if this has been asked already because english isn’t really my first language so i don’t really know how to explain or search for what i mean exactly).

droooze wrote:

  果 does not only mean fruit - it can mean "result, accomplishment, achievement" as well.

It is a good explanation for why we don't just say 果  when we mean 'fruit'.

Also, 腰果, 白果 are nut (果仁). The single character 果 is too general to be used specifically for 'fruit'.

And there's more:

生果唔同水果

For Cantonese, 生果 and 水果 are two different things. 生果 is fruit that grown on tree and 水果 is edible plant that grow in water (e.g. 水蓮藕 is a kind of root and 水菱角 is kind of nut). But for Mandarin, 水果 referred to all fruit that grow on tree and the term 生果 is rarely used.


Additional meanings of 也 I am reading this example:

听众至少也有五千人。
The audience was not less than five thousand.

Dictionary gives only "also, too" meanings for 也 and it doesn't seem to fit in this example. So what is the role of this word here?

It is used to emphasize the verb 有.

We can omit 也 and show the same meaning.
听众至少(也)有五千人。

也 [副] 3
表示强调。如：“一点也不”、“再也不敢”、“连爸妈也乐得开怀大笑。”

也 yě 〈副〉(5)
 表示强调 [even]。如: 也须 (也应当; 也应该); 连老人也干活


Can 当作 ever be used with a direct object behind it? If you look up 当作 it says something like 'treat as, regard as, look upon', however, from what I can see, it only gets used in combination with 把 or 被。
Is this 把 a word with meaning, or a particle?

Is it at all possible, lets say, to rewrite

别把我当作外人。 with the form '当作我‘ and not use '把’？ Maybe '别当做我为外人。‘

Don't treat me as an outsider.

No you cannot do that.

Please always use 把 or 被.

把: take

被: be taken as

别把我当作外人:
Don't take me as an outsider

我被当做了外人:
I'm taken as an outsider


What is wrong with this sentence and why? 我们八点上课，老师八点半才到了。 What is wrong with this sentence and why? I would like to have a grammatical explanation.
我们八点上课，老师八点半才到了。

了  indicates the verb is 'completed'

我们八点上课，老师八点半才到。 would be a correct  sentence

才 in 八点半才 indicated 'reaching 8:30' is a requirement for the action 'arrive' to apply, therefore, 到 is not a definitely completed action here. That is why the verb particle 了 that indicates the verb is 'completed' is not applicable when it is following 才 in a sentence.

我们八点上课，老师七点半 就到了 would also be a correct sentence, because 就 indicates 'already' therefore the verb particle 了 that indicates the verb is 'completed' is applicable

Notice:

才 functions differently in different context

Example:

八点半(才) = (only when it is) 8:30 ; 八点半(才)到 = arrive (only when it is) 8:30
(才) 八点半 = it is (just) 8:30; (才)八点半就到 = It is (just) 8:30, he already arrived; (才)八点半就到(了) = It is (just) 8:30, he (had) arrived already

In Example 1. 'when it is 8:30' is a requirement for 'arrive' to happen. Therefore, you cannot add '了' to indicate the verb is completed


What is the most commonly used way to say "thank you" in Chinese promotional and marketing materials? I may appear in my company's marketing materials that will cater to a more international base and it was requested that I simply say "thank you" in Mandarin in a way directed at our Chinese client base. I have some experience in the language and I did live in China, but I am not sure what what would be the most appropriate way to say "thank you" to clients. I remember seeing promotional ads for cell phone service and they always seemed to feature much more formal honorifics and courtesy than the spoken language (consistently having "您好" at the beginning of blurbs). Should I lend a more formal tone for this kind of thing or would a consumer base expect a colloquial tone?

I myself was thinking of saying 非常感谢 for my part just so I could have more than two words to say (it literally may be a video of people just saying thank you in different languages) -- but I was not sure if that would seem awkward or inappropriate in the context of a client facing thank you video. Are there any other commonly said thank you expressions in this context or am I overthinking it when a simple 谢谢 suffice?

谢谢,感谢,非常感谢,深深感谢 all work. Whether you should lend a more formal tone depends on what you're promoting/marketing, and who your target audience is. Trying to sell exclusive membership to a country club to rich retired people, for instance, will be very different from trying to sell computer games to teenagers. Generally speaking, the four-character phrases are more formal, and 谢谢 is the least formal among the four.


How do you say "A tight community" Helo All!
I"m trying to figure out a good translation for "a tight community". For example, I'm trying to say
"A tight community is not a means of having a good  student organization, but the end goal of a student club"  － how could I
express that？

团结的社区

团结:

[local civil corps]∶唐宋时地方民兵丁壮组织。亦指该类组织的士兵
[harmony;friendship]∶和睦；友好；安定；团结
[unite;rally;close]∶联合起来以完成共同目标团结一致
[aggregate]∶指分散物聚拢成团;聚合 反义词：分裂

http://baike.baidu.com/subview/27127/5038298.htm


Explaining 烦百事生 in 雨下得人心烦百事生 虹影  饥饿的女儿 Ying Hong - Daughter of the River  has the sentence 雨下得人心烦百事生，看不到雨停的希望。（google 烦百事生）。Howard Goldblatt＇s translation reads：The effect of the rain is despair that you'll ever see the end of it. How to explain 烦百事生.

You can not find 烦百事生. "雨下得人心烦百事生，看不到雨停的希望。" should be read as 雨下得//人心烦//百事生，看不到雨停的希望。 It means that the rain make me so upset(人心烦), everything goes wrong(百事生), I don't know when the unpleasant rain stop.(看不到雨停的希望)


How do I address cousins? Dad’s sibling’s son (if older than you) - 堂兄
Dad’s sibling’s son (if younger than you) - 堂弟
Dad’s sibling’s daughter (if older than you) - 堂姐
Dad’s sibling’s daughter (if younger than you) - 堂妹
Is this right? My mom says a dad's female sibling's offspring is not 堂妹、堂姐。My book says it is. Who is right?

First of all, 堂 and 表 are now mainly used in formal language, such as a kinship notarial certificate. We rarely use those terms in oral speech.
The completely male-side cousins are called 堂房, abbreviated to 堂. Other cousins are called 中表, abbreviated to 表.
Father is male and father's brother is male - 堂
Father's sister is female - 表
Mother is female - 表

Father's brother's son, older than ego - 堂兄
Father's brother's son, younger than ego - 堂弟
Father's brother's daughter, older than ego - 堂姐
Father brother's daughter, younger than ego - 堂妹

Father's sister's son, older than ego - 表兄
Father's sister's son, younger than ego - 表弟
Father's sister's daughter, older than ego - 表姐
Father sister's daughter, younger than ego - 表妹

Mother's sibling's son, older than ego - 表兄
Mother's sibling's son, younger than ego - 表弟
Mother's sibling's daughter, older than ego - 表姐
Mother's sibling's daughter, younger than ego - 表妹


What is the difference in meaning between 应变 and 适应 here？ Is there a difference in meaning between 应变能力 and 适应能力 in this sentence？ If so, can you please try to explain it?

公司领导人认为，在未来十年的商战中，最重要的武器是应变能力、适应能力和创新能力。

应变 is a short form of 适应/应付 变化, 应变能力 means the capacity of adapt to the change (of environment). The key point is how to deal with the change.

适应能力 means the capacity of adapt to the environment, the key point is how to adapt to the existing environment.


What's the difference between 遇到 and 碰到? Both 遇到 and 碰到 can be translated to "come across/run into" in those sentences:

  遇到大学同学了。

  碰到大学同学了。

What's the difference between 遇到 and 碰到?

I like to think of 碰到 as the equivalent of the English "bumped into"

And 遇到 as the English "came across" or "encountered".

The later being more formal and first being more oral in both the English and Chinese.


如何把名词形式的 'Nothing' 翻译成中文 How to translate the English noun form of Nothing into Chinese? Here are 2 English sentences, both have the word 'Nothing' in it in the noun form. I am wondering if it can be translated into Chinese while preserving as much of its original meaning as possible.

以下有两个英文句子，都用名词版的 无。我想知道是否可以尽量但保持原意思的把他翻译成中文:

What do rich people want, poor people have, and is greater than god?
Answer: Nothing (as a noun). In Chinese, the question would be "什么东西有钱人想要，穷人有，还比上帝伟大？" I guess one could say "没有这个东西" "没有任何东西", which is really a phrase and would barely make sense in the answer:富人想要没有任何东西，穷人有没有任何东西，没有任何东西比上帝还伟大. Changing it to 富人不想要/需要任何东西，穷人没有任何东西，没有任何东西比上帝还伟大 makes it slightly less cleverly worded, and the first 2 parts turn from a positive statement (the rich 'want' and the poor 'have') into a negative statement ('do not want' vs 'do not have') respectively.
There is an American comedy TV series called I Dream of Jeannie. For those who don't know, it is about a 2000 year old genie from ancient Baghdad called Jeannie. She means well but always causes trouble for her master, Tony, with her enthusiasm and mischievous attitude and sometimes purposely go out of her way to annoy him/do things her way. Tony wants to keep her and her magic a secret because he cannot explain it to people in modern day America.

Now, in one episode, there is a nosy kid in the neighbourhood, and he keeps climbing trees and peak inside Tony's windows and is on the verge of finding out their secret. Jeannie and Tony are annoyed so Jeannie says "I will turn him into a frog!". Tony is horrified and says "You will turn him into nothing!" He really meant that he forbids Jeannie to turn him into anything, in Chinese, "你不可以把他变成任何东西!. But Jeannie took this sentence to be a command that means 你要you will 把他变成 turn him into [Nothing] ie, make him disappear. So Jeannie then says "That is an excellent idea!" and proceeds to do so.

The double meaning of the sentence/word is what makes her reaction funny. I am wondering if it can be translated to Chinese and still be funny. If not, what happens when translators really can't translate something? Do they replace it with something else or just let it gets lost in translation and ignore it?

It is a real problem in Chinese translation, because there is no such word as “nothing” in Chinese. If you want to translate “nothing” into Chinese, you will have to paraphrase it into something else, such as “not anything”.

  I have nothing.

  → I do not have anything.

  → 我没有任何东西。

  → 我什么也没有。

Here comes the problem:

You want to translate the following sentence:

  You will turn him into nothing.

You can only paraphrase it into:

  You will not turn him into anything.

  你不会把他变成任何东西。

or

  You will turn him into nonexistence.

  你将把他变成不存在。

You want to translate the pun? I don't think it is possible to make such a pun in Chinese.


What does 在来自中 (zài láizì zhōng) mean in 在来自中、俄、美、英、韩等五国, ...? I was reading a news article (about Trump canceling his meeting with Kim Jong Un, 25 May, 2018) on a flight:

I don't understand the use of 在来自中 in the second sentence:

  当天早些时候，在来自中、俄、美、英、韩等五国20多名记者的见证下，朝鲜炸毁了丰溪里核试验场的坑道，。。。
  dāngtiān zǎoxiēshíhòu, zài láizì zhōng, é, měi, yīng, hán děng wǔ guó 20 duō míng jìzhě de jiànzhèng xià, cháoxiǎn zhàhuǐle fēngxīlǐ héshìyànchǎng de kēngdào, ...

I translate this to:

  In the early morning, with [???], Russia, the USA, England, South Korea, and 5 other countries, and 20+ journalists to witness, North Korea blew up Fengxi's nuclear test facility tunnels, ...

I don't understand what 来自 (láizì) = "come from" is doing here, nor what 中 (zhōng) = "within" is achieving in this sentence.

Question: What does 在来自中 mean in 在来自中、俄、美、英、韩等五国, ...?

中 is the short form of 中国 here.

中 = China

There’s a 顿号 (、) after 中 so you can tell that it is part of a list, that would aid your deciphering methods letting you know it’s not a phrase with the words in front of it.


The meaning of idiom '急火攻心' Example:
人们会急火攻心

Does it mean 'heart was attacked with anxiety/anxiousness'?
Therefore in the example it would mean people's heart would be anxious?

《國語辭典》

  急火攻心
  因情緒太過激動，而造成身心一時的不適。
  Because the emotion is too excited, and cause physical and mental discomfort.

There are 50 example sentences on the ichacha site.


Why is 的 used with 是 sometimes to answer in the affirmative? As in 是的 I've seen 是的 used multiple times as a "yes" answer to a question.
As in the following interaction:

A: 这只猫是你的吗?
B: 是的。

How is it different than just 是 by itself?
Thanks!

I believe there is no semantic difference between 是。 and 是的。when used in answers. Both are very common, but using just one word / phoneme to reply colloquially can be a little bit too spartan / less polite sometimes.


what's the best translation for English for the following words? what is the best translation for English for the following words:

初试锋芒，渐入佳境，登堂入室，独孤求败

For badges of game achievements

First Shrine/First try
Getting better at xxx/ Getting in the flow
Next Level Profficiency
Unbeatable


How do I say "Love is irreversible"? Long time ago I asked to a close friend how to say "love is irreversible" and she taught me it was some like ai shi bu ke ni de.

Then by using google translate I got to this:

愛是不可逆轉的

And I can recognize the character ai which is love. But the rest well I'm a bit lost. Can someone help me to better understand if what my friend told me was right or what the system google uses is more "accurate"?

An answer which would help me the most is one which includes a reason why those characters should appear in that order and what does it mean when used together.

Transcription in Chinese characters
"ai shi bu ke ni de" is 愛是不可逆的.

Grammar
Both are grammatically correctly and literally correct. In textbook grammar, it is a pattern of subject + "是" (verb to be) + an adjective (a phrase ended with 的).

龜是硬的。 Tortoise is hard.
鬼是恐佈的。 Ghost is terrific.

不可逆的 and 不可逆轉的 are phrases ended with 的. Actually they are negation of 可逆的 and 可逆轉的 correspondingly.
可 is commonly used in translation of -(a)ble in English.
In more advanced usage, 是 and 的 are optional. We could write 愛不可逆 and 愛不可逆轉 as well.

Usage
"不可逆的" is accurate translation of irreversible. But Chinese readers may not get its meaning. Or they may conceive that love is something that cannot be resisted or disobeyed.
While 愛是不可逆轉的 is grammatically and literally correct for translating "love is irreversible", it is not so comprehensible for Chinese readers.
逆轉 usually describes that a situation is reversed, from good to bad, or from bad to good. If one is in love, it is 愛. If one is no longer in love, it is 不愛. 愛 could change to 不愛. 逆轉 is problematic when it describes 愛.
You make a nice elaboration in your comment. "'Love' or the emotion is something that when given by somebody is difficult to take it back or to reverse that decision once taken."
In search for better translation, your comment reminds me a line "愛是可發不可收" in the lyrics from a Cantonese song 愛在深秋, sung by Alan Tam (譚詠麟), written by lyrist Andrew Lam (林敏聰). 可發 is "able to give" and 不可收 "unable to take it back". But it is poetic and somehow ambiguous.
There are some more idiomatic phrases like 覆水難收. 覆水難收 literally means "Spilt water can't be gathered up". We use it to describe "What is done can't be undone". But I would hesitate to write 愛是覆水難收.  It looks like that "love is put to the end and is not recoverable"
Chinese would use "split water" to describe something that unable to get back. It would be more understandable to write 愛如潑水不可收, literally "love is like split water and one cannot take it back.
Alternatively, we can write 愛過無法磨滅. (Once) loved, (there is) no way to remove (the fact, its trace, its memory).

There are many words to describe "irreversible". But "love is irreversible" has implicit meaning and it is very difficult to translate it directly without misleading.


How would one write the following officially? I was wondering how would a contract in Chinese state that:

Utilities (gas, water and electricity) are 200 every month and will be settled with a final settlement at the end of the year.

EDIT -

So what I have tried so far is: 水, 電, 油費 應該每月支付, 年末

I am not sure whether there is a word for utilities that is commonly used. I hear 水電費 more often, but that does not include gas.
In English I use the word should more often, but I don't see that being used in contracts.
In addition, the last issue is, I don't know how to say a final settlement.

see e.g. LINE dictionary examples:utilities:水电费都包括吗？ 租金含水电费吗, gas: 我去缴纳 煤气费 every month 每月首日支付租金 settled at end: 每年年底结帐 final settlement date 到期日 suggestion as follows:

每月支付煤气水电费２００美元（？）以年底到期日结帐  (to be settled at end of year settlement date)

added 6/3/19: another term for "gas" 燃气费


Why does 牛车水 mean Chinatown? I saw a video where people referred to to Chinatown in Singapore as 牛车水. What does this literally mean?

牛车水 literally means

牛车 - oxcart
水   - water

i.e. 牛车（运）水, oxcart (carrying) water.

  牛车水（Chinatown）是新加坡的唐人街，名字的由来也反映了当年华人的一段历史。当时来南洋生活在这里的华人没有自来水用，于是用牛车运水，每天这里都是一辆辆的运水牛车，也算得上是车水马龙的壮观景象了。久而久之人们就称这里为牛车水了。

There's no tap water in the past, it was general to transport water by oxcart in chinatown, as time passes chinatown began to be called as 牛车水.


Is 用人单位未依法为劳动者缴纳社会保险费的, from a Contract of Employment, ambiguous? This chapter is talking about ways to get out of your Contract of Employment without paying a penalty (违约金）.

My book quotes 《北京市劳动合同规定》第三十五条

（四）用人单位未依法为劳动者缴纳社会保险费的。

If I translate this, it seems to say:

"(4) (If) The employer illegally pays Social Security for the employee." which is a bit crazy, and cannot be the intended meaning.

You can get out of your Contract of Employment if the employer does not pay the legally required Social Security contributions.

Is there a mistake in the Chinese? I only see one negative here ‘未’ and it seems to be attached to '依法‘，and not negating '缴纳‘. There seems to be a negative missing，or does '未‘ somehow also have scope over '缴纳‘？

未 actually attaches to 缴纳. 依法 is an adverb here that also attaches to 缴纳, and mostly still an adverb in other places, meaning a certain interest, requirement or enforcement is specified in and/or supported by national law. It's related to but not "legal," which corresponds to 合法.

This whole sentence can be translated into the following:

  (When) The employer fails to pay social insurance for the employee, which is required by law.

Disclaimer: I have not been trained in law settings.


Difference among 走去 vs 走路 vs 步行? Are 走去, 走路, and 步行 interchangeable? Specifically, are they all valid variations of saying "to walk?"?

For instance, are all these identical?

我們走去了三分鐘
我們走路了三分鐘
我們步行了三分鐘

我們走去了三分鐘 and 我們走路了三分鐘 are unnatural. The common way to say it is 我們走了三分鐘.

走去 is not a good set. We don't really use it.

More often, 走路 is more like a gerund, and 走 alone is usually used as a verb. You can say 我們走路走了三分鐘.

步行 could be used as a verb as it's in your example.

So, these sentences convey the same thing:

  我們走了三分鐘.

  我們走路走了三分鐘.

  我們步行了三分鐘.


I have problems analyzing the constituents of the following sentence: 德国人不习惯他们旁边围满了人 I cannot understand in this sentence the various functions of the components.

德国人不习惯他们旁边围满了人

I understood the meaning ("Germans are not used to be surrounded by a lot of people", non-literally) but I can't well understand the structure.

Up to 他们旁边 it's fine: "their side". Now there's 围, and I can't understand if it's here as a verb or as another noun. In this last case, it would be determined by 他们旁边, and we could maybe translate it as "their immediate surroundings", since 旁边 gives me the idea of "very close". At this point though, 满 must be the verb, but Pleco says that, as a verb, you can use it only to express the meaning of "to fill" (unlike 充满， that actually would work better since it expresses "be filled with"). But if this is the case, its object should be the object that it fills, like a cup. 人 has no sense as an object in this case.

Maybe 满 is a complement for 围? Can be used as a complement? And why the use of 了?

德国人不习惯他们旁边围满了人。
Germans are not used to having a lot of people around them.

(whoever wrote this has never been to the Oktoberfest or any Bierfest)

A Chinese sentence does not have to conform to the grammatical standards of English.

德国人
Germans
不习惯
not used to
他们旁边围
their surroundings
满了人。
full people


Hard to translate music verse I have a blog on which I translate Chinese Music. I've come to a halt at the verses
无法容下世间之爱
and
但愿无声自有人在
and
但愿无能自有人在
in the song 臥軌的火車 【火海 The Flame of Love】
I don't quite understand this, even going word by word or word groups, it doesn't make any sense to me.
Could somebody help me out?

心中是一片火海 - My heart is an ocean of fire
无法容下世间之爱 - It cannot contain (accept) any love in the world
但愿无声 自有人在 - Just wish (when I am) voiceless, there is always someone there (to accompany me or speak for me)
但愿无能 自有人在 - Just wish (when I am) powerless, there is always someone there (to accompany me or to help me)
The problem with the phrase '自有人在' (there is naturally/ always someone there) is it doesn't state what that person is supposed to do. I have to presume that someone is there to accompany me or actually be there to help me
Typical usage of '自有':
你不爱我自有人爱我 (you don’t love me, naturally there is someone else who would love me) = Even if you didn’t love me, there is always someone who would love me
Common expression: 山人自有妙計 = I naturally (always) have a good plan


What is the etymology of "商" in "商数" "商数" is usually translated as "quotient" in both its mathematical and common usage forms (eg in "智商"/intelligence quotient, which is in fact an actual quotient.).

What is the etymology of "商", and why was it used to describe fractional numbers?

This is not an easy question. But I think here is an answer.

It originated from the Chinese water clock or clepsydra in the ancient time (刻漏 or 漏壶, http://baike.baidu.com/view/41631.htm). 刻漏 or 漏壶 was a leaky water container, where the water level represents time. 商 was originally the scale plate on this type of water clock. The scale first had 100 grades (later 120 grades). So it roughly meant 'percentage' at some point and then the word 商数 or 商 began to mean 'quotient'. Because its ancient meaning (a scale plate on a water clock) is definitely deprecated, it is hard to see why 商数 means quotient. It has nothing to do with dividend or business numbers. :D

Some reference is below:

《集韵·阳韵》：“商,刻也.”《正字通·口部》：“商乃漏箭所刻之处.”《仪礼·士昏礼》解题引郑玄《目录》：“日入三商为昏.”贾公彦疏：“商为商量,是刻漏之名.故《三光灵曜》亦日入三刻为昏.”准此,可以断定,商之本义是古代滴漏上计时的刻度.商的其他字义皆由此引申而来.《说文》：“漏以铜受水,刻节,昼夜百刻.”《汉书·哀帝纪》：“漏刻以百二十为度.注：“旧漏昼夜其百刻,今增其二十.”可知刻箭上的度数有以百为率.每支刻箭一百度,每一度都是相等的,等于说把一支刻箭用一百来除,得出每一度的长度,这就叫商.算术中除法运算的得数叫商,是由漏箭的刻度引申而来.《广雅·释诂》：“商,常也.”《广韵·阳韵》：“商,常也.”常即经常,恒定不变,其义来自漏箭的刻度是一个恒定的常数.做生意,做买卖叫商,如“商品”、“商业”,此义也由商为漏箭刻度引申而来.《广雅》：“商,度也.”《汉书·沟洫志》：“能商功利”.颜师古注：“商,度也.”商有度量义,商量义,人与人之间的买卖关系要遵守等价交换的原则,交换双方都要度量对方货物的价值与己方货物的价值是否相当,所以,商又用为商业、商品、商人,仍为漏箭刻度的引申义. (http://zuoye.baidu.com/question/6b86ea97bf3190c0c06615f0b9c852cb.html?fr=iks&word=%B3%FD%B7%A8%BD%E1%B9%FB%CE%AA%CA%B2%C3%B4%BD%D0%C9%CC&ie=gbk)


List of hanzi and their components I would like to be able to compute the distance between 2 hanzi according to their components.

My idea is that a hanzi like 式 is made of 工 and 弋. 2 hanzi are close if they share common components.

To be able to compute such distance, I need to be able to have a list of hanzi and their components in a digital format. Does such list exist?

I know exactly the thing. There's a project on Wikimedia commons to document the substructure of characters in terms of other characters. I haven't spent much time with the data itself, so I can't tell you how complete it is, but it seems pretty good based on my experience with the Tatoeba character search tool that is based on the data. That tool allows you to "explode" characters into their components (e.g., 蝴 => 月虫...) or search for all characters with a particular component (e.g., 隹 => 倠傕傩...).

Another project to do something similar is Wenlin's database of characters in the Character Description Language. Here is Wenlin's page of resources on the CDL. I'm not really sure if you have to buy Wenlin in order to get at some data. Anyhow, it looks pretty awesome.

Best of luck in your endeavors! I've wanted to do something similar, but I've always been too busy. Make sure to tell us about the cool things you do with the data :-)


What does the '头' in '头一次遇到' mean? I know the literal meaning of 头, but I'm confused about what it mean and what it's function is when it is placed in this structure.

头一次遇到 I wrote is not a complete sentence, but 一次遇到 here means the first time (I) met....

头 not only means 'head'.It also means 'the first order',also means 'leader' , 'the first class','the beginning'etc. Because(actually my guess) in Chinese culture, head is the first and important part of the human body.

You can also say"头三个人"，which means, the first three people.
Another example is '头排'，which means 'the first row'. Here '一' is missing because generally '头'and '一' refers to the same meaning.
You can replace '头'by'第'sometimes. e.p. you can say either '头一次遇到' or '第一次遇到'.
BUT! '头三个人' and '第三个人' have different meanings. '第三个人' means the third person.


Why curse the unborn to be without an anus? There is a common curse for the parents of the unborn & their babies saying that they will be born without an anus:

  生儿子没屁眼

and it comes with variants like 生孩子没屁眼, as well.

I get the purpose of ill-wishers but why something so specific as an child without an anus? Is there something special about the anus that I am missing out on?

生仔冇屎忽 (Cantonese)
粗口之一，用作詛咒一人的後代。
狹義來說，是詛咒一人的兒子生下來會是怪胎；但現在此字眼通常用作詛咒一人，暗示他的行為會為他本人或家人帶來惡果。
現實中，生仔無屎忽的事例的確存在，被稱為閉肛症。古時有此病症者，因嬰孩不能排便，必然導致死亡，因此生仔無屎忽為非常惡毒的咀咒。現今來說，雖可施手術令到有此缺陷嬰孩通便，但因該嬰孩沒有可控制排便的肛門，即使成長，也需攜帶便袋，而渾身也會隱隱發出陣陣便臭。

~

生儿子没屁眼
因为真的发生过。
大概这是中国人能想到的最恶毒的诅咒之一。在所有的身体缺陷中，可能中国人认为这是最悲惨的一种，想想如果没有肛门，那小孩还能活吗？最后肯定憋死，这句话没法追根溯源，我猜有人开始这样骂别人，被别人听到后感觉这话够劲，就纷纷开始模仿，中国人喜欢跟风你也知道，自古就这样。而且只要骂这个，被骂的人没有不怒的，作为挑衅妥妥的管用。但事实上，先天性肛门闭锁是真的在现实里存在的，可以通过手术治疗，再造一个人造肛门就可以了。

~

Anus is considered 'dirty' in most cultures,  mentioning '屎忽 / 屁眼' (asshole)  is common in profanity. For example; 入你屎眼, 屎忽鬼, 食屎疴飯 in Cantonese,  屁股精 in Mandarin

Cursing someone's family is considered more hurtful than cursing that person himself or herself. Chinese believe one's evil deed will cause misfortune to his or her descendants, and son represent someone's future lineage

Cursing someone's child born without an anus is one of the most vicious curse possible. (not only someone's son will die, he will also suffer horribly before he dies )

閉肛症 or 先天性肛门闭锁 is a real birth deformity


What is the difference btween 看样子 and 看起来 I just learned that you could use 看样子 to mean something similar to 看起来. Is there a difference in usage? Is one more formal than the other?

From Iciba.com
好天气看样子要过去了

他看起来很生气

From the comment by @user6065

Similarities and differences of '看来', '看起来' and '看样子'

Similarities:

They are all conjunctions, used to make judgements or predictions based on a specific situation.
They could be used at the beginning of a sentence.
They are interchangeable sometimes
Examples:

天一下子阴了，看来(看起来/看样子)要下大雨了。

It is cloudy all of a sudden, looks like it is about to rain.

赵娜老打哈欠，看来(看起来/看样子)昨天晚上没睡好。

Zhao Na keeps yawning, looks like she didn't sleep well last night.

雨下个不停，看起来(看来/看样子)我们这几天去不成海边了。

It is still raining, looks like we can't go to the seaside in a few days.

看起来(看来/看样子)，这条马路到年底也修不好。

Looks like this road won't get fixed by the end of year.

杰克笑嘻嘻得走过来，看样子(看来/看起来)他今天心情不错。

Jack is coming with smile on his face, looks like he is feeling good today.

王经理一直没出声，看样子(看来/看起来)他对这个计划并不满意。

Mr.Wang didn't say anything, it looks like he is not satisfied with this plan.

Differences:

"看来" is to represent the inference by analysis (little bit). While "看起来" and "看样子" represent the inference more obviously, such as the inference easily made according to appearance.
"看来" is only used before Subject most of the time. While "看起来" and "看样子" could be used before or after Subject.
"看来" could be used in these structures: "从...看来", "在...看来", "由此看来", "照我看来", which refer to get the inference via different perspectives. "看起来" and "看样子" cannot be used in these structures.
Examples:

他看起来(看样子)像个40多岁的中年人，哪像个20多岁的小伙子？

He looks like around 40 years old. How could he look like a 20-year-old guy?

这些花看起来(看样子)像是真的一样，其实是假的。

These flowers looks like authentic, but they are artificial.

他看样子(看起来)很老实，其实狡猾得要命。

He looks like honest, but he is cunning.

这些菜看样子(看起来)就很好吃，我今天要多吃几碗饭。

These dishes looks tasty. I would like to have more today.


What does the 3rd symbol on this sword label mean? I have an century+ old sword which has this label:

A Chinese friend at work said she understood 光雲一刀 = "Light cloud [something] sword" but she couldn't figure out the third character, some kind of classifier, she thought maybe.

Can someone help me with that 3rd character please?
Thanks in advance.

my initial guess, the 3rd character is 刻 (u+523b)

http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/search.php?word=刻

the seal script in the picture is slightly deviated from standard one.

anyway, i guess your sword is made by 光雲堂, a japanese carving knife manufacturer; maybe you can ask them directly :)

http://kouundou.com/index.html


How do you say bot in chinese? The bot I am referring to is a software program that does automated tasks.

I was thinking of if "器" is the right character for it.

I confirmed it with wordreference but does not appear to have a translation for it.

Is there actually a better translation than the one I have mentioned?

The "bot" as a software program could be translated just like the physical robots as "機器人" (literal meaning is "machine"+"person") in the Mandarin Chinese; or it would also be called more specifically as "機器人程序" or "機器人程式" ("robot"+"program").

But, in the spoken Chinese, people may just borrow the original English word "bot" instead of using any localized translations mentioned above.

Some educational or academic sources would suggest some complex terms but they are rarely being used in the actual conversations or texts.


What is the difference between 神河and 河神 河神 to 神河  difference
神河文明
Tientsin Mystic (河神)
Is there any difference in the use 河神 to 神河?

The words are different in "central word(中心语)".
According to structure of phrase, they're both "偏正短语". It means, it has a "central word"(usually a noun)("正" of "偏正") and a word to describe it(定语)("偏" of "偏正"). The central word is the most important part of a phrase. It is the essence of the thing the word means.
In "河神", the central word is "神". "河" is a word to describe "神".
Where's the god? (神 is the central word)
In the river. (河 is the 定语 to describe the living place of 神)

In "神河", "河" is the central word, and "神" is the 定语.
神河属于河神.
shorten it: 河属于神.


Use of 成 / 乘 number quantifiers in Cantonese I learned in Cantonese class that adding 成 to a Number can imply a degree of something. For example, 七成 means 70%.

I explored further and it seems that it can be used to describe the rarity of your steak. Such that:

一成熟：rare (10% cooked)
三乘熟：medium rare (30% cooked)
五乘熟：medium (50% cooked)
七乘熟：medium well (70% cooked)
全熟：Well done (100% cooked)

I had 2 questions here:

When to use 成 VS 乘 ?
Why is this particular set of numbers (10%, 30%, 50%) chosen?
I have seen something similar when choosing amount of sugar in bubble tea (i.e. 10%, 30%, 50%, 70% and 100%). Why not choose 25%, 50%, 75% instead?

成: one tenth; 10 per cent
乘: multiply; multiplication

一成熟：rare (10% cooked) 三成熟：medium rare (30% cooked) 五成熟：medium (50% cooked) 七成熟：medium well (70% cooked) 全熟：Well done (100% cooked)
It is always "(X)成"  for "(X)/10"
一成 = 1/10
三成 = 3/10
五成 = 5/10
七成 = 7/10
十成 = 10/10
十二成 = 12/10 (overdrive)


How do we wish someone to get better? When we know somebody is sick, how can we wish them to get better? What are the best ways and also the standard ones to do that?

I'd like you to differentiate among some things, if and when applicable:

Tell someone directly (get better soon) VS tell someone's relative/friend (I wish your __ gets better soon);
When the cause is something "light" (like a flu) VS something more serious (being in the hospital);
When there is confidence with the interlocutor VS when there's no confidence;
etc... Other things that I might have forgotten.

One common phrase is this one, where X is the somebody in your question:

  祝X早日康復/祝X早日康复。
  Zhù X zǎo rì kāng fù

For example, 祝你早日康復/祝你早日康复, which can be translated into "wish/hope you'll recover soon." or "wish/hope you'll make a speedy recovery."

Vocabulary:

  祝 (zhù) = Wish
  你 (nǐ) = You
  早日 (zǎo rì) = in the near future, soon
  康復/康复 (kāng fù) = recover from illness

This phrase can be used in most situations (mostly formal, informal and situations 1, 2 & 3 in your questions).

For "light" sickness, say a cold or a headache, people often say:

  多休息/多休息 = Take more rest.
  Duō xiū xí
  多保重/多保重 = Please take care.
  Duō bǎo zhòng
  小心別又著涼了/小心别又着凉了 = Please don't get cold again.
  Xiǎo xīn bié yòu zháo liáng le

You'd often hear parents or elderly relatives say Example 3 to their kids or young people in the family when they have a cold.


What does "上千" + [something] mean? For example:

  上千苹果

Does that mean exactly one thousand apples, or over a thousand apples, or roughly a thousand apples, or up to a thousand apples?


Mandarin equivalent to 而家做嘢做成點? In Cantonese, you often hear people say this phrase 你而家做嘢做成點.

What would the Mandarin equivalent be for this phrase?

而家 = 現在
做嘢 = 做事/工作
做成 = 做成/做得
點 = 怎樣
"而家做嘢做成點?" (how is work going?) in Mandarin is "現在工作做得怎樣?"

做嘢 or 做事 in Cantonese can mean either 'doing things' or "working a job".

'做嘢' in '去做嘢' (go do things)  refers to "do things / work on things"

'做嘢' in '而家做嘢做成點' (how's work going now?)  mostly refers to "work in job"

'去做嘢' in Mandarin is '去做事' or '去幹活'


Why is it SOV (and not SVO) in 我可以跟她约会? Chinese is supposed to be (Subject-Verb-Object) SVO right? (as I learnt, of course) then why in this sentence

  我可以跟她约会

does 约会 mean "to date"?  It's a verb I presume, why is it (Subject-Object-Verb) SOV here?

I have a hunch though that it's not even a verb, if so, It would be mean "I can go with her on a date?"

If so, shouldn't there be a classifier? “一个约会”

Chinese is supposed to be SVO

Correct. More specifically, Chinese can be SVO or SV, plus additional components. Sometimes we omit the subject if it's obvious what the subject refers to.

"约会" means to date, so It's a verb I presume

"约会" can be a verb (go on a date/hang out) or a noun (a date). When using it as a noun, we need to use a classifier before it. "我/有/一个/约会"="I / have / a / date"
When using as a verb, the simplest way is "我/约会" SV, but it doesn't make sense at all because you can't go on a date alone. So the common usage is

我/和/她/约会
I / hang out / with / her

The only difference with the english version is Chinese tend to put 和她 (adverbial modifier, which only gives more details and is omittable in a sentence) before the verb. So it's still an SV structure.


xiǎng xiǎng ‘keep on thinking’ vs xiáng xiǎng ‘think for a moment’ According to Wiedenhof's A Grammar of Mandarin, page 25,

  xiǎng xiǎng ‘keep on thinking’  doesn't show tone sandhi because the tones belong to separate clauses, unlike [xiáng xiǎng] ‘think for
  a moment’.

What meaning of "clause" is used here?

I don't think there are any clauses. Both of them are verbs. The different tones express different emotions.

If you say "xiǎng xiǎng", you are emphasizing you are pondering. So you pronounce with stress. For instance, you are quarrelling with someone, and you said "Shut up! Let me think about it!"

And if you say "xiáng xiǎng", most of the time you are imagining (A devil whispering beside you ear "Just think about it, the most beautiful women will be yours"), but some of the time you are pondering (Because you are in the duration of deep thinking, and you don't care your questioner very much, and you are carelessly murmuring).


What are the differences between 报名，登记，挂号？ It looks like they all mean "register". Are there any differences between these three words?

Definitions:

报名
To fill in personal information to the organizer in order to participate in the activities.
（参加活动时，向主办单位填写个人资料。）

登记
To record the relevant matters in the form or the booklet of the organizer or the competent authority; to register for a service (such as to subscribe to a delivery service or a social networking website).
（将相关事项记录在主办单位或主管机关的表格或册子上。）

挂号
To get a number in order to do something in sequence.
（取得编号，以便依序进行某事。）

Differences:

挂号 must involve the number, however 报名 and 登记 do not have to.
（“挂号”必定牵涉到号码，而“报名”和“登记”则不一定。）

报名 usually 登记 some information, and 登记 may not be a 报名, so 登记 is broader than 报名.
（“报名”通常会“登记”一些资料，而“登记”不一定是“报名”，所以“登记”的范围比较广。）

The relationship between 挂号 and 登记 is relatively close, because 挂号 usually 登记 some information in order to distinguish.
（“挂号”和“登记”的关系比较密切，因为“挂号”通常要“登记”一些资料，才能区别。）

报名 and 挂号 are less relevant. We use them in different areas, and do not mix them up.
（“报名”和“挂号”的关系比较小。各自用在不同的事件。我们不太会把这两个词混用。）

Examples:

报名
考试 examination or test
比赛 competition or game
培训 training or course
加入团队 to join a team

挂号
看病 to see a doctor
寄信 to send a mail
接受服务 to receive service

登记
出生死亡 birth or death
收养 adoption
结婚离婚 marriage or divorce
不动产 real estate
土地房产 land or property
车辆 vehicle
开业 to open a business


How to indicate "long pronunciation" in writing in Chinese? In English I can change "what the heck" to something like "what the heeckkkkkk" when writing in order to show that the pronunciation of "heck" is being dragged out. When writing Chinese characters, how can I indicate this lengthened pronunciation?

The one I see most often is the use of "～":  "啊～～～"


Difference between 小老婆 and 小老太 I have been going to a Chinese restaurant a lot lately, and the owner is a very friendly little old Chinese lady. Should I call her 小老婆 or 小老太? Is it rude to call her 小？

Also, I think Chinese are confusing about their wives and mothers in general. For example, In Japanese, 娘 means young girl, but in Chinese 娘 means mother. 花姑娘 is actually young girl in Chinese. How come flowery-auntie-mother suddenly became a young girl??? Strange!!

Also，what is the difference between 小姐子 and 大妹子？ Who is older?

Last but not least, I know 太太 means wife，and 婆婆 means old lady, but I believe 老婆 also can be referred to wife. So old-old lady suddenly become your wife?? So weird!!! There is yet another confusing term: 老太婆。 Does 老太婆 mean wife or old lady?

Should I call her 小老婆 or 小老太? Is it rude to call her 小？

Don't use either of the two expressions to address ladies. 小老婆 means concubine. As for 老太, ladies' reactions towards that expression vary. Some ladies may feel insulted and others complimented. 小老太 is rather strange to me, although it might be used by areas I'm not native to.

How come flowery-auntie-mother suddenly became a young girl??? Strange!!

Do not use 花姑娘 either. It is almost only portrayed as an expression used by Japanese invaders to refer to girls they wanted to insult.

what is the difference between 小姐子 and 大妹子？ Who is older?

I don't think the expression 小姐子 exists. 大妹子 is quite similar to "sister" used by black females to talk to or about each other.

So old-old lady suddenly become your wife??

It does not happen suddenly. 老婆 used to have meanings of both old ladies and one's wife but now the latter prevails.

Does 老太婆 mean wife or old lady?

Both. But it is offensive to call an old lady 老太婆 if you two are not close.

So, just call her 婆婆 or 奶奶. I have not seen an old friendly Chinese lady who does not like these two titles.


Is 憨豆先生 (Mr. Bean) commonly used to refer to Rowan Atkinson even when he's playing other characters, or when he's not acting? Among the characters Rowan Atkinson has portrayed on TV and in movies is Mr. Bean, 憨豆先生 in Chinese.  My impression is that people always call him 憨豆先生 (Mr. Bean) regardless of what role he is playing, not realizing his name is Rowan Atkinson (罗温·艾金森).  However, this may just be among people I socialize with.

Question: Is 憨豆先生 (Mr. Bean) commonly used to refer to Rowan Atkinson even when he's playing other characters, or when he's not acting?

No and yes.

No, because he is "officially" known as 罗温·艾金森. Some of my Chinese colleagues recognized this name, though they couldn't write it (same with me: I am a Ukrainian, and I don't know his name, but I can recognize it once I see it in writing).

Yes, because like in most parts of the world (particularly my home country Ukraine), he is most known by his character "Mr. Bean". Therefore most of my Chinese colleagues could not recognize his official name at all, unless I told them 憨豆先生 or showed his photo.


How to distinguish two words the same pronunciation but different meaning (gāo jià) I just wonder about how to distinguish the words 高价 vs 高架. Both of them seem to have the same pronunciation gāo jià.

Are there any additional cues for distinguishing them in a sentence? or Do people use contextual information to distinguish them?

As a Chinese native speaker, I use contextual information to distinguish them while listening. It's very common.

Different tones also used to distinguish them. Same pronunciation and same tone is not very common in different Chinese phrase.

Every Chinese pronunciation has many different characters, so you can easily distinguish them by their shapes while reading.


Something like "turning lemons into lemonade" Is there a Chinese saying roughly equivalent in meaning to "turning lemons into lemonade"?

From Wikipedia,

  "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade" is a proverbial phrase
  used to encourage optimism and a can-do attitude in the face of
  adversity or misfortune. "Lemons" in this expression is used in the
  informal sense of the word, to indicate an unfortunate or inadequate
  situation, a meaning which probably stems from the sour and acidic
  taste of unsweetened lemon. "Lemonade" on the other hand, is a
  sweetened form of this same acerbic fruit, and so in the context of
  this expression, conveys the potential for pleasure and opportunity in
  seemingly bad situations.

There are some phrases of close meanings:

化干戈为玉帛   turn hostility into peace;
转危为安 / 化险为夷       turn danger into safety;
化压力为动力   turn the pressure of life into power;
转悲为喜 turn sorrow into joy;
化悲痛为力量   turn sadness into power;
变废为宝    turn rubbish into useful things;
化失败为教训  turn failure into lessons


What is the difference between 广阔，宽阔，宽广 and 辽阔? They have very similar definitions

广阔 vast; wide; spacious; expansive; extensive; broad:

宽阔 broad; wide; roomy; spacious

宽广 broad; extensive; spacious; vast:

辽阔 vast; extensive

广阔 vast; wide; spacious; expansive; extensive; broad:

广= broad 阔= wide

广阔 (broad) mostly describe:

space - e.g 广阔空间 (broad space)
territory - e.g.  广阔领土 (broad territory)
area - e.g. 广阔面积 (broad area)

  宽阔 broad; wide; roomy; spacious

宽= spacious 阔= wide

宽阔 (spacious) mostly describe:

space  - e.g. 宽阔空间 (wide space); 宽阔房间 (spacious room)
object - e.g 车身宽阔 (the car is wide)

  宽广 broad; extensive; spacious; vast:

宽= spacious 广 = broad

宽广(expansive) mostly describe:

space - e.g 宽广空间 (expansive space)
area - e.g 地方宽广(area is expansive)

  辽阔 vast; extensive

辽= distant = 阔= wide

辽阔 (vast) mostly describe:

space  - e.g.  辽阔空间 (vast space)
territory - e.g.  辽阔领土 (vast territory )
area - e.g. 地方辽阔 (area is vast)

Maria Efremova wrote:

  Is there any difference in usage between 广阔 and 辽阔?

广阔 is more general, It can be used to describe area in a grand scale, for example: '广阔的宇宙'(wide universe) but it can also be used to describe area in much smaller scale, for example:  '广阔的足球场' (wide football field)

It can also be used metaphorically. For example 心胸广阔 (forgiving).

辽阔 is more specific. It is exclusively for describing area in a grand scale. (area that cover vast distance and require long time to travel)

辽 itself means 'distant' (far away in time or space)

you can say '辽阔的宇宙' (vast universe) but you cannot say '辽阔的足球场' (vast football field) because it is too small in scale.


Is it possible to quip "My package went to Nanjing, but I'm in Beijing; that's the complete opposite Jing"? I'm trying to quip

  My package went to Nanjing, but I'm in Beijing; that's the complete opposite Jing.

For it to be funny in English, the reader would have to know that 京 in Nanjing 南京 and Beijing 北京 is the same, and the joke is a play on how 南 and 北 are opposites.

Here's my attempt at writing it, which is a fairly literal translation:

  我的快递发到了南京，但是我在北京。那儿是完全相反的“京”。

It's meant to be a joke.  However, I'm uncomfortable with the atypical grammar here.  I'm not sure it's even possible to express this in Chinese.

Question: Is it possible to quip "My package went to Nanjing, but I'm in Beijing; that's the complete opposite Jing"?

In speech, you can say: 我人在'北'京，快递却发到了'南'京.

It would add some joking effect when you put a bit emphasis on 北 and 南.

You don't have to say they are opposite literally. Your audience would seize that from your tone, which is the whole point of the joke.


Is written Hakka the same as simplified Chinese? Hakka is a dialect of Chinese and therefore should be considered when speaking however what about writing?  From a translation perspective is there a specific way to write Hakka or is this the same as Simplified or Traditional Chinese?

I have an old Hakka textbook, published in Singapore in the 1950s. It is written in transcription (for the learner) and in Chinese, using Traditional characters, including some Hakka-specific characters -- borrowed most probably from Cantonese -- like 冇, 唔.

Below are a couple of pages. Today, though, it is rarely written, and when it is, the writer will use whatever character set he or she uses for Mandarin.


Is the mūdra "little tarzan" a real thing? what does it mean? This children's(?) book is using mūdra (手印) to make some eastern vs. western jokes:

The guy says:

小泰山！
Little Tarzan!

and sticks up his middle finger.
Is "Little Tarzan!" a real mūdra? What does it mean? What's it's usage?

It's most likely a Taoism's 手訣 (I'd say that the word 手印 is reserved to Buddhism).
It probably comes from this book.

Apparently, there is a more famous 手訣 called 靈官訣, using by 王靈官, similar to 小泰山訣.
Bonus: this is how it works in practice.

Source:

http://www.izhct.com/xiushen/dao/11095.html
https://kknews.cc/culture/5ojavp3.html
https://kknews.cc/news/6pgk2lq.html


Which number translation is correct? I need to write a numeral in 汉字。

But I am not sure, if I need to put 一 in huge numerals before tens.
So, my numeral is 81,016 and my question is: do I need to write:

八万一千零一十六

or:

八万一千零十六

Which form is right? Thank you for helping!

Both representations (八万一千零一十六 and 八万一千零十六) are correct, while 八万一千零一十六 sounds more natural.

Rule

The rule is actually very simple.

  Use 十… instead of 一十… at the very beginning of the number. Otherwise, just keep the 一十.

Example:

  1 = 一
  11 = 十一
  310 = 三百一十
  3010 = 三千零一十
  3310 = 三千三百一十
  30010 = 三万零一十
  100010 = 十万零一十
  30100010 = 三千零一十万零一十

Tools

You can use online tools to do the conversion. Input Arabic numbers, and get Chinese output. Both tools can handle negative value & decimal places. It is suggested to compare the result from both tools if using for formal usage.

Mandatintools.com - Variety of output styles:

Traditional Chinese - 81016 = 八萬一千零一十六
Simplified Chinese - 81016 = 八万一千零一十六
Traditional Chinese (formal) - 81016 = 捌萬壹仟零壹拾陸
Simplified Chinese (formal) - 81016 = 捌万壹仟零壹拾陆
Pinyin - 81016 = ba1 wan4 yi1 qian1 ling2 yi1 shi2 liu4

  All translations are perfectly correct and natural, except:

  The character 一 is not necessary for those beginning with 一十... (e.g. 一十二萬零五, 一十億). It is still correct, but unnatural.

Chinesetools.eu - Variety of input types (Numbers, Dates, Years, Time, Money, Fractions, Decimals, Percents). Only one output style:

Simplified Chinese with Pinyin
120101 = 十二万〇一百〇一 shíèr wàn/mò líng yībǎi líng yī

  All translations are perfectly correct and natural, except:

  I cannot understand why 万 has a pinyin of mò.
  The dollar character should be 块 instead of 快.


Besides the radical, what meaning does the rest of a Chinese character have (especially when it was originally created)? I am a beginning student of Mandarin Chinese. There is a key thing about Chinese characters that I am trying to understand. Besides the radical, what purpose does the rest of a character have? Was it put there originally (long ago in history) only to help with pronunciation?
For example, "begin/start" - 开始. I am mainly concerned with character 始
The character 始 has the radical of "female": 女
The rest of character 始 is composed of two other characters. When character 始 was originally created (as far as we know), were the two other characters only put there to help people pronounce the overall word 始, to provide additional meaning, or both?
In order words, was the radical the only part that was originally supposed to carry "meaning"?
If that is true, then why would there ever by more than one additional character to indicate pronunciation? It seems one character would always be enough to provide help with pronunciation.
Thank you for any insight into this.

Radicals do not have anything to do with meaning.
I'll start off with a rather lengthy correction to a common misconception. Radicals (部首, literally section 部 header 首) are just a dictionary organisation tool, specifically used for texts which collate and refer to a large collection of characters, serving as the head of each section of a dictionary. They are functionally equivalent to first letters of English words, as English dictionaries organise words under the first letter of each word.

When characters were originally created, there was no such thing as dictionaries, and certainly then there was no such thing as radicals. Since dictionaries must categorise all characters in use under a dictionary section header, the radicals of a significant number of characters were arbitrarily forced on to them, and really have nothing to do with the character's functionality. For example, see Radical 3 「⼂」, with meaning terminal punctuation mark:

Radical meaning
《說文》：「『丶』，有所絶止，『丶』而識之也」
"「⼂」, if there is a place of termination, 「⼂」 is that which marks this place."
Radical sound
「主」 (Mandarin: zhǔ)
Characters grouped under this radical:

「丷」, handwritten form of two strokes which may appear as 「八」 in print shapes
「丸」, wán, small round object
「丹」, dān, cinnabar (the colour)

This is not to deny that a large number of characters do have radicals which appear to hint at the character's meaning, but this is far from a rule. 「始」 is one such character, but using proper terminology, we do not use the word radical to describe 「女」 in 「始」; rather, this meaning hint is called a semantic component.
This terminology is not just a matter of being pedantic, as many (semantic) components are not radicals at all. For example,

The character 「哥」 (to sing, now complexified into 「歌」) is made up from two simultaneously semantic and phonetic 「可」 (to sing). 「可」 is not a radical.
This is an example of complexification by piling on more components due to overuse/phonetic loaning: To sing was originally written as 「可」, but since this character became phonetically borrowed for the meaning can, able to, it was duplicated to form 「哥」, which later became borrowed for the meaning elder brother, so the meaning to sing was further complexified into 「歌」.

Now, for the rest of the query:
The rest of character 始 is composed of two other characters.
This is not correct: the rest of the character is only comprised of one other character. The character 「始」 is comprised of 「女」 and 「台」, not 「女」 and 「厶」 and 「口」 (you've performed recursive decomposition here, which generally is a very bad idea!). Don't worry about not getting this right, as this is not something you are expected to know intuitively - instead, you should rely on an accurate source of character breakdowns to give you this information. Bad reference material will not break down characters properly, and give you incorrect information.

「始」 (Baxter-Sagart OC: /*l̥əʔ/, elder sister, i.e. the "first female sibling" > initial, first) is comprised from semantic 「女」 (female) and phonetic 「台」 (/*lə/).

... only put there to help people pronounce the overall word 始, to provide additional meaning, or both?
In general, characters have an arbitrary number of components, and each one of these components could be for meaning, sound, or both. It's not up to you as a learner to figure out; it's up to a good reference material to tell you.
then why would there ever by more than one additional character to indicate pronunciation? It seems one character would always be enough to provide help with pronunciation.
Because history is long, and characters may change over time in ways which reflect the contemporary language or change as a result of accumulating scribal errors. For example,

「耻」 (/*n̥rəʔ/, humiliation/shame) is made up from phonetic 「耳」 (/*C.nəʔ/) and phonetic 「止」 (/*təʔ/). The 「止」 part was from a series of shape corruptions from the original semantic component 「心」(heart, indicating emotions).
See What is the history of the character “耻”? for a more detailed treatment of the glyph origins.


Implications of "旧的不去，新的不来" I found this idiom while looking for another idiom my friend told me about like 回去回来 or 回来回去. I'm wondering about the implications of 旧的不去，新的不来 though. Can this be used for people who hold onto broken items/trash? Can this be used for getting over failed relationships? Can this be used for social changes like the acceptance of homosexuality? Are there any particular uses that it implies first and foremost?

Can this be used for people hold onto broken items/trash?

Yes. This is the most common usage and safe to use.

Can this be used for getting over failed relationships?

Yes but don't use it if there is still chance for the relationship to be fixed or if the other party is also your friend. Because 旧的 (old thing) is more or less derogatory.

Can this be used for social changes like the acceptance of homosexuality?

Yes it can be used for social changes, in this case not a as consolation but a neutral sentiment. Please note the literal meaning of the phrase must meet i.e. there has to be an old thing being abolished and a new one being made. The emergence of new thing alone, gay marriage for example, is not enough to apply the phrase.

Are there any particular uses that it implies first and foremost?

As mentioned above, the first implication and most common usage is to console someone who can't get over broken things. Sometimes people use it on failed relationship or even dead pet, which is not always appropriate due to the derogatory sense of 旧的 (especially when put aside with 新的). To be safe, use this phrase only when you're certain the old thing is not worth holding onto and the new thing is better than the old.

There is a related but generalized usage, that is on new year's eve people say 旧的不去，新的不来 as a wishing message. In this usage 旧的 refers to all misfortunes and unnecessary concerns occurred in the past year and 新的 refers to all good things to come.

Another usage is to express a neutral comment as an observer of a change like in the social change example above. It carries little to none personal opinion, mostly a statement of the fact. This usage can be sometimes found in news or social chitchat but not really common in daily conversation or serious discussion. As a matter of fact when someone's asking your opinion about some change, you can use this phrase as hand-waving - it sounds like an opinion but it's just a recap of the fact.


How to list adjectives in Chinese I am preparing for HSK 6, and its Reading Part 1, which asks you to identify a 语病 in a sentence, is notoriously hard. Here is one of the sentences from HSK 6 Reading Part 1.

周围的人都很羡慕她，说他的妻子很实惠，又能干又体贴。

My HSK 6 testbook, which comes without an explanation for each question, says that there is a 语病 in this sentence.

I am guessing that “他的妻子很实惠，又能干又体贴” should be edited to "他的妻子很实惠，能干，体贴." Am I wrong in this?

I recognize at two 语病 in this sentence.

First, it should be

  周围的人都很羡慕他

People envy him, not her, his wife.

Second, one should not describe a person with 实惠，实惠 describes a product, which means the product is worth the price. To describe a person, one use 贤惠，and it is usually for a woman, which generally refers to a woman who is diligent, good tempered and etc.


How does 速 come to mean invite? （So many questions lately, sorry. Saturday I go on holiday!）

A gatecrasher is a person who turns up uninvited at a party or function.

汉语说：不速之客

速： speed
不速之客: no speed guest = gatecrasher ??

多功能成语词典 explains:

解释 速:邀请｡指未经邀请而突然自己来的客人｡

and also gives the note:

提示 “速"不要解释成“速度"或“迅速"｡

A Student's Dictionary of Classical and Medieval Chinese also notes that 速 has the meanings

2 lead to, induce to; beckon toward; invite.

汉语大词典 also notes this meaning, with many examples

5 召, 请。
《诗·小雅·伐木》
既有肥羜, 以速諸父。
郑玄 笺
速, 召也。
《文选·张衡〈思玄赋〉》
速燭龍令執炬兮, 過 鍾山 而中休。
旧注
速, 徵也。
清 顾禄 《清嘉录·冬至大如年》
是夜, 人家更速燕飲, 謂之節酒。
杨树达 《〈凌虚岛〉小说序》
近者得君札, 速余序君書。

It’s not that 速 came to mean invite - but rather that it meant this as early as I Ching, which came out roughly 1100 BC - over three thousand years ago:

《周易·需》:“有不速之客三人来｡"


How do you politely ask for things in Mandarin? I like to say please sometimes when I want to be polite to someone when asking them for something.  Is this customary in Mandarin?

For example, if I wanted to ask for some water, I might ask my friend Li, in English, "would you please pour me some water?" In Mandarin, I only know to say wo xiang he shui, xie xie.  Also, I'm aware that saying thank you to a Chinese person can sometimes create a feeling of distance, and sometimes that is undesirable.

So, Chinese people, and speakers, how do you politely ask for things, and how do you receive a statement such as "wo xiang he shui, xie xie"?  Does it come off as rude in any way?

PS - sorry I don't have chinese input on this device, but I think fluent speakers will know what I mean.

Politeness in Mandarin is expressed by using different politeness elements, which include politeness characters, wording or manner of speaking. Usualy one element is enough in one sentence, because using 2+ elements in the same sentence may sound too polite, causing a feeling of distance.

Would you please pour me some water? 请给我倒些水好吗？

Note: it is different from 我想喝水. Because 我想喝水 is not a request. If you tell me you want to drink some water, I will think, ok, no problem, go ahead and get some water for yourself, as you didn't ask me to get some water for you.
When making a request in Chinese, usualy we don't say 谢谢. Instead, we say 谢谢 when the request is either accepted or fulfilled.

A:您能帮我给他带个口信嘛？ B:可以。A:谢谢。---Request accepted but not fulfilled yet.
A:请给我倒杯水好嘛？ B:给你。A:多谢。---Request fulfilled。

Here are some examples of making polity requests in Mandarin:

您能帮我个忙嘛？ ---Politeness character 您 is an equivalent personal pronoun of 你 in Chinese showing your repect for others, including the elder, your superiors, and so on.
请帮我个忙。---Politeness character 请 is used here to show politeness when asking for a favor
我看，也只有你能帮我这个忙了。 ---Wording, which makes a request indirectly.
帮帮忙吧。 ---Manner of speaking, in a supplicatory way.
可怜可怜我们母子俩吧。---Wording + manner of speaking， which instigates pity.

By the way, the following are the expressions to use when someone says 谢谢/多谢 to you:

别客气 / 甭客气 / 不用客气 / 客气啥 / 太客气了 / 没事儿 / 见外啦 and a lot more.


Does ...我的中文知识不足够的，所以不可能帮你们... sound awkward? I recently tried to compose a sentence to some who told me they were translating a book from English to Chinese. I responded to them:

太好了！很不幸，我的中文知识不足够的，所以不可能帮你们。加油，我很兴奋的！

As I am not a native speaker and my Chinese is quite poor, I cannot tell whether it will sound natural to a native Chinese speaker, or is just barely-passable 老外中文.

Notice that I have omitted the 因为 that should be there to match the 所以 clause. My understanding is that it is okay to omit either one or the other and still have the meaning understood, but I'm sure there are complex rules about which can be omitted in different contexts.

I also had originally started the second sentence as "不幸我的中文..." with the intended meaning of "Unfortunately, my Chinese...". However I chose instead to separate it into an introduction as I wasn't sure whether 不幸 prepended to the beginning of the sentence would make it harder for the absent 因为 to be inferred. I decided to try to play it safe and instead say "It is very unfortunate; my Chinese...".

After my first 我 I omitted the second one which could have gone in "所以不可能帮你们". My understanding is that in Chinese you do not repeat 我 as much as you do "I" in English. I did, however, use it for the next sentence which introduces a new topic.

Finally, the second sentence seemed a little convoluted to me and while I think it is understandable, I don't think it seems natural at all. My intended meaning was "My Chinese mastery is insufficient, ...", but again I think this part is clunky and unnatural.

Well, I can understand your meaning very well, it's good!

For some recommendations，

“太好了！”

There's an adversative after it, you can use "只是" (but).

“很不幸” should be “很遗憾” (unfortunately)

“我的中文知识不足以帮到你们”

Well, just for the second sentence, I can't imagine what do you want to mean by "我很兴奋的"... but you can use “支持你们！” (support you)

  太好了！只是很遗憾，我的中文知识不足以帮到你们。支持你们，加油！


I need help translating and orienting two signature chops (Characters identified: 精忠報國 忠誠衛士) There are two chops. My name is Jake and my wife's name is Kenwyn (Ken-win). We believe the chops were created to represent our names phonetically in Chinese, versus using the symbology to convey an idea representing us. The chops are stone and they are signed by their maker. The picture of the chops was made by taking the square chop, orienting it so that the maker's signature was on the side on the "top" then pressing it to the paper. We do not know if this was the maker's intended orientation. We would like to know which chop is which and what the correct orientation of them shop be (are they upside down or not?) Any assistance would be gratefully accepted. Thank you in advance.

The first one (精忠報國 or 精忠报国 in simplified characters) means to serve one's country with absolute loyalty and make all sacrifices. There is a story tied to this phrase. In the Song Dynasty (around early 1100s CE), there was a famous general called Yue Fei. In order to remind him to serve his country and encourage him to fight against the nomadic invaders, his mother tattooed these four characters on his back.
The second one （忠誠衛士 or 忠诚卫士 in simplified characters) means a loyal defender. There is no story behind this phrase, but it is commonly associated with the Chinese armed police forces.
These two phrases have little to do with your names unless you are part of the military or police.


Small Red Vase W/ Chinese on bottom? Can someone help me decipher these characters? These are on a small red vase with a small "wick" attached to the top.

Left: 乾
Right: 隆
Top: 年
Bottom: 制

You read the characters as if you are standing at the center. The order is a bit funny because it's what people in antiquity do. It is read as 乾隆年制 -- "Made in the year of Qian Long". Qian Long(乾隆) is an emperor of 清(Qing) dynasty.
It is a form of 篆書. You see a lot of such imprints in antiquities. Take a look at this:

it says:

年|乾|大
制|隆|清


What is the meaning of 得 in 饿得受不了? 饿得受不了 (can't endure the hunger)

I kind of understand it, but why does 得 connect a verb with a verb?

得 in 饿得受不了 is a 'degree particle' that indicates what 'degree' the adjective is at.

饿 = hungry
饿得 = hungry to the point of
饿得受不了 = hungry to the point of cannot endure (unbearably hungry)

another example

快 = fast
快得 = fast to the point of
快得像闪电  = fast to the point of like lightning (lightning fast)


How to translate 欢迎乘坐我们的出租车！ 欢迎乘坐我们的出租车！is an idiomatic Chinese sentence. When a passenger enters a taxi, the driver can use it as a greeting. By word-for-word translation,

欢迎: welcome (to)
乘坐: take
我们的: our
出租车: taxi

To make it a sentence: Welcome to take our taxi!. But from the English perspective, Welcome to take our taxi! is a wrong sentence. So, I have some difficulty to turn that Chinese sentence into English.
By the way, some cabs in Shanghai have a machine installed. When a customer enters the car, it will play the utterance: Welcome to take our taxi!. It just sounds ugly to an English native's ear.
Any suggestions?

maybe:

"nice to meet you, welcome aboard"

if, said by machine, try

"welcome aboard of this XXX (company name) taxi"

have fun :)


Are the wiktionary definitions for 切 qiè correct? Definitions 2 through 11 for pronunciation qiè are missing in the 11 dicitionaries I compare from qtranslate. Would they be recognizable in mainland chinese?

to be close to
to bite tightly;
to clench
to correspond to;
to match
(traditional Chinese medicine) to feel the pulse
eager;
ardent
urgent;
pressing
all;
entire
must;
by all means
main point
(phonetics) Short for 反切 (fǎnqiè, “fanqie”).
(chiefly women's speech, colloquial) An interjection conveying a slight sense of disdain or dissatisfaction.

From CantoDict Dictionary:

  http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/characters/793/

  (jyutping) cit3, (pinyin) qie1

  [1] cut; slice; chop; mince; carve

  [2] (indicates that the previous two characters are 反切 notation)

  [3] [math] tangent

  (jyutping) cit3, (pinyin) qie4

  [1] correspond to; conform to; accord with

  [2] close to; near to

  [3] eager; anxious; keen

  [4] be sure to; must

  (jyutping) cai3, (pinyin) qie4

  [1a ]all; whole

~

From the question:

  to be close to

(Match pinyin /qie4/ [2]) close to

  to bite tightly

only work in idiom 咬牙切齒, which literally means 'bite and cut with teeth, therefore, 切 itself doesn't contain the meaning of 'bite'  only contains the meaning of 'cut' here

  to clench

切 doesn't have the meaning of to 'clench' . The editor might have confused  by the expression '切齒',  which literally means 'cut with teeth'  and this action results in you shut your jaws tight, thus extend to the meaning of 'clenching jaws'

  to correspond to

(Match pinyin /qie4/ [1] correspond to)

  to match (traditional Chinese medicine) to feel the pulse

to feel the pulse is 搭脈; 切脈 means 'hack the blood vein' which is a martial art term, the editor made a mistake again

  eager

(Match pinyin /qie4/ [3] eager)

  ardent

(Match pinyin /qie4/ [3] keen)

  urgent

only work in compound word '急切' which means ' urgently close'. '切' in '急切' doesn't mean urgent, it means 'close' or 'near'; only '急' in '急切' means urgent

  pressing

only work in compound word '逼切' which means 'pressingly close'. '切' in '逼切' doesn't mean 'pressing', it means 'close' or 'near'; only '逼' in '逼切' means 'pressing'

  all

(Match pinyin /qie4/ [1a])but it only work in compound word '一切', '切' itself doesn't mean 'all' - Even the CantoDict dictionary made the same mistake

  entire

(Match pinyin /qie4/ [1a])- 'all' extended to mean 'entire'

  must

(Match pinyin /qie4/ [4] must)

  by all means

the editor was confused by the expression '不顧一切' which literally means '不顧'(not care), 一切 (all); Only the idiom '不顧一切' means 'by all means', '切' doesn't

  main point

'main point' in Chinese is '要點', the editor might have confused by a common phrase '切中要點' which literally means '切中'(cut correctly into) 要點(the main point).

  (phonetics) Short for 反切 (fǎnqiè, “fanqie”).

(Match (pinyin) qie1 [2])

  (chiefly women's speech, colloquial) An interjection conveying a slight sense of disdain or dissatisfaction.

'啐' sounded like '切'. It is a phonetic loan word for an exclamation that express disdain or dissatisfaction


Cantonese jyutping Tone 4 question "throat should be vibrating" I was wondering whether anyone could help me distinguish how to pronounce tone 4 (mostly low flat) and tone 3 (mid flat).

I read in tone 4, you should feel your throat vibrate. Honestly, I have my finger touch my adam's apple and try to feel the difference but I don't feel it between 3rd and 4th. Is there any way to better work out my tones alone? The only thing I do about my 4th tone is shorten my 3rd tone. Thus, 4th tone to me = 3rd tone, but in a shorter burst.

How can I distinguish them?

The fourth tone is usually considered low-falling, rather than low-flat.

The fourth tone begins just a little lower than where the sixth tone begins. Just start by producing the sixth tone, and then bring the pitch down as low as you can.

In terms of tone numbers (a 1-5 scale, with 1 the lowest), fourth tone is usually transcribed as 21, third tone as 33, and sixth tone as 22.

That's the reason for the advice about hearing your throat vibrate: the pitch you make should be low-frequency. I'd be happy to follow up on this for you if you have any more questions.


Anybody know what she say in this song? I don't understand what she say at 0:38

http://www.allocine.fr/video/player_gen_cmedia=19551143&cfilm=145804.html

Anybody know?
It's not the mandarin language, am i right?

Thanks a lot.

It sounds like a dialect of the Chinese language. I think she's singing "驕妹子，驕妹子驕", "細(小)妹子，細(小)妹子細(小)"，which can be translated literally to "proud girl, proud girl proud" "little girl, little girl little"


Where can I find isogloss maps for Mandarin? It seems that questions about resources are generally accepted on the site. If not, please let me know.

I was wondering if anyone knew where to find maps with isoglosses for dialects of Mandarin. I am especially interested in phonemic features, such as

erhua
mergers, such as eng/en, in/ing, x/sh etc.
regional differences in tones

but anything would be interesting.

The shapes of Isogloss maps are generally identical to those of dialect maps. So I think this could give you some clues.

Below is a sample for isogloss maps(from http://www.yupoo.com/photos/9919/7485900/)

More of them:

Suggestion: For more information about isogloss maps, visit http://image.baidu.com/ and type in "同言线". Further reading: http://book.kongfz.com/15325/226467644/ This is a book about chinese linguistic geography. For more books in this subject, search "汉语方言地理学".


How to interpret 尽一份责任？ This article is about IBE, Imaging Biodiversity Expedition.

怎样为野生动物保护尽一份责任
Maybe: How to best serve and protect wildlife.

I'm having trouble with understanding:  尽一份责任  Possible answers:
1. give the highest priority to all responsibilities
2. maximise (wildlife protection)
3. fulfill all the duties (of wildlife protection)
4. meet all the demands (of wildlife protection)

I don't understand quite how they mean 尽一份责任 I think it is '尽 all the responsibilities', but then, what is '尽’here? Maybe 尽 is 'all' here? '尽一份’ is maybe 'each and every'?

徐健和他的朋友曾苦苦琢磨，怎样为野生动物保护尽一份责任。他们不分昼夜地奔波，渴望拍出足以使人疯狂的照片，…

然后说：于是徐健成立了社会企业IBE，为保护区、政府等各类课题服务，…

尽  http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/characters/2662/
[3] [v] try one's best; devote to

尽 in 尽责任 means 'try one's best to  fulfill'
'尽一份责任' means 'try (their) best to fulfill (their) share of duty'
More examples of 尽 (v):
尽一分努力 (devote all effort one can summon )
尽人事 (exhaust one's ability)
尽心尽力 (exhaust one's wit and strength)


What is the Chinese original version of the proverb "Craftsman, know your tools"? I recall reading a supposed Chinese proverb that went along the lines of:

"Craftsman, know your tools!"

Now I'm trying to find the original Chinese saying, and if there was more to this, wanting to use it in mentoring.
Can any scholars here help me?

I think the original proverb is "工欲善其事 必先利其器"

工 = 工匠 (craftsman)
欲善其事 (want to do his job well)
必先 (must first)
利其器 (make his tools sharp, meaning in good condition)

This saying is using "To do a good job, a craftsman must sharpen his tools" as an analogy for "To be successful, one must first prepare his tools (make preparation)".
"Sharpen tools" is a metaphor for "make preparation".


出于考虑 vs。 基于考虑 。 Do Taiwanese say 基于？ Question for you all. Recently, I've been using a textbook from mainland China. In the textbook, I learned 出于Sth考虑, which means roughly "Out of consideration for ___"

My teacher, who is Taiwanese, corrected me to say "基于Sth考虑"。

I'd be interested - for any native speakers. Which do you prefer to say? Where are you from? (And, if you know, is there a regional difference)?

Thank you!

In my view,

"出於" and "基於" are slightly different from each other.

出於: When you are doing something for the sake of a specific group of person.
You may also use it when you want to express somehow positive or negative things.

基於: It is more formal and neutral. Therefore, use it when you are doing so for official reasons, or when you are not caring a specific group of person.
You should also use it when you want to keep a neutral stance.

For example:
出于对妻子身体的考虑，他在乡间买了所房子。
You are caring your wife, which you are expressing positive attitude(I think), so you use 出于.

基于保安理由，需要保密。
You are doing it for official reasons, without expressing any feeling inside, so you use 基于.


When is the 把 construction forbidden? I would like to understand which (if any) of these sentences are incorrect and why.

我给了我妹妹一支笔。(being the most basic, this is the one I think I understand)
我把那支笔给我妹妹了。
我把一支笔给我妹妹了。
我在把这支笔给我的妹妹

Thanks in advance for any answers.

Simply put, 把 is just used to denote the object.

However, the object particle 把 can only be used when the action is done entirely on the object and the object undergoes some consequences or changes after the action. This also implies that the object is doomed to experience the consequence once the action is triggered.

For example, the following sentence will be very wrong:

我把汉语学习。 = I learn Chinese. (?) -> wrong

Here, "学习" means learn. Object particle is not used here as "Chinese" itself did not undergo any consequences or changes. Unless you use the completion form 了, then it will be OK to do that as "Chinese" has been in your mind deeply (did have some kinds of change), otherwise it will be unnatural to use the object particle.

So, in your example above, the use of 把 is correct in each of the four sentences.

OK, so the only problem left is whether the four sentences are natural or not to be spoken.

Bear in mind that Chinese loves simplicity. So, for the particle 把，you should use it only when it is important that the listener does not miss the object (i. e. 笔 in your example).

Correct me if I am wrong.


What resources can I use for learning character decomposition? I'm developing a set of tools meant to aid in learning Chinese characters and I realized that I don't know a good dataset containing character decomposition. Ideally it should be comprehensive (or have as good coverage as possible), machine-readable and available for free (creative commons?). So far I know about Wiktionary and Make Me a Hanzi. What are the other ones?

you may try the 拆字字典:

http://www.kaifangcidian.com/han/chaizi

eg:

【彎】 wan1    〖絲 言 弓 彎〗〖糹 言 糹 弓 彎〗

http://www.kaifangcidian.com/han/chaizi/彎

have fun :)


Different consecutive (therefore) and causative (because) conjunctions I have learnt a few conjunctions and am trying to categorise them systematically so that they stay in my head!

I believe I have a number of consecutive conjunctions, which introduce the result of an action (in English, this is words like 'therefore', 'as a result', 'as a consequence'). The first clause introduces the action/reason, and the second clause (after the conjunction) tells you the outcome.

The words I have in this category are:

所以
而 (in the sense of 因...而...)
致使
因此
从而
结果
既然...就...

and, per my logic, these are all really interchangeable.

So, you could say:

(因为)他很累，所以晚上9点就上床了。

因为他很累而晚上9点就上床了。

他很累，致使晚上9点就上床了。

他很累，因此晚上9点就上床了。

他很累，从而晚上9点就上床了。

他很累，结果晚上9点就上床了。

既然他很累，就晚上9点就上床了。

Are these all fine? I believe that they can all be used this way, but guess some are used in different circumstances? Or are they all interchangeable?

Meanwhile, I have a number of causative conjunctions. These put the order the other way around, so the first sentence tells you the action/result, and the second clause (after the conjunction) tells you the reason for it. In this category, I have:

因为
因而
由于

and, per my logic, these are all interchangeable also.

So:

他晚上9点就上床了, (是)因为他很累。
他晚上9点就上床了, 因而他很累。
他晚上9点就上床了, (是)由于他很累。

Are all of these fine? Are there differences between these? Have I got the right conjunctions in the right category, or does 因而 actually introduce the result per the consecutive conjunctions above?

All input welcome! (Except the kind of input that is offensive, unless it is so ridiculous that it is funny, in which case that is fine)

他很累，从而晚上9点就上床了。

从而 means "since then/after that" - '他很累' is not a specific event, therefore the sentence is not grammatical

既然他很累，就晚上9点就上床了。

wrong final particle, it should be "既然他很累，就晚上9点就上床吧!"

他晚上9点就上床了, 因而他很累。
He went to bed at just(就) nine O'clock, therefore (因而) he is very tired

Why would he went to bed as early as 9:00PM caused him to be tired?
Also, you don't need to use the pronoun 他 twice in the same sentence.
A better example:

"他每晚9点就上床, 因而从未看过十点播放的新闻。" -- "He goes to bed at 9 o'clock every night, so he has never seen the news broadcast at 10 o'clock."

因而 is an independent conjunction . As long as there's a clause stating a reason, you can use  因而 to connect it to the clause stating the result, For example: "他家中没有电视, 因而从未看过十点播放的新闻"


how to say "learn" without involving studying? All of the versions of 'learn' that people are explaining to me here in Taiwan involve studying (學到，學會) but I often find myself wanting to speak of learning in a way that has nothing to do with studying.

I learned to sing well in church.
I learned to walk at age two.
Where did she learn to manipulate people like that?

I also often want to make the distinction be studying and learning, for example:

You learn more studying songs than textbooks.

Can anyone share some options for me?

Thanks!

In your examples it seems more like learn by practice, which in Chinese we usually say 學到 or 學會; on the other hand, learn by study is closer to 學習, in which 習 means systematic learning and training to acquire knowledge.


What is the difference between qi3 and qi3 lai2? In both situations my pen is now on a table. Speaking to another person, why do we say:

  1) Qing3 na2 qi3 wo3 de5 bi3. 请拿起我的笔。

Not:

  2) Qing3 na2 qi3 lai2 wo3 de5 bi3. 请拿起来我的笔。

How does the addition or deletion of lai (来) change this sentence?

++Yet this seems O.K.++

  3) Qing3 ni3 ba3 bi3 na2 qi3 lai2. 请你把笔拿起来.

Verb + Directional Complement

The direction verb immediately following the verb and indicating the direction of the action, is called the direction complement.

If the object is a thing, it can be placed as:

  他**带**了一份合同**回来** (Tā dài le yí fèn hétóng huílái)

or

  他**带回**一份合同**来** (Tā dài huí yí fèn hétóng lái)

[Source: 当代中文 (Dāngdài Zhōngwén) Book 2, 2nd Edition, 2006]

You can Google directional complement to find more information as well as quizzes, so you can learn more about it and test yourself.

P.S. if you are teaching beginners, with pinyin only, this sentence construct is beyond them.

EDIT: sorry I realise I only answered via inference. To be clear, the reason why we don't say it your second way: because grammar, that's why. An arbitrary set of rules that all (read: most) people agree upon :)


Is the "shh" expression of silence used in Chinese? Do Chinese people put a finger on the lips and use the expression "shh" to ask for silence? According to this answer in the English Language Stack Exchange, this expression originated from English about six centuries ago.

Of course people who watch western movies and the internet would know about this expression. But what I wonder is: if I go to a traditional village in a not-so-visited part of China, would they use and understand this expression? Or do they have their own different expression to imply silence?

Yes. Nearly all Chinese people understand the body language of putting a finger on your lips or saying "shhh." In addition, Chinese also often use 嘘 pronounced xū instead of "shhh" to hush others.


Meaning of 江山错落. 人间星火 Those two phrases are from this song on YouTube “礼仪之邦”.  I have high confidence that I understand the 人间星火.  But I am not quite sure about the 江山错落.
Here is Google’s version: The country is scattered. The world is sparkling.
If you need to explain both within the context of each other or within the context of the song itself that would be fine.

I don't think we can translate the two phrases word by word, as they are delivering an artistic message through singing.
The songwriter is trying to draw a vivid scenery in the listener's mind - at a star-covered evening standing on the hill looking down on the mountain surrounded village below, the scattered lights are glowing; alongside the village, the lazy water is slowly flowing in the river, so calm and peacefully beauty.
Wish this makes sense.


What is the difference between 打算 (dǎ suàn) and 计划 (jì huà) Are 打算 (dǎ suàn) and 计划 (jì huà) both synonyms for "plan," or are there some additional nuances here?

打算 means 'intend to'(v) ; 'intention'(n) .

Edit:

'打算' can mean 'to plan' (e.g. 为将来打算) or 'intend to' (e.g. 打算将来去英国) in English

A '打算' can be an 'intention' or a 'plan'

  计划 means 'to plan' (v) ; 'plan' (n).

When you 计划 (plan) something, you are formulating a workable plan with at least some form of mental calculations, and the objective should be a specific one. For example, 政府計劃[十年內逐步削減赤字, 達到收支平衡]. Which is a very specific objective

A '计划' is a 'plan'


Is it weird to say either 我今天休息了一天 or 我今天休息一天了 ("today, I rest for one day") because of the repetition of 天? In the section about the grammar structure "V + ... [时段]", my Chinese book has these examples (among others):

(1) 我今天休息了一天。
Wǒ jīntiān xiūxíle yītiān.
(2) 我今天休息一天了。
Wǒ jīntiān xiūxí yītiānle.

(Not relevant to the question, but for completeness: the extra part above is 动作的完成 (dòngzuò de wánchéng) = completed action, and 时段的变化 (shíduàn de biànhuà) = duration change.)
I word-for-word translate the above sentences to:

I today rest[ed] [for] one day.

What's puzzling me is that the repetition of 天 sounds weird: both sentences use both 今天 (today) and 一天 (one day).
Question: Is it weird to say either 我今天休息了一天 or 我今天休息一天了  because of the repetition of 天?
It seems that 我今天休息 or 我今天休息了 would suffice, and there wouldn't arise a context in which either 我今天休息了一天 or 我今天休息一天了 would be needed.

No. It is not weird at all.

我今天休息 means: I rest/will rest today. It usually is only saying that: I do/will not work today.

我今天休息了 means: I have taken a rest today. It shows no information about how long I rested, and usually not a whole day. Usually, it is used to say that I have already taken a rest during my work/study/exercise/... today.

Both the given examples are saying that I've rested for a whole day.


An example of the difficulty of translation: "Now get off my lawn". How would you translate this? The last sentence: from http://cn.tmagazine.com/culture/20141013/t13adulthood/dual/

Now get off my lawn! 只不过离我远点儿!

To me, "Get off my lawn!" means I'm old and some young kids did something to remind me of that and that I admit that I'm old and say it out of annoyance - Get off my lawn!

You could translate it literally, but a native speaker in China would probably have no idea what it means and take the meaning literally. What lawn?

The NYT translation means get away from me I think, but I don't think it conveys the meaning.

You could translate it to I feel old, like, 我觉得自己老了, but then you lose the slanginess and history of the phrase.

How would you translate this?

I disagree with the translation as it's too literal and totally misses the mark. Your suggestion - 我觉得自己老了 - is better but as you've said, it lacks the tone and nuance of the expression.

Variations on the phrase "get off my lawn" were once uttered by ageing homeowners at disrespectful youths but has long since morphed into a caricature of generation gaps. The original users of the phrase are unaware of generational differences and think it's the kids that are acting badly, whereas the phrase is used in the opposite sense nowadays - its users are keenly aware of generational differences, of differences in experience and perspective, and are using it to point out this fact. You might replace it with "you (younger people) don't understand", "times have changed", and in certain situations, "you should be grateful" and more. The humour in the phrase is that it simultaneously evokes an image of a cantankerous elder futilely railing against inevitable change.

I think there's no way to 100% capture such a meaning and nuance. If I had to offer a translation, I might try 孩子们一边玩去吧 (you kids run along now), but this lacks the humour in the English phrase.


Meanings and pronunciation of 截 What are all meanings of 截? as in 截拳道?

Is it pronounced "Jeet" or "Jee"?

I'm interested in the word "jeet" and how it may be used.

1. What are all meanings of 截?

It has the following meanings according to Xinhua Dictionary online:

割断，弄断：截断。截开。截取。截面。(to cut off, to truncate)
量词，段：一截儿木头。 (measure word: a section, a chunk)
阻拦：截住他。截留。截击。截获。(to intercept, to obstruct)
到一定期限停止：截止。 (cut-off point, deadline)

2. (What's the meaning) as in 截拳道?

In 截拳道, 截 means 'to intercept'. The spirit of 截拳道 is to 'intercept' the opponent's intention/omens of attack, and counter the attack accordingly. There is more information on Wikipedia:

  JKD teaches that the best defence is a strong offence, hence the principle of an "intercepting fist". For a person to attack another hand-to-hand, the attacker must approach the target. This provides an opportunity for the attacked person to "intercept" the attacking movement. The principle of interception may be applied to more than intercepting physical attacks. Non-verbal cues (subtle movements that an opponent may be unaware of) may be perceived or "intercepted", and thus be used to one's advantage.

3. Is it pronounced "Jeet" or "Jee"?

截 is pronunced as jie2 in Mandarin and zit6 in Cantonese.

Jeet/Jee are non-standard transliterations from Cantonese to English.

4. I'm interested in the word "jeet" and how it may be used.

If you're talking about the English word, I don't think there are widely-known usages other than in 'Jeet Kune Do'.


What is the meaning of 看场子? "1997年，他到东莞打工，在一家木材厂给人看场子，在那里，他学会了汉族的生活方式，和朋友一起打台球，到歌厅唱歌。"

Hi everyone! I'm trying to translate this sentence, but I don't understand what 看场子 stands for in this sentence.
I know it could just mean "Look at the place" but that doesn't make sense here. Does it mean something like "keep watch/guard"?
Thank you in advance for the replies!

In this context it means "to watch/guard the place", "to look after the place".

1997年，他到东莞打工，在一家木材厂给人看场子，在那里，他学会了汉族的生活方式，和朋友一起打台球，到歌厅唱歌。
In 1997, he went to work in Dongguan as a "watcher" for a timber factory. There, he learned about the the Han lifestyle, played pool with friends and sang in karaoke bars.

I'm translating a bit freely here, but that's the geist. 给人看场子 means "to watch/guard the place for someone else", but it conveys the idea of informal work.
The subject of the sentence wasn't a formal security guard, or supervisor. He was "helping someone look after the place", "making sure things ran smoothly".

Bonus: Baidu Baike has also a page about this term, meaning essentially "bouncer", or even "henchman" for club and bar owners. However it doesn't look like this page is written very professionally, so it's probably a very colloquial, extended meaning, or possibly underworld lingo. I would take it with a grain of salt.


Were 蒸 and 祯 homonyms? Wu Dalang, a character in Water Margin, which takes place during the Song dynasty, sold steamed buns called "炊饼". These buns were originally called 蒸饼:

凡以面為食具者，皆謂之餅，故火燒而食者呼為燒餅，水淪而食者呼為湯餅，籠蒸而食者呼為蒸餅。
Wikipedia

But were renamed to avoid Emperor Renzong's first name, 祯.
Naming taboos are common; for example the first month was renamed from 政月 to 正月 and its tone changed from zhèng to zhēng on account of Qin Shi Huang's given name 政. But in this case, 祯 (zhen) and 蒸 (zheng) are not homonyms in modern Chinese.
How were 祯 and 蒸 pronounced during the Song dynasty? Were they homonyms? Or were they considered close enough anyway?

An excellent resource for answering questions like this is 漢字古今音資料庫 at http://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/ccr/.  Unfortunately it doesn't have Song or Yuan reconstructions, but it does list the 攝, which is a Song era classification. 祯 was in 梗攝, and 蒸 was in 曾攝 so they shouldn't have been complete homonyms.  The difference, however, was probably in the vowel, not the final nasal -ng.  The modern zhen for 祯 is a post Song change; some of the 梗 words kept -ng, some changed to -n, but it's unclear when or how it happened.


清淡 (qing dan) usage: any food, or from a diet? I ate with a Chinese who mentioned the soup was 清淡 (qing dan): clear, and bland. On Google all I found were acupuncture and "macrobiotic diet" websites.

Is 清淡 (qing dan) an adjective commonly applied to food that is simple and light, or is it reserved for food from a special diet?

It's written as 清淡 and used in different contexts.

For light colors, smells
For light (non-greasy, non-oily) food
Business running slow or slacking
In arts for a simple style


Table-tennis table: 乒乓球桌, 乒乓球台 or 乒乓球案子? I have found those translations of a "table-tennis table":

  乒乓球桌
  乒乓球台
  乒乓球案子

Searching for pictures of them, all 3 appear to be the same thing. On http://www.mdbg.net/ I only found 乒乓球台 .

Are those words interchangeable? Which is more commonly used?

All three terms refer to the same thing - table tennis table.

乒乓球桌 is a commonly used (1.58M results on Google, 2.60M results on Baidu) layman's term.

乒乓球台 is the technical term (both Baidu and Wikipedia use
 this term) and is commonly used (2.14M results on Google, 4.19M results on Baidu) as well.

乒乓球案子 is rarely used (0.21M results on Google, 0.13M results on Baidu) from my own personal experience.

When used by itself,

桌 refers to a table.

台 refers to a platform or a stage.

案子 refers to a long table or a plank used as a make-shift table.

If you are discussing about table tennis in general, you can also use 球桌 or 球台 to refer to the table.