Can one chinese character represent many different words? Take a look at this character

https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?page=worddict&wdrst=0&wdqtm=0&wdqcham=1&wdqt=%E5%87%A0

几

It has 3 meanings and has a different tone

If it's true that one character can represent other words, please show me other samples.

Yes.

处 also has two different readings:

  chǔ

and

  chù

with many different meanings.

chǔ for instance means:

  to reside / to live / to dwell / to be in / to be situated at / to stay / to get along with / to be in a position of / to deal with / to discipline / to punish

while chù means:

  place / location / spot / point / office / department / bureau / respect / classifier for locations or items of damage: spot, point

This is not uncommon, especially with simplified characters as sometimes multiple traditional characters get simplified into the same singular character, you just need to know when what means what.


Significance of 門 in traditional chinese I have seen 門 used as a 'radical' for many traditional chinese characters in Hong Kong. Is there a historical reason? I thought 門 means gate but what does gate have anything to do with 'happy', 開心 ?

On the radical 門/门

In both the traditional and simplified font script, 門/门 is a fairly common radical. Compare:

  閉/闭： shut (eyes...)

  間/间： interval, space...

  閑/闲： fence, barrier; idle

In all these cases I find the door component very intuitive. There are of course plenty of cases where this is not the case (see the comment by user6065). The reason for your perceiving the radical as something predominantly traditional, may lie in cases such as:

  老闆/老板：boss;

where characters were replaced by rather arbitrary other characters. There are also pairs such as:

  問/问;

which is classified under 口 in traditional Chinese and under 门 in the PRC.

The article which user6065 posted is about explaining the usage of 門 in some characters by its ancient phonetic value. Let us see, whether he will explain it himself, before I offer my amateur's perspective.

On 開心/开心

I am no native speaker, but 開心 is composed of the characters "open" and "heart". That "open" should feature a door or gate can hardly surprise. That the combination of these words means happiness is intuitive too. In both my native languages an analogous expression exists.

Greek:
Άνοιξε η καρδιά μου!
German:
Mir ging das Herz auf!


How does one express "On the way to or from school"? Is 上下班 okay? What is the proper way to say, "On the way to or from school (suppose from home)..." For example: "On the way to or from school students like to look through the cars windows."

When referring to: going to, coming from work you use the expression 上下班 but I think my teacher said you cannot use  上下学. The expression 放学回家 means going back from home after school finishes.

Can anyone tell me the right expression?

If I want to give good point to an answer how can I do it? Last question I didn't know how.

One the way = 途中

On the way to school - 上学途中

On the way to work - 上班途中

On the way home - 回家途中

On the way home from school - 放学回家途中

On the way home from work - 下班回家途中

We say 上下班 because it is short for "上班, 下班"

We usually say  "上学, 放学" not "上学, 下学".

Although not the logical shortened form, people still use the term 上下学 instead of '上放学' because '上' matching '下' better than '上' matching '放'.

you can replace 下班 with 放工


When do I use 确定 versus 决定？ The two words mean approximately the same thing but I find that there is a nuance I'm missing in terms of the appropriate context to use one or the other. How should I think about the difference between these two?

确定 means 'be sure' or 'comfirm'/'be confirmed'. 我确定他会回来的.(I'm sure he will be back.)

决定 (v) means 'decide to do'. 我决定做...(I decide to do something...)

决定 (n) means 'decision'. 我终于做出了决定.(Finally, I made my decision.)


How does foreign word transliteration work in the context of Cantonese vs Mandarin? If I understand correctly, Cantonese sounds very different from Mandarin, despite being written in the same way (omitting some small differences, which are irrelevant for the question).

If it is the case, how can foreign words be transliterated into Chinese on a phonetic basis, so that both Cantonese and Mandarin would read them similarly?

For example, suppose there is a Western company "Blablawabla" and I am writing Chinese text, where this company is referred to. Is it the case, that I would have to choose different representations for "Blablawabla", depending on whether the text will be read by Mandarin or Cantonese speakers? Or are there some "standard" characters that are pronounced very similarly in Mandarin and Cantonese and I have to be aware of them when transliterating? Or am I misunderstanding the idea completely?

You're right, most foreign words are transliterated differently in Mandarin and in Cantonese. Sometimes there are even different standards in different Mandarin speaking regions. It's an interesting idea to use characters that have similar pronunciations in both dialects to unify the transliteration but it's not what has already happened.

A few examples of different transliteration in Mandarin and Cantonese:

Beckham: 贝克汉(姆) (Mandarin: Bèikèhàn[mú]), 碧咸 (Cantonese: Bīkhàahm)
Hollywood: 好莱坞 (Mandarin: Hǎoláiwù), 荷里活 (Cantonese: Hòhléihwuht)
Titanic: 泰坦尼克 (Mandarin: Tàitǎnníkè), 铁达尼 (Cantonese: Titdaahtnèih)

The standards used by mainland China to transliterate English names into Mandarin can be found here:

英语姓名译名手册 (rules)
常见英美姓名音译表 (list)

I was unable to find a good reference for its Cantonese counterpart though.

Related reading:

Transcription into Chinese characters (wikipedia)
两岸四地外国专名翻译异同趣谈


How to translate 撒娇? In the context of:

你能向他撒娇。

How would 撒娇 be translated?

If 撒娇 is translated as flighty in the context of the sentence, it sounds a bit unnatural:

You can get flighty with him.

To understand 撒娇, you need to understand 撒尿。撒尿 means peeing or urinating。note, 撒 is the ing part of peeing. the word, 尿， is pee part of peeing. so the word 撒 simply means giving out something very comfortably and naturally, just like what you feel when you pee. for example,.仙女撒花，means goddess giving out flowers.

娇 means loveliness, or cuteness. so 撒娇 means giving out your cuteness to someone very comfortably and naturally. in short, it can be translated to English with a single word, flirting. but there is a twist. a little girl can 撒娇 her daddy. In that case, flirting is not correct. you should just use showing cuteness instead.


Understanding a line from a song: ‘沾染魔法的乖张气息 却又在爱里曲折’ The below is the partial lyrics of <童话镇>.

总有一条蜿蜒在童话镇里七彩的河
沾染魔法的乖张气息
却又在爱里曲折
川流不息扬起水花
又卷入一帘时光入水
让所有很久很久以前
都走到幸福结局的时刻

The problematic line is this one:

  沾染魔法的乖张气息 却又在爱里曲折

It's difficult for me to parse it:

  [沾染(verb)][[魔法]的[乖张气息]]

  [[沾染(adjective)魔法]的[乖张气息]]

  [却][又][在[爱里]][曲折(verb)]

  [却][又][在[爱里曲折(noun)]]

It seem to be not having enough pre/postpositions; is it usual in Mandarin sentences? How do I parse it and what does it mean?

总有一条蜿蜒在童话镇里七彩的河
there is always a 7-coloured river meandering through the town in fairy stories,

沾染魔法的乖张气息 （沾染: tainted 乖张：odd 气息：aura, air)
tainted with an odd magical aura,

却又在爱里曲折 (曲折: meander)
but somehow meandering in love,

川流不息扬起水花 ( 扬起: the dappled surface of turbulent wind-blown water)
flowing on and on, dappled and splashing,

又卷入一帘时光入水
drawn into the mists of time slip into the water

让所有很久很久以前
hope all of us (in this river of love) from long long ago

都走到幸福结局的时刻
are all headed for a happy ending someday.


How to express "I think" (not I feel) I'm wanting to say, "I think China is the world's second biggest country." As, in, "I'm pretty sure this is the fact."

I would have originally used 觉得. But apparently this is only for opinions? As in "I think your Chinese is good."

I'm not wanting to say, "I feel" or "I believe", i'm wanting to express that regarding a certain question, I believe the FACTUAL answer is such.

Thanks very much.

"我认为" is good, it's equal to "I think", which means you deducted it from your knowledge.

You can also use "据我所知" witch equals to "As I know".

"我认为中国是世界第二大的国家", or "据我所知，中国是世界第二大的国家".


Translation of clout I can't find any good translation for the word clout, which, it seems to me, is a fairly relevant concept in terms of the way things work politically in China. In some context like this,

"Does the business leader really have the clout to influence those regulations?"

it means social ability, connections, or prestige which affords a special influence. Clout

I found two examples when I looked it up in Collins COBUILD:

Mr Sutherland may have the clout needed to push the two trading giants into a deal...

  萨瑟兰先生也许有能力促使两大贸易巨头达成协议。

The two firms wield enormous clout in financial markets.

  两家公司在金融市场有非常大的影响力。

Hope these examples help :)


What is the most appropriate translation for this law article? In this Skeptics answer, a user provided a rough translation of a Chinese law article — from this source — about vehicles and pedestrians using Google Translate. So I thought, why don't we provide a good translation?

The Chinese article is:

  第四十七条　机动车行经人行横道时，应当减速行驶；遇行人正在通过人行横道，应当停车让行。

And Google says:

  Article 47 of the motor vehicle when passing a crosswalk, shall slow down traffic; when a pedestrian is crossing a crosswalk, shall stop to give.

Not the best translation, certainly. What would be a more appropriate translation?

Article 47: When a motor vehicle vehicle passes through a crosswalk, it should proceed at reduced speed; in the case when a pedestrian is crossing the crosswalk, the vehicle should stop and yield to the pedestrian.


"Whatever you can do today, don't postpone it to tomorrow" I just learned a German proverb:

  "Was du heute kannst besorgen, das verschiebe nicht auf morgen,"

which can be translated as:

  "Whatever you can do today, don't postpone it to tomorrow"

Is there a 成语 or 古语 which has the same meaning?  I might use it in the context of encouraging someone to not procrastinate.

"Whatever you can do today, don't postpone it to tomorrow"

This common Chinese saying may had the same origin as the quote in the question:

"今天的事今天做"
"Don't put off till tomorrow what you can do today."
This phrase is so common, it is in grade school textbooks
variant: 今日事今日做

The idiom 坐言起行 express a similar sentiment in a stronger sense.

"坐言起行"
Once decided, act immediately; When plan is formulated, implement it without delay

There's also a common Chinese expression expressing the similar sentiment

"有花堪折直須折, (莫待無花空折枝)"
"Pick the flower when it is time , (don't wait til there's no flower but stem left to be picked.)"

Original poem:

金縷衣(七言樂府詩)
勸君莫惜金縷衣，勸君惜取少年時。
花開堪折直須折，莫待無花空折枝。
作者: 杜秋娘
Gold Linen Jacket (seven words Yuefu poem)
"You should not cherish gold linen jacket, you should cherish youthful days."
"Pick flower when it blooms, don't wait til there's no flower but stem left to be picked."
Author: Du Qiuniang

Side note :
A completely opposite sentiment expressed in another poem is also very famous.
"今朝有酒今朝醉，(明日愁來明日憂)"
"Drink when you have wine today, (worry about tomorrow's problems when tomorrow comes)"
Original poem:

唐·罗隐
得即高歌失即休，多愁多恨亦悠悠。
今朝有酒今朝醉，明日愁来明日愁。


Was the word 麟 simplified? 麟 is a very complicated word, and the word is in my name. 麟 is a simplified word, but it seems like it didn't even get simplified. Some similar words are: 鳞,磷,璘,嶙,粼,膦,遴,潾 etc. Why are all these word so complicated? Any help is appreciated.

麟 (lin2) literally means female unicorn-like animal, which is an auspicious mythical Chinese animal and is the product of Chinese dragon and cow. 麟 is actually a very good and meaningful Chinese name. It is not that complicated if we decompose the character:
麟 (lin2) is a typical Phono-semantic compound (形聲): semantic 鹿 (lu4, meaning “deer”) + phonetic 粦 (lin2)

As for your question, 麟 was not simplified. Please note that not every traditional Chinese characters were simplified.

Quote from Wiki:
" Simplified character forms were created by decreasing the number of strokes and simplifying the forms of a sizable proportion of traditional Chinese characters. Some simplifications were based on popular cursive forms embodying graphic or phonetic simplifications of the traditional forms. Some characters were simplified by applying regular rules, for example, by replacing all occurrences of a certain component with a simplified version of the component. Variant characters with the same pronunciation and identical meaning were reduced to one single standardized character, usually the simplest amongst all variants in form. Finally, many characters were left untouched by simplification, and are thus identical between the traditional and simplified Chinese orthographies."

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simplified_Chinese_characters


What does mean zhōngxing from ZTE in Chinese? What does mean zhōngxing from ZTE in Chinese? ZTE is the Chinese company that makes, among others, modems, routers, smartphones, etc.

中兴通讯的前身是1985年由航天系统的691厂以及运兴香港电子等共同投资创办的“中兴半导体”。而“中兴”名字由来有二：一是因为691厂是中方企业，港资企业为运兴，各取一字，成为“中兴”；第二个更为重要的原因是“中兴”暗含中国兴旺的意思。这也正表达了当时创业者侯为贵寄望中兴通讯振兴民族通信产业的理想。后来，中兴通讯称谓先后经历了中兴维先通、中兴新的变化，但始终坚持“中兴”二字。如今，“中兴通讯，中国兴旺”已写入中兴通讯企业文化的第一条。

Source: ZTE official site

If you cannot read Chinese, you may refer to the following translations in my poor English:

There are two reasons why this company is called [中兴]:

ZTE is combined by two corporations: 中国航天691厂(CASC 691 Factory, a Chinese company) and 兴运 (Xing1 Yun4, a Hong Kong company). take one word from each company, we get[中] and [兴].
Like other users said, 中兴=中国兴盛=China's soaring.


Name of strokes in Chinese character Heart Sorry to bother everyone about this, but I've spent an evening trying to find an answer on the webz to no avail. I've consulted various Chinese sites, tried to study animated Chinese character gifs, and the result...frustration.

It's about the Chinese character for heart/mind:

心

It has 4 strokes.

As far as I can tell:

Stroke 2 is a flat slanted hook = biǎnxiégōu = 扁斜钩

Stroke 3 is a dot = diǎn = n点

Stroke 4 is a dot = diǎn = n点

But I'm unable to tell what stroke 1 is.

Is it a vertical = shù = 竖?

Is it a throwaway = piě = 撇?

Or something else?

Thank you in advance for any help you can offer.

:)

First of all, whether the stroke is a shu is out of the question -- it is not a vertical and long stroke, but typically tilted and short.

Regarding the difference between dian and pie, I must call your attention to CJKV strokes:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stroke_(CJKV_character)

Note in stroke "d" (dian) there are two versions, left and right, but both have the stop(顿) at the bottom end. While in stroke "p"(pie) the stop is at the top. One can find fonts that goes either ways: my browser displays it as a pie, e.g..

But we can go one step further and ask: should that stroke be written as a dian, or a pie? Since different authorities may make up different standards.

According to the standard for mainland China: (character 0174)
http://www.china-language.gov.cn/doc/zb2009.pdf
we can see the stop is clearly at the bottom, therefore, this stroke should be written as a dian, in mainland China.

In Taiwan, there is a different standard, and according to them: (character 101305) http://language.moe.gov.tw/001/Upload/files/SITE_CONTENT/M0001/MU/mua12.htm it is also unambiguously a dian.

In Japan, they also have a different standard: (page 84, lower middle) http://www.bunka.go.jp/kokugo_nihongo/sisaku/joho/joho/kijun/naikaku/pdf/joyokanjihyo_20101130.pdf we can see it is also a dian.

The authority of classical chinese language, the Kang Xi Dictionary (upper right): http://tool.httpcn.com/Html/KangXi/Pic/375.shtml also prints the character with a dian.

While I don't know enough korean or vietnamese to look it up (edits welcome), I think we have enough evidence to conclude with great certainty, that the stroke is supposed to be written as a dian.

But feel free to write a pie instead, I'm certainly not going to judge or be confused which character it is.


上[將] in 4th tone instead of 1st tone? My understanding for the pronunciation of 將 is 4th tone for verb (e.g. 將數百之衆，轉而攻秦) and 1st tone for noun (e.g. 將軍; 將 in 象棋).

So why is it that for 上將 as in 海軍上將, the character is in 4th tone? My hypothesis is that it is from the usage of 將領 as a noun without a change in tone?

Interesting question. Why change tone?

English is called a stress-timed language. In English, we often shift the stress to change from verb to noun as in:

v. produce, n. produce, v. refuse, n. refuse

I wonder if this is also generally true for Chinese? It is worth looking into.

"My understanding for the pronunciation of 將 is 4th tone for verb " you may be a little confused there.

jiāng has a lot of possibilities. Here are some.

快要：～要。～至。～来。即～。
带领，扶助：～雏。扶～。～军。
拿，持：～心比心。
把：～门关好。

jiàng does not have so many, but, for simple cases, it is nominal in nature.

　1. 军衔的一级，在校以上，泛指高级军官：～领。

　2. 统率，指挥：～百万之众。

This link has so many uses for 将 you could get dizzy! There is no clear distinction verb/noun -- jiāng/jiàng

btw is Vibius Vibidius Zosimus really your name?


What exactly are the meaning/function of 的 and 了? In my experience, not 1 single 对外汉语教师 can explain these two words, the most popular-used, to the students, unfortunately, including myself.  Can anyone explains is this sequence: 1. basic/fundamental meaning/function/usage,  2. extended meaning/function/usage (might be a few), and 3. special meaning/function/usage (very different from or even contrary to the basic one)?  So as not to mislead the students furthermore which is exactly what I am facing now.

的 can be used to describe thing as follow [description]的[thing]. [description] is component used to describe thing. [thing] is component used to denote described thing. For example, 美麗的風景([description]的[thing], where [description] is 美麗, [thing] is 風景). Here [description] (美麗) is used to describe thing. [thing] (風景) is component used to denote described thing. 美麗的風景 means beautiful scenery.
的 can be used to denote affirmation or intensified tone as follow [component]的. [component] is component that people used to express what they think. For example, 事情不是這樣的([component] is 事情不是這樣). [component] (事情不是這樣) is used to express what people want to express. 的 is used to denote intensified tone. 事情不是這樣的 is used to tell people that thing is not what people think.
了 can be used to show that thing have happened as follow [description]了. [description] is used to describe something happened. For example, 我喝完了([description] is 我喝完). [description] (我喝完) is used to describe thing have happened. 我喝完了 means I have finished to drink something.


Is “little” an appropriate translation for 小 in peoples ‘nicknames’? I’ve always found it difficult to translate 小 in people’s nicknames. Sometimes even opting just to drop it entirely.

NPR has gone with a straight up:

  little

In English it’s almost laughable though.

NPR: Chinese Dissident Finds Struggles, Independence In America After Immigrating

  He and his wife, Little Yan, devised a plan to sneak into the country as part of a tour group. Once the tour group got to the U.S., the couple quietly broke away and hopped a flight to New York.

The article doesn’t have any Chinese in it but it’s suffice to say that Little Yan’s Chinese name is probably something like: 小燕.

I can’t really believe anyone would translate it like this but there it is.

Is this a common thing?

Is this an appropriate translation?

No. This translation sounds quite strange, in fact - I don't get the impression that 小燕 is something that even Chinese newspapers** would write, and this kind of name is really reserved for acquaintances/friends.

There very likely isn't an exact English translation; a proper description of 小-- is something like a prefix attached to a surname to indicate affection/endearment for someone younger (similarly 老 is used for someone older). To show similar affection/endearment in English you would really just use their preferred name (whether that'd be their nickname, full name or something else), and the closest example to 小-- in the English-speaking world would be something like the nicknames given to people in Aussie English. From Wikipedia:

  *Litotes, such as "not bad", "not much" and "you're not wrong", are also used, as are diminutives***, which are commonly used and are often used to indicate familiarity. Some common examples are arvo (afternoon), barbie (barbecue), smoko (cigarette break), Aussie (Australian) and pressie (present/gift). This may also be done with people's names to create nicknames (other English speaking countries create similar diminutives). For example, "Gazza" from Gary, or "Smitty" from John Smith. The use of the suffix -o originates in Irish Gaelic[citation needed] (Irish ó), which is both a postclitic and a suffix with much the same meaning as in Australian English.*

To mention someone differently based on age is far more neutral and sometimes even a subtle insult in English, implying either the person is immature (younger) or old-fashioned (older). For example in Scots, you may call someone laddie or lass, or elsewhere among older folks you may mention someone in contrast to their father/children like the younger/elder (Mr.) Potter.

I would just translate it as Mrs Yan; or even better, give the first name instead, as English speakers generally are not acquainted with the fact that Chinese women do not take their husbands' last names when they marry, and the difference in last names may be a bit jarring to read.

**The translation for 小燕 is there because this is a story piece of the struggles of an immigrant couple, and the word choice is important for the reader to emotionally connect to the couple. Using 小燕 makes sense in a Chinese context, but again in English you'd only use the preferred name.

***Diminutives are the key word to search for if you wish to find affection/endearment terms of address in other languages.


Three ways to say "I danced for three hours". Based on the other examples of our book, I can imagine three ways to say this:

我跳舞跳了三個小時。
我跳了三個小時的舞。
我跳了三個小時的跳舞。

Are they all correct and do they have exactly the same meaning?

The 1st one and 2nd one are both correct, and have almost same meaning; but different emphasis.

The emphasis of the 1st one is the lasting time, i.e. 三個小時. e.g.

Q: 你跳舞跳了多长时间？ => The question is focused on how long
A: 我跳舞跳了三个小时。

The emphasis of the 2nd one is what (sb. do). e.g.

Q: 你下午做什么去了？ => The question is focused on what you did
A: 我跳了三个小时的舞。

The 3rd one is wrong. At the end of the sentence a noun is expected; which should be the object of the preceding verb, i.e. 跳.


Etymology of 奇 and 怪 I am going through the word 奇. Mandarin Temple had mentioned, learning hint as “a person riding a horse”. Is this only learning hint? Or is it also etymologically correct? What is the exact etymology of 奇?
For "strange", can I use 奇, or is it obsolete? Must I use 奇怪 instead?

「奇」 is not a person riding a horse - that is probably a learning mnemonic, meant to remind you of the word 「騎」. This character has received some attention in the question What is the glyph origin of '奇'?.
「怪」 (Zhengzhang OC: /*kruːds/, strange) is comprised of semantic 「心・忄」 (heart, mind) and phonetic 「圣」(/*kʰuːd/).

「圣」 (Mandarin Pinyin: kū, to dig) is comprised of semantic 「又」 (picture of a hand) and semantic 「土」 (picture of a lump of dirt).
「圣」 is rarely seen in the orthodox character system. However, you may see the identical shape 「圣」 in unorthodox systems representing completely different words or components, such as Simplified Chinese (where it is used as an abbreviation of 「聖」) and Japanese Shinjitai (where it is used as an abbreviation of 「巠」).
As usual, these abbreviations do not have anything to do with the language.

You shouldn't use 「奇」 by itself if you want to say strange; this is because 「奇」 forms the roots of several words which don't necessarily mean strange, but related yet different words like wonderful (奇妙), mysterious; magical (神奇), and rare (奇特).


How to say lived vs. have been living somewhere? I want to say

  1) "I lived in Beijing for six months."

As in, I was there last year for six months but I am not living there anymore.

Furthermore, how can I distinguish it from

  2) "I have been living in Beijing for six months."?

I am sure the secret lies in 了.

My answers (which I hope you can correct/confirm):

  我在北京住了六个月
  我住在北京六个月

I'd appreciate any help!

I would say, as a Chinese, that Chinese language doesn't express tenses as explicitly and clearly as English does in most cases. Your translation of the first sentence(我在北京住了六个月) can be taken in both ways, in which case we figure out the tense by context. Past tense would be a better guess, though.

To remove uncertainties, you can say:

我在北京住过六个月。I lived in Beijing for six months.

我在北京住了六个月了。I have been living in Beijing for six months.

Or for added clarity:

我曾在北京住过六个月。I once lived in Beijing for six months.

我已经在北京住了六个月了。I have been living in Beijing for six months already.


Communication - 交通，交流，联系，接触，沟通，交际，打交道 I am trying to make clear distinctions between the use of the following words. It would be great if you have any extra information which could help me!

交通 - 1) to be connected, n. transportation, communications - Q1: what sort of things would be connected with 交通?

交流 - to communicate (2 sides don't necessarily know each other)

联系 - 1) n. relationship between things, 2) v. to get in touch with so - Q2: is this after a long time (to get "back" in contact), or just generally?

接触 - 1) to touch/connect (physical), 2) to contact, to communicate (与/跟) - Q3: what sort of physical action would constitute 接触?

沟通 - to communicate - Q4: what distinguishes the act of communicating through 接触, 沟通, 交流 (and 练习 if 练习 isn't contacting someone after a long time, per above)?

交际 - n. communication, social intercourse

打交道 - to come into contact with / have dealings with - Q5: what sort of people/things would you have dealings with? Under what circumstances would you say that you have had dealings with so/sth?

Q1: what sort of things would be connected with 交通?

places are being connected. e.g. "建公路交通兩地" (build highway to connect the two places

Also:

交通(v): back and forth" E.g. "交通來往" (to and fro, back and forth)

交通(n): "traffic" E.g. "香港的交通很繁忙" (H.K's traffic is very busy)

  交流 - to communicate (2 sides don't necessarily know each other)

Also: 交流(v): to exchange (idea, knowledge, information)

  联系 - 1) n. relationship between things, 2) v. to get in touch with so - Q2: is this after a long time (to get "back" in contact), or just generally?

In general. You can get in touch with people you didn't know before

  接触 - 1) to touch/connect (physical), 2) to contact, to communicate (与/跟) - Q3: what sort of physical action would constitute 接触?

接触 means "make contact; touch" you can use part of your body to 接触 (touch) anything. And two objects physically make contact is also 接触, e.g. 電線接触到水 (electric wire makes contact with water)

  沟通 - to communicate - Q4: what distinguishes the act of communicating through 接触, 沟通, 交流 (and 练习 if 练习 isn't contacting someone after a long time, per above)?

沟: to mix, to circulate

沟通 : means "to exchange (idea, feeling) ;

  打交道 - to come into contact with / have dealings with - Q5: what sort of people/things would you have dealings with? Under what circumstances would you say that you have had dealings with so/sth?

people who are not in your circle. We don't say "與父母打交道" or ""與朋友打交道", but we do say "與美國人打交道" , "與某公司高層打交道"


How should I translate 载体 here? This text is talking about 苗族人酷爱银饰。

When I look up 载体 I find things I don't really understand, like: vector, carrier. I find: 用来承载软体的媒介。

银饰早已不是单纯的装饰品，而是植根于苗族社会生活的文化载体。

I'd like to translate 文化载体 as 'cultural identity'.

Does anyone have a better suggestion, please?

how about: 文化载体  'cultural carrier' or 'cultural media'.


How to translate 掩耳盗铃 into English? Preferably an idiom just as picturesque and succinct. Thanks.

Here's the original meaning:

  The expression 掩耳盗铃 comes from a story about a person who decided to
  steal a bell. However, the bell was too heavy to carry and the thief
  decided to break it into pieces. He was afraid the sound would attract
  attention, so the thief blocked his ears and continued to smash the
  bell believing that as long as he could not hear the bell's sound no
  one else could either.

Oxford, CC-CEDICT, A Chinese-English dictionary all use the following idiom to define 掩耳盗铃:

(to) bury one's head in the sand

The Free Dictionary defines it as:

bury one's head in the sand and hide one's head in the sand; have one's head in the sand
Fig. to ignore or hide from obvious signs of danger. (Alludes to an ostrich, which is believed incorrectly to hide its head in a hole in the ground when it sees danger.) Stop burying your head in the sand. Look at the statistics on smoking and cancer.

Like-wise Oxford Pocket also has:

(to) bury one's head in the sand like an ostrich

It's not a perfect match, per se, but it's a pretty close English idiom.


What is the difference between words that mean "to throw": 摔, 扔, 投 They seem to be defined identically in this usage case (though 摔 has other meanings). Is there any difference in usage?

When 摔, 扔, 投 mean 'to throw':

摔 is a more forceful throw. For example, '把杯子摔在地上' (you throw the cup onto the ground with considerable force)
扔 is a more generally directed throw. For example, '把垃圾扔在地上' (you just throw the garbage onto the ground, doesn't matter which direction)
投 is a more specifically aimed throw. For example, '把篮球投入篮中' (you aim and throw the basketball into the basket)


What does "不等“ add in 从A到B不等? So, I just learned this grammar.  For example, I know that we can say

这个商店的价格从五十元到五千元不等。

But, I thought I could also say

这个商店的价格从五十元到五千元。

What does 不等 add to the sentence? Does it slightly change the meaning? Does it make it more colloquial?

I would say the meaning is the same.

'从 ... 到 ...' is a phrase to describe a range, while '不等' means 'diverging'. Putting '不等' at the end will to some extent emphasize the meaning of 'diverging within a range' and you can take it as an echo for the phrase which makes the sentence more complete and sounds better.


Hakka song: problem translating a bit Full song lyrics with transliteration and translation attempt

The spelling is not something I want to discuss here. Indeed, I discussed it here. The transliteration is that given by Minhakka, plus the tones and sounds given by the admin of the Hakka Verse facebook group in case of words not to be found on Minhakka.

  难忘记
  两人相爱每日都欢喜
  恁1开心                                1恁: 很
  行街牵手唻2都去                  2唻: 哪儿
  还将婚姻提
  永远不分离
  齐家3发誓心不移                 3齐家: 大家
  结连理

  一下变心
  无4讲分手个5道理               4无: 没(有)   5个: 的
  涯6伤心                               6涯: 我
  人相思病係7难医                 7係: 是
  夜夜醉么人8知                    8么人: 谁
  过去毋9想提                        9毋: 不
  每日都想着10汝11              10想着: 想到   11汝: 你
  人痴迷
  涯12深深爱汝13      12涯: 我   13汝: 你
  爱亲口讲汝14知                 14汝: 你

  Nân mông-kì
  Lióng-nyîn siong-òi mui nyit tu fon-hí
  Àn khoi-sím
  Hâng kai khen-shíu nái tu hì
  Hân tsiong fun-yin thì
  Yún-yén put fun-lî
  Tshê-ka fat-shì sim put yî
  Ket liên-li

  Yit-hà pièn-sim
  Mô kóng fun-shíu kài thàu-li
  Ngâi shong-sim
  Nyîn siong-sii-phiàng hè nân-yì
  Yá-yá tsùi mài-nyîn ti
  Kwò-hì m sióng thì
  Mui nyit tu sióng tó nyî
  Nyîn chi-mî
  Ngâi chim-chim òi nyî
  Òi tshin-héu kóng nyî ti

  It's hard to forget
  When we two loved each other and were happy every day,
  Very happy,
  We walked holding hands and went everywhere,
  We also brought up marriage,
  We would never break up,
  The two of us (?) had sworn our hearts wouldn't move
  (??)

  Suddenly [you] changed your mind,
  Didn't say your reason for breaking up
  I am sad
  Lovesickness is hard to cure
  Each night I get drunk, who knows?
  I don't want to bring up the past
  I think of you every day
  Infatuated
  I love you deeply
  You should personally tell [me] you know (or "I should personally tell you [so you will] know"?)

Question(s)

The main point is that I (and the admin of Hakka Verse as well) am uncertain about how to translate 结连理; what is the exact meaning and the best way to translate this part?
Secondly, is it a good idea to interpret 齐家 as everyone (which is possible in Hakka, as per Minhakka's entry, or should I take it as a Mandarin word, hence translate to manage the family? Said admin suggests the spelling 结恋了 | ket-lièn-lí; is that it? What would that mean?
Finally, which of the two translations of the last line is the correct one in this context?

结连理 means "get married" or "become loving husband and wife"

'结' short for '结成'(form)
'连理' came from '连理枝' (intertwined trees)

连理枝是指两棵树的枝干合生在一起的一种植物。连理枝又称相思树、夫妻树、生死树，比喻夫妻恩爱。连理枝在自然界已相当罕见。
'连理枝 (intertwined trees) refers to two trees planted next to each other and their branches intertwined as they grow. Also known as lovesick tree, husband and wife tree, life and death tree (two trees that live together, die together). Metaphor for husband and wife love. It is quite rare in nature.
'连' means 'linked'; '理' short for '紋理' which means 'pattern'; '连理' refers to the pattern of the intertwined branches.
Related phrase: "在天愿为比翼鸟, 在地愿为连理枝"

I suggest translate it as "till death do us part" which is a marriage vow perfectly match the spirit of 结连理 (become intertwined trees) - 连理枝 stay together for life.

'齐家' in this context is a pronoun similar to '大家' in Cantonese (both of us)

'爱' might be a typo of '我' in '爱亲口讲汝知'. It could be '我亲口讲汝知' (I personally tell you); If 爱 is not a typo, then the phrase means " Love, I personally tell you" with 'love' as the topic and 'I personally tell you' as the comment.


Translate Name and Street address in China Please help me translate the following:
Contact Name:
何卓宛
Street Address:
天府大道北路1700号环球中心N2 4栋1单元16层05号
Street Address 2:

City: cheng du shi
State/Province/Region: si chuan sheng
Country/Region: China

Much appreciated for any help!

When you say translate, you mean you want Pinyin?

Go here

Paste your Chinese in, get Pinyin!

Or you mean you want

City: cheng du shi State/Province/Region: si chuan sheng Country/Region: China

in Chinese characters??

成都市 四川省 中国

but write it the other way around for China: country, province, city, district, street address:

中国四川省成都市


what are some dictionaries about vocabulary of classical chinese? vocabulary of classical Chinese,
explanatory glosses on their usage,
example sentences,
semantic difference of similar characters used in modern vernacular Chinese and classical and such alike features if possible.

I would really recommend you focus mainly on Chinese-Chinese resources if you want to learn Classical Chinese, since it minimizes the distortion of the concepts and you'll learn a lot more Mandarin Chinese simply by exposure and seeing connections between classical characters and modern phrases.

As Mr. Su notes, I've found the most useful Classical Chinese resources to be the 康熙字典 for individual characters, and the 辭源 for two-character+ phrases/allusions.  These two sources have done a lot of pre-selection against the definitions in other classical dictionaries, such as 說文解字, so save you a lot of time.  To ease the burden of looking things up in 康熙字典, I strongly recommend the "康熙字典Pro" iPad app (which I use daily - can one say "手不釋iPad"?):

you can use handwriting interface to input characters with non-obvious radicals
you can tap on unfamiliar characters in the definition (which is going to happen a lot!), pivot to their definitions, and then backtrack instantly to the parent definition
it includes pinyin pronunciations so you don't have to guess (as in paper versions) at the modern pronunciation from 反切

You're going to want every advantage you can get when tackling with this stuff, so don't shy away from new technology: if some enterprising Chinese company wants to make an iPad version of 辭源 I'd imagine there's a market for that, as well.

At present the only Chinese-English dictionary somewhat useful for Classical work is Mathews' Chinese-English dictionary.  However it is seriously out of date and I remember it contains many innacuracies.  The as-yet unpublished "A Student's Dictionary of Classical and Medieval Chinese" (http://www.amazon.com/Students-Dictionary-Classical-Medieval-Handbook/dp/9004284117/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418329348&sr=8-1&keywords=9789004284111) may be worth your consideration: given the pedigree of the authors I would expect it to be much more dependable from the philological and formal linguistic perspectives.  I'm not sure it makes sense to organize a dictionary for a non-spoken language like Classical Chinese according to anything other than radical and stroke, though - why organize according to Pinyin that's only meaningful for modern Mandarin Chinese?


This is a seal on a painting. I have identified several but 8 are still unknown. Please can anyone read this seal? This is a seal on the lower left corner of a large scroll.

imo, these character are in non-stardand small script; my best guess:

the bottom right is "春" (u+6625)

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

top left is "堂" (u+5802)

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

bottom left is "製" (u+88fd)

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

top right character, not yet recognised :(


How to translate Pinyin with tones marks on Google Translate? On Google Translate , if I enter Pinyin with tone marks (for example "nǐ hǎo"), Google Translate is unable to translate from Mandarin to English. However, if I type without tones (for example "ni hao"), then Google Translate is able to translate from Mandarin to English.

Is this simply a shortcoming of Google Translate, or am I doing something wrong with Pinyin?
I am typing the Pinyin using the "ABC - Extended" keyboard on Mac.

What's a workaround for translating a blurb of Pinyin with tone marks to English?

Google Translate did not support translating with Pinyin to Other language, simply input ni hao only lead to google suggesting the best matching chinese words for ni hao then translate it using the suggested best words to the language you selected.

Try to input the pinyin of chinese word with 同音不同字(Sounds same but different words) example: 星星 and 猩猩

Google Translate only will suggest you 星星 but not 猩猩.

Conclusion, you cannot use Pinyin with tones in Google Translate


What does the second "幅” mean in the following sentence? ...真是一幅"幅"美丽的山水画...
VS
...真是一幅美丽的山水画...

I am having some problems figuring out why there is a second ”幅” in the sentence and what it means? If I took out the second "幅” what would the meaning then be in comparison?

"一幅幅" in "一幅幅美丽的山水画" mainly means 'one after another', (indicates plural by extended logic)
一幅幅 is short for 一幅又一幅 or 一幅接一幅 (one after another)
"一幅幅美丽的山水画" means "one beautiful landscape painting after another'
Other examples of double classifier signifing 'one after another':

一個愚蠢的決定 - a stupid decision
一個個愚蠢的決定 - one stupid decision after another

~

一個寒冷的冬天 - a cold winter
一個個寒冷的冬天 - one cold winter after another

~

一位革命英雄 - a revolutionary hero
一位位革命英雄 - one revolutionary hero after another

~

沿途看見一座酒莊 - saw a winery along the way
沿途看見一座座酒莊 - saw one winery after another along the way

'One after another' can describe 'a group of things or people at one time' or 'one individual after another individual across time or distance'
To simply indicate plural, you can use '幾' or '數' as in "幾幅美丽的山水画"


Another unknown city - postmark -Anhui? Can someone tell me the name of the city on this postal cancel? I believe it's from Anhui province from 1937, but I'm not sure.


Equivalent phrase to "Bon Appetit"/"Enjoy (your food)" In European languages there's a phrase you can say when you or a waiter serves food. For example,

- bon appetit (French/English)
- buen provecho (Spanish)

Does Chinese have a similar phrase?

Yup.

The typical phrase spoken when serving food is qǐng màn yòng (請慢用). It lliterally means "please eat slowly", but is better translated as "enjoy your meal", and serves the same function as the French bon appétit.


Is "你们好" (nǐmen hǎo) in actual use for greeting multiple people at once? I just felt like typing "hello" in Chinese in a chat room (with no Chinese speakers in it but what the hey...)

Halfway through it struck me that there's "你们" (nǐhǎo) for hello, "你" (nǐ) meaning you, and what about "你们" (nǐmen) being more or less a plural "you"? In Spanish for "welcome" you can say "bienvenido" to one person or "bienvenidos" to two people, so there could be similar in other languages.

Well my IME suggested "你们好" as first option when I typed "nimenhao", so that made me think it actually is used?

So I come here to ask of ye experts, What actually is the story with "你们好"?

Yes it's in actual use.

But you need use it carefully, because "你们好" is always used when famous people meeting their fans, or teacher meet there students. If you are meeting elders or in honorific expression, you should use "您好" to each person, even if there are many people at the same time.


Why does Gu Hongming translate 弟 as "be a good citizen" (做个好公民)? Chapter two of 學而:

  有子曰：「其為人也孝弟，而好犯上者，鮮矣；不好犯上，而好作亂者，未之有也。君子務本，本立而道生。孝弟也者，其為仁之本與！」

弟 is translated by Gu Hongming as:

  a good citizen

the footnote translates it back into Chinese as:

  做一個好公民

Legg's translation of 弟 is:

  fraternal

Is it just an extension of this fraternal duty that Gu takes to mean "a good citizen"? or what?

弟 is a 通假字, it should be 悌 nowadays.

In ancient, the number of characters is less than today. These people sometimes have to borrow the meaning from another character.

孝: be good to your parents
悌: be good to your brothers and sisters

If one be good to your parents, brothers and sisters, the one probably would not against higher,  if he never against higher, he would not rise in rebellion.


Why is it necessary to "translate" songs to Mandarin that are written in Standard Chinese, but originally sung in Cantonese? Take, for example, the chorus to Beyond's 喜欢你.

喜欢你 那双眼动人 笑声更迷人
愿再可 轻抚你 那可爱面容
挽手说梦话 像昨天 你共我

As far as I can tell, the lyrics are in Standard Chinese even though they are sung in Cantonese. I see nothing particularly Cantonese about the grammar or vocabulary here. Would it not sound idiomatically correct if one tried to sing the same lyrics with Mandarin pronunciation? Instead, the so-called "translation" is this.

忘记你
美丽的眼睛 温柔的声音
我答应 忘记你
脆弱的背影 我们的故事
我努力 忘记你

For your example, it is more like 2 different songs based on the same rhythm rather than translation, because the meaning of the lyrics are far from each other. And for the reasons we redo the lyrics in Mandarin:
a) Sometimes, the pronunciation of the original lyrics in Mandarin doesn't fit the rhythm.
b) Some of the expressions used in Cantonese are not commonly used in Mandarin, like in this example: "愿再可", "你共我" are not standard expressions in Mandarin.


How to say, someone is less (adj) than someone else? How do I say,

He is less cool than I?

没有 + 那么 + what you want to compare

• He is less cool than I

他 没有 我 那么 酷

• I'm not that cool

我没有那么酷

• I'm not as cool as him

我没有他那么酷


How is the currency of Taiwan referred to in Mandarin? (I'm not going to use the hanzi or even proper pinyin for some terms because I only know them from speaking as an absolute beginning learner.)

In Mainland China the currency is the "yuan" but in practice nobody calls it that. Instead they say "kwai".

I've just arrived by ferry in Taiwan from China and here the currency is the "New Taiwan Dollar".

Should I refer to it by the term "yuan", "kwai", or by an adaptation of the English word, something like "dola"?

Bonus: What about when referring to the Old Taiwan Dollar between 1946-49 or the Taiwan Yen during the time under Japanese rule?

Yes, people use ‘kuài’ in conversation, as in ‘yī qiān duō kuài’ (over 1,000 NT$).  You can also add ‘qián’ to make it clear you’re talking about amounts of money:  ‘wŭ shí kuài qián’ (50 NT$).

You might want to use ‘(xīn) tái bì’ when changing money, as in ‘qĭng gĕi wŏ tái bì’ (please give me Taiwan dollars).  I don’t know what was used in previous periods, but here are some ways to refer to other currencies:

mĕi jīn   ‘American dollars’
rì bì   ‘Japanese yen’
găng bì  ‘Hong Kong dollars’
yīng bàng  ‘British pounds’

These are from a Mandarin textbook put out by TLI, a language school in Taiwan.  Be careful with the tone on ‘tái’ - in some contexts this can be confused with the falling tone ‘tài’ referring to Thailand/Thai money.  But if you’re already in Taiwan, that shouldn’t be a problem.


How to say "when their ears stopped ringing"? The best I could come up with was 等他们的耳朵不响了, which just seems wrong and inadequate. I was wondering whether there was a specific term for it.

"Ears ringing" translated into Chinese is "耳嗚"

https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%80%B3%E9%B8%A3
係指外在環境沒發出聲音卻聽見聲音的一種狀況 (hearing sound when there is no external source of such sound)
最常見的原因是因噪音型聽力損失 (most common cause of this impairment of  hearing ability is loud noise )

“when their ears stopped ringing” could be translated as "等他们的耳嗚停止时"
But "耳嗚" is quite a formal (medical) and literary term. The more colloquial term for "ear ringing" is "耳中嗡嗡作响" therefore,   your sentence could be translated as "等他们耳中的嗡嗡响声停下來时" (when the buzzing sound in their ears stopped)


What does 江信江疑 mean? I came across 江信江疑 in this tweet about a meme. It clearly has something to do with Jiang Zemin / 江泽民. It seems to be quite commonly used; my guess is that it's something people say on Internet that refers to politicians, or heads of government, and their trustworthiness (or lack of it). But this is just a guess.
What does 江信江疑 actually mean? What's its "back-story"? Is it just used online, or could it be used in spoken Putonghua? Perhaps a few sample sentences would be useful too.

I'm basing my answer on the article 江信江疑是什么意思 which gives a reasonable explanation.
It's a play on words.  It begins with

half believing, half doubting / skeptical
将信将疑
jiāngxìnjiāngyí

The line 将信将疑 comes from the poem 吊古战场文 by Tang-dynasty poet 李华.
However the meme replaces 将 (jiāng) with the surname 江 (Jiāng) which has the same pronunciation and is the family name of Jiang Zemin (江泽民).  Then it's added as a caption to memes where 江泽民 looks skeptical, such as:

I'm not really sure how the meme evolved beyond that to what you see on Twitter.


干父母 vs. 义父母 translation/meaning? 干父母 (if I may use this term):

干爹 = 义父

干妈 = 义母

so 干父母 = 义父母

but what does it mean?

  拜认为父母

English translations usually go like this:

干爹 = godfather

干妈 = godmother

义父 = stepfather (adoptive father/foster mother)

义母 = stepmother (adoptive mother/foster mother)

I'm not sure where all the different definitions come from but according to Chinese definitions they all just mean to formally acknowledge (拜认) someone as father or mother.

Wikipedia Godparent entry defines a godparent as:

  In both Christian and secular views, a godparent tends to be an individual chosen by the parents to take an interest in the child's upbringing and personal development, and to take care of the child should anything happen to the parents.

Which doesn't seem to fit the above definition.

Adoptive / foster seems like it could fit - in specified situations but not as a rule.

What do these concepts equate to?

I had answered what is 干父母 here: How to translate "干妈","干爸/义父","干儿子/义子“?

  The concept of 乾媽 and 乾爹 in Chinese culture is almost the same as " godmother and godfather in Western countries

Since there are no equivalent terms of 干父母 in English, 'Godfather' and 'Godmother' would have to do.
As for '义父母', it is just another name for '养父母' (adoptive parents)

Strictly speaking, you should address your adoptive parents as 义父, 义母; But you can refer other people's adoptive parents as 'his 养父' or 'her 养母'.

In modern societies, adoptive parents enjoy the same status as actual parents. Most adopted children just address them as their parents, and only refer them as 义父母 or 养父母 to the third parties.

Step father and stepmother in Chinese are 继父/继母 or 后父/后母


How to say "we want what is best for our kids"? I'd like to say the above sentence.

I can't think anything but the following sentence, but it just doesn't sit right with me somehow:

  我们都要对我们的孩子最好.

While the subject "what's best" in english seems ok without any tangible object associated with it, in Chinese it sounds a little unfinished.

Can anyone think of the correct, most chinese way of saying this?

我们要把最好的给我们的孩子

I think most Chinese parents would rather use this expression:
我们望子成龙

望子成龙 has this meaning: lit. to hope one's son becomes a dragon (idiom); fig. to long for one' s child to succeed in life; to have great hopes for one's offspring; to give one's child the best education as a career investment

It has more emphasis on succeeding in life, while "the best" is more open, and can also refer to happiness. This because most Chinese people have different values and aspirations for there children than most westerners (I'm generalizing here).


Correct/Polite way of asking "Can we speak in chinese?" I would like to preface this by saying I'm Australian and speak with an Australian accent when I'm speaking English which can be hard to digest for a lot of people new to Australia.

A lot of 1st gen Chinese-Australians struggle with my accent so I commonly find it easier to order in Chinese. This is how I would normally transition between the two languages:

我：你会说汉语吗
他：我会说
我：我要...

I feel that this is kind of a harsh transition but haven't been corrected; yet. I've considered saying something like: 我们可以说汉语吗 but it doesn't sound overly natural or correct.

How would I politely ask to continue the conversation in Chinese?

In eastern asian languages, hints are very important, thus, if you have already said "你会说汉语吗?", it has included an indication of "让我们说汉语吧" and the part you are asking for is actually an unnecessary part of the communication. You can just switch to your Chinese mode after that sentence as a notice.

It is the same case in English. When you say "Can we speak in Chinese?", obviously you are not inquiring if we really have the ability to say Chinese, rather, it is an indication including the sentence "Let's speak Chinese.", which you will not speak aloud.

But it is important you know the correct answer. “（咱们/我们）能用（普通话/汉语）说吗？”


if 奥巴马 was a sentence in classical chinese, what would be its meaning? if you look up the characters used to transscribe obama in chinese, you get the following:

奥 = mysterious
巴 = to long for
马 = horse

a simple sentence pattern in classical chinese is:
adv. V O

Is it possible to interpret 奥巴马 as a sentence in classical chinese with this peculiar sentence structure?
If it is possible, would the translation be:

in a mysterous way longing for a horse

Yes, if it is the way you interpret the characters, you can translate that into a sentence. However, you probably should not say this to an average Chinese user, it would not make any sense to them. Actually, if you would like to interpreted 奥巴马 to any Chinese sentence that makes some sense, it is nearly impossible. I personally do not see an modern Chinese sentence or often-used classical expression.

Firstly, one Chinese character could have many meanings. Here, all three characters have more than the meanings you have mentioned above. Thus you have a much bigger chance to find a sentence.

Secondly, it is less common in modern Chinese language to use one character for every single component of the sentence. So I would say the better way is to view the sentence the classical way. This has lead to another interesting point. The sentence pattern of classical Chinese are so different from the Chinese we are using now. Thus the chance of you to find a  sentence is even bigger.

Now I actually see a lot ways to interpreted 奥巴马 into a sentence. For example:

奥 - the Southwest corner of a room

巴 - to stick (v.)

马 - horse

Thus the sentence could mean "A horse is sticked at the Southwest corner of a room."


Is this usage of 不 before a noun acceptable? In the first episode of the Chinese-Japanese anime collaboration 一人之下, we see Zhang Chulan (张楚岚) in a classroom at his university. Just prior to this, we see a still of a university building, with a plague that appears to read (left to right) 南不海大学.

This struck me, at first glance, as an implausible combination of characters: I could not think of any reasonable reading for them. Moreover, my sense is that 不 only makes sense attached to a verb (他不说德语) or adjective (这份功课不难), unless it is attached to 是, in which case a noun can follow (这本书不是罪与罚).

Is my intuition correct, or is there actually a plausible reading for this sequence of characters?

It's just a wordplay, in the original edition, the name of the university is 南不开大学 which is derived from 南开大学 that is famous university in China.

Some people add a "不" in the name of their favouries for fun or to show their likes or respects.

I have met these nickname in social website:

李不白(if you google 李不白 you can see his poems, this guy must be a big fan of 李白, no comments for his poems XD)

令狐不冲(令狐冲)

张小忌(张无忌, sometimes they use 小)

东门吹雪(西门吹雪)


Characteristics of Northern and Southern accents My first language is Cantonese.  I learned Mandarin as a second language.  Native speakers of Mandarin often understand me with no major issues.  Of course, they recognize the Southern accents right away.  Sometimes, I have trouble understanding people from Northern regions (example: Beijing).  Other than the "learned" retroflex constants (zh, ch, sh, r) produced by native Cantonese speakers, what are the other characteristics that I should aware to understand better?

Sorry to over-generalize the regions and their accents.  Please feel free to point out characteristics in speech between different sub-regions.

Note that I'm not asking about terminology difference between different dialect/regional speech.  This topic can be covered in a separate question.

If you're looking for specific characteristics of particular accents, there are a couple I have noticed that have been fairly reliable.

I'm usually able to tell whether someone is from Shanghai (or a nearby Wu-dialect area) based on the way they pronounce the word 能 (néng).  Instead of the standard [nəŋ], they often say [nəɲ].  Note the [ɲ] (a palatal nasal sound) rather than [ŋ] (a velar nasal sound).  You can hear the differences on the Wikipedia pages that I linked.  If you happen to listen to ChinesePod, you may notice that Jenny typically pronounces 能 this way.  The reason for this particular pronunciation is because in Shanghainese and other Wu dialects, [ŋ] and [ɲ] are allophones of the same consonant and [ɲ] always occurs after the vowel /ə/.

Tianjin folks sometimes pronounce initial w- as [ʋ] (a labiodental approximate sound that sounds somewhat like [v]).  There was some discussion of this sound on a post in the Beijing Sounds blog.  I don't necessarily know the real explanation for this, but this sound did exist in Late Middle Chinese (ca. 1200 AD) and is transcribed by linguists as mv- (see note 2 under the table in this link).  All the mv- sounds merged with w- and Mandarin and m- in Cantonese (e.g., 未 is wèi in Mandarin and mei in Cantonese), but it might be that in the Tianjin dialect w- merged with mv- and both came to be pronounced as [ʋ] (this is purely my speculation though).

If we go to more general dialectical characteristics, you can often find free variation of initial n- and l- consonants in the south, particularly in Cantonese-speaking regions.  There is also free variation of h- and f- around south-central China (i.e., Hunan region).  The latter probably has something to do with the fact that many /x/ and /ɣ/ sounds in Middle Chinese shifted to /x/ or /f/ (which correspond to pinyin h- and f-, respectively) in various modern dialects.


What are the HSK chengyu (idioms)? I've been going through the HSK lists with awk, so I now feel like I can answer...

Question: What are the HSK chengyu (idioms)?

My answer is below.

To my knowledge, there's no HSK5 idioms, except possibly 讨价还价 (to haggle over price), but I don't think that counts.  This is not to say there's no requirement to learn idioms for HSK5, but that it's not on the official list.

HSK6 idioms (from vocab list).  English definitions from CC-CEDICT.

  一丝不苟 (yīsībùgǒu)not one thread loose (idiom); strictly according to the rulesBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  一举两得 (yījǔliǎngdé)one move, two gains (idiom); two birds with one stoneBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  一如既往 (yīrújìwǎng)just as in the past (idiom); as beforeBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  一帆风顺 (yīfānfēngshùn)propitious wind throughout the journey (idiom)Baike; Jukuu; Yabla

  一目了然 (yīmùliǎorán)obvious at a glance (idiom)Baike; Jukuu; Yabla

  不可思议 (bùkěsīyì)inconceivable (idiom); unimaginableBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  不屑一顾 (bùxièyīgù)to disdain as beneath contempt (idiom)Baike; Jukuu; Yabla

  不择手段 (bùzéshǒuduàn)by fair means or foulBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  不相上下 (bùxiāngshàngxià)equally matchedBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  不言而喻 (bùyánéryù)it goes without sayingBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  与日俱增 (yǔrìjùzēng)to increase steadilyBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  东张西望 (dōngzhāngxīwàng)to look in all directions (idiom)Baike; Jukuu; Yabla

  丢三落四 (diūsānlàsì)forgetfulBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  举世瞩目 (jǔshìzhǔmù)to receive worldwide attentionBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  举足轻重 (jǔzúqīngzhòng)to play a critical role (idiom)Baike; Jukuu; Yabla

  争先恐后 (zhēngxiānkǒnghòu)striving to be first and fearing to be last (idiom); outdoing one anotherBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  任重道远 (rènzhòngdàoyuǎn)a heavy load and a long roadBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  众所周知 (zhòngsuǒzhōuzhī)as everyone knows (idiom)Baike; Jukuu; Yabla

  优胜劣汰 (yōushèngliètài)survival of the fittest (idiom)Baike; Jukuu; Yabla

  侃侃而谈 (kǎnkǎnértán)to speak frankly with assuranceBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  供不应求 (gōngbùyìngqiú)supply does not meet demandBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  兢兢业业 (jīngjīngyèyè)cautious and conscientiousBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  全力以赴 (quánlìyǐfù)to do at all costsBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  兴致勃勃 (xìngzhìbóbó)to become exhilarated (idiom); in high spiritsBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  兴高采烈 (xìnggāocǎiliè)happy and excited (idiom)Baike; Jukuu; Yabla

  再接再厉 (zàijiēzàilì)to continue the struggle (idiom); to persistBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  刻不容缓 (kèbùrónghuǎn)to brook no delayBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  力所能及 (lìsuǒnéngjí)as far as one's capabilities extend (idiom); to the best of one's abilityBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  千方百计 (qiānfāngbǎijì)lit. thousand ways, a hundred plans (idiom); by every possible meansBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  半途而废 (bàntú'érfèi)to give up halfway (idiom); leave sth unfinishedBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  南辕北辙 (nányuánběizhé)to act in a way that defeats one's purpose (idiom)Baike; Jukuu; Yabla

  博大精深 (bódàjīngshēn)wide-ranging and profoundBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  各抒己见 (gèshūjǐjiàn)everyone gives their own viewBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  名副其实 (míngfùqíshí)not just in name only, but also in reality (idiom)Baike; Jukuu; Yabla

  后顾之忧 (hòugùzhīyōu)fears of trouble in the rear (idiom); family worries (obstructing freedom of action)Baike; Jukuu; Yabla

  吞吞吐吐 (tūntūntǔtǔ)to hum and haw (idiom); to mumble as if hiding sthBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  喜闻乐见 (xǐwénlèjiàn)to love to hear and see (idiom)Baike; Jukuu; Yabla

  天伦之乐 (tiānlúnzhīlè)family love and joyBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  实事求是 (shíshìqiúshì)to seek truth from facts (idiom)Baike; Jukuu; Yabla

  家喻户晓 (jiāyùhùxiǎo)understood by everyone (idiom); well knownBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  小心翼翼 (xiǎoxīnyìyì)cautious and solemn (idiom); very carefullyBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  层出不穷 (céngchūbùqióng)more and more emergeBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  岂有此理 (qǐyǒucǐlǐ)how can this be so? (idiom); preposterousBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  川流不息 (chuānliúbùxī)the stream flows without stopping (idiom); unending flowBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  废寝忘食 (fèiqǐnwàngshí)to neglect sleep and forget about food (idiom)Baike; Jukuu; Yabla

  归根到底 (guīgēndàodǐ)after allBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  当务之急 (dāngwùzhījí)top priority jobBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  得不偿失 (débùchángshī)the gains do not make up for the losses (idiom)Baike; Jukuu; Yabla

  得天独厚 (détiāndúhòu)blessed by heaven (idiom)Baike; Jukuu; Yabla

  循序渐进 (xúnxùjiànjìn)in sequence, step by step (idiom); to make steady progress incrementallyBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  心甘情愿 (xīngānqíngyuàn)delighted to (do sth, idiom)Baike; Jukuu; Yabla

  急于求成 (jíyúqiúchéng)anxious for quick results (idiom)Baike; Jukuu; Yabla

  急功近利 (jígōngjìnlì)seeking instant benefit (idiom); shortsighted vision, looking only for fast returnBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  总而言之 (zǒng'éryánzhī)in shortBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  恍然大悟 (huǎngrándàwù)to suddenly realizeBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  恰到好处 (qiàdàohǎochù)it's just perfectBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  悬崖峭壁 (xuányáqiàobì)sheer cliffs and precipitous rock faces (idiom)Baike; Jukuu; Yabla

  想方设法 (xiǎngfāngshèfǎ)to think up every possible method (idiom); to devise ways and meansBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  拔苗助长 (bámiáozhùzhǎng)to spoil things through excessive enthusiasm (idiom)Baike; Jukuu; Yabla

  斩钉截铁 (zhǎndīngjiétiě)lit. to chop the nail and slice the iron (idiom)Baike; Jukuu; Yabla

  新陈代谢 (xīnchéndàixiè)metabolism (biology); the new replaces the old (idiom)Baike; Jukuu; Yabla

  无动于衷 (wúdòngyúzhōng)aloofBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  无微不至 (wúwēibùzhì)in every possible way (idiom); meticulousBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  无忧无虑 (wúyōuwúlǜ)carefree and without worries (idiom)Baike; Jukuu; Yabla

  无理取闹 (wúlǐqǔnào)to make trouble without reason (idiom); to be deliberately provocativeBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  无穷无尽 (wúqióngwújìn)endlessBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  无精打采 (wújīngdǎcǎi)dispirited and downcast (idiom); listlessBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  无能为力 (wúnéngwéilì)impotent (idiom)Baike; Jukuu; Yabla

  日新月异 (rìxīnyuèyì)daily renewal, monthly change (idiom)Baike; Jukuu; Yabla

  有条不紊 (yǒutiáobùwěn)regular and thorough (idiom); methodically arrangedBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  朝气蓬勃 (zhāoqìpéngbó)full of youthful energy (idiom); vigorousBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  根深蒂固 (gēnshēndìgù)deep-rooted (problem etc)Baike; Jukuu; Yabla

  欣欣向荣 (xīnxīnxiàngróng)(idiom) flourishingBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  津津有味 (jīnjīnyǒuwèi)with keen interest pleasure (idiom); with gustoBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  深情厚谊 (shēnqínghòuyì)deep friendshipBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  滔滔不绝 (tāotāobùjué)unceasing torrent (idiom)Baike; Jukuu; Yabla

  潜移默化 (qiányímòhuà)imperceptible influenceBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  热泪盈眶 (rèlèiyíngkuàng)eyes brimming with tears of excitement (idiom)Baike; Jukuu; Yabla

  爱不释手 (àibùshìshǒu)to love sth too much to part with it (idiom); to fondle admiringlyBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  物美价廉 (wùměijiàlián)good quality and cheapBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  狼吞虎咽 (lángtūnhǔyàn)to wolf down one's food (idiom); to devour ravenouslyBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  理所当然 (lǐsuǒdāngrán)as it should be by rights (idiom)Baike; Jukuu; Yabla

  理直气壮 (lǐzhíqìzhuàng)in the right and self-confident (idiom)Baike; Jukuu; Yabla

  画蛇添足 (huàshétiānzú)lit. draw legs on a snake (idiom); fig. to ruin the effect by adding sth superfluousBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  相辅相成 (xiāngfǔxiāngchéng)to complement one another (idiom)Baike; Jukuu; Yabla

  知足常乐 (zhīzúchánglè)satisfied with what one has (idiom)Baike; Jukuu; Yabla

  礼尚往来 (lǐshàngwǎnglái)lit. proper behavior is based on reciprocity (idiom)Baike; Jukuu; Yabla

  称心如意 (chènxīnrúyì)after one's heart (idiom); gratifying and satisfactoryBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  空前绝后 (kōngqiánjuéhòu)unprecedented and never to be duplicatedBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  竭尽全力 (jiéjìnquánlì)to spare no effort (idiom); to do one's utmostBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  精打细算 (jīngdǎxìsuàn)meticulous planning and careful accounting (idiom)Baike; Jukuu; Yabla

  精益求精 (jīngyìqiújīng)to perfect sth that is already outstanding (idiom); constantly improvingBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  络绎不绝 (luòyìbùjué)continuously; in an endless stream (idiom)Baike; Jukuu; Yabla

  统筹兼顾 (tǒngchóujiāngù)an overall plan taking into account all factorsBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  聚精会神 (jùjīnghuìshén)to concentrate one's attention (idiom)Baike; Jukuu; Yabla

  肆无忌惮 (sìwújìdàn)absolutely unrestrainedBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  自力更生 (zìlìgēngshēng)regeneration through one's own effort (idiom)Baike; Jukuu; Yabla

  苦尽甘来 (kǔjìngānlái)bitterness finishes, sweetness begins (idiom); the hard times are over, the good times just beginningBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  莫名其妙 (mòmíngqímiào)(idiom) bafflingBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  见义勇为 (jiànyìyǒngwéi)to see what is right and act courageously (idiom, from Analects)Baike; Jukuu; Yabla

  见多识广 (jiànduōshìguǎng)experienced and knowledgeable (idiom)Baike; Jukuu; Yabla

  迄今为止 (qìjīnwéizhǐ)so farBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  迫不及待 (pòbùjídài)impatient (idiom); in a hurryBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  锦上添花 (jǐnshàngtiānhuā)lit. on brocade, add flowers (idiom); to decorate sth already perfectBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  锲而不舍 (qiè'érbùshě)to chip away at a task and not abandon it (idiom); to chisel away at sthBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  难能可贵 (nánnéngkěguì)rare and preciousBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  雪上加霜 (xuěshàngjiāshuāng)to add hail to snow (idiom); one disaster on top of anotherBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  风土人情 (fēngtǔrénqíng)local conditions and customs (idiom)Baike; Jukuu; Yabla

  饱经沧桑 (bǎojīngcāngsāng)having lived through many changesBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

  鸦雀无声 (yāquèwúshēng)lit. crow and peacock make no sound; absolute silence (idiom)Baike; Jukuu; Yabla

  齐心协力 (qíxīnxiélì)to work with a common purpose (idiom); to make concerted effortsBaike; Jukuu; Yabla

Not counted: 二氧化碳 (carbon dioxide), 公共汽车 (bus), 名胜古迹 (historical sites), 微不足道 (negligible), 烟花爆竹 (firecrackers), 电子邮件 (email), 高速公路 (expressway), 通货膨胀 (inflation), 飞禽走兽 (birds and animals), 讨价还价 (haggle over price).


What is the relation between 寨 (zhài, "stockade, stronghold, fort") and 塞 (sài, "place of strategic importance; pass; fortress")? Most dictionaries say 寨 = 塞 + 木, but on its face, we could just as easily have 塞 = 寨 + 土.

There doesn't seem to be much relation between「寨」and「塞」, although it takes some evidence to demonstrate why this is the case.

Firstly, the reason why many dictionaries say that「寨」is「塞」plus「木」is because「塞」is popularly but very likely mistakenly interpreted as the modern character for what was originally「賽」. The evolution of「賽」from oracle bone script to modern form is considered by some paleographers to be the following:

Basically, what appears as「工」in this character (and some others) is considered by several experts as a simplified form of「玉」, and sometimes was written as「玉」, while the two hands「廾」were sometimes removed in certain variants and「貝」was sometimes added as a semantic indicator. The character was a compound ideogram depicting the offering of objects to spirits inside a temple, and the primary meaning was to do with some kind of ritual, preserved in the ancient words「賽神」and「祭賽」.

As stated near the beginning, many important sources however say that the first two forms is the ancient form of「塞」(plug, fill in). For example:

  段玉裁注：“凡填塞字皆當作。”

(「」is the second form in the evolution sequence depicted above. With a bit of stroke joining and simplification, 「」becomes「」, which is the top part of「賽」and the other characters mentioned in this question.)

Note that these sources, although traditionally very well reputed, do not appear to provide any paleographic or lexical evidence for this assertion, and so cannot be trusted for this specific character. Despite this, many dictionaries will follow these sources and treat「」as the original character for「塞」, and subsequently interpret「寨」as「」(mistakenly thought as 塞) plus「木」.

Interpreting the primary meaning of「賽」as a religious ritual, it is then very likely that「寨」and「塞」merely use「」(賽) as a phonetic component.

「塞」uses「土」as a semantic component to indicate the meaning stuff, plug, fill in. This is an ancient definition that has survived very well intact to the present. Note that the synonym「填」uses the same semantic component.
「寨」is only one possible form of the word it represents, the other commonly seen one being「砦」.
The only time when the two characters have anything to do with each other is for the meaning fortification.

Further reading:

季旭昇《說文新證》
于省吾《甲骨文字釋林》
何琳儀《戰國古文字典》

Please note that this explanation is tentative, and there will undoubtedly be differing opinions on these characters. More evidence is required to make a more solid case.


成语 or expression for perservering I am looking for an expression (maybe a 成语) which can describe the idea of, "I know I have a long way to go, but if I keep trying, I can succeed."

For example, "我的发音还差得远，可是"  Meaning, "My pronunciation has a long way to go, but I will keep working hard at it."

I have found this one expression that seems to express it, is it appropriate?

只要功夫深，铁杵磨成针

Or perhaps:

磨杵作针

Please let me know how I can best express this idea in a way that the average speaker can understand.

只要功夫深，铁杵磨成针 is good, and also:

坚持不懈
锲而不舍
水滴石穿
百炼成钢
熟能生巧
精卫填海
卧薪尝胆
有志竟成


"If you say so": Dismissive agreement I would like to know some ways to agree in a non-committal or dismissive way. For instance, in English, we have:

If you say so.
Is that so? (with a flat intonation)
Really? (flat intonation)
Whatever you say.

In Chinese, I'm a bit at a loss. "Is that so?" and "Really?" work fine translated literally (是吗？, 真的吗？, similar intonation). Beyond that, I'm drawing a blank. Furthermore, it seems difficult to look these things up since the tone is important and not the literal meaning.

A few that are used the most in my surroundings:

好吧 (in a helpless tone) = Fine.
随便 = whatever.
都行 = whatever.
无所谓 = I don't care.
你说[X]就[X]吧 = If you say so.


他很慢地走: why there is 地 if the adjective is monosyllabic? I can't use 地 after the adjective if the adjective is monosyllabic (so 他慢地走 isn't acceptable). Then why in this sentence is there 地 after a monosyllabic adjective?

  他很慢地走

Is it because I can use 地 if there is 很 before the adjective ?

I can't use 地 after the adjective if the adjective is monosyllabic

This is not a grammatical rule. This is an idiomatic rule and mostly for prosody concerns.

All the following expressions are grammatically correct. Only some sounds more natural than the others:

他慢地走 <- sounds unnatural
他很慢地走 <- sounds fine but not idiomatic
他慢慢地走 <- sounds fine and idiomatic


Why does 他吃了饭 sound incomplete? As I study usage of different aspects markers in Chinese, I started to realize that my problems with those markers come from simple fact that: "I don't see any use in them." Reason for this is: Whenever I see a bare verb phrase, I translate it as simple present time. But this is far from truth.

So, let me ask a question:

"Why does 他吃了饭 sound incomplete?"
This kind of sentence is being used in many theoretical talks and papers on Chinese linguistics

My answers:
The difference between 他吃饭 and 他吃了饭 lies only in that 了 renders the situation as factual rather then irreal (habitual, desirable, wishing, issuing a command etc.)

Explanation:

他吃饭
can be translated (in proper context) as:

An order. "He (must) eat (now)!" (screaming).
A habit. He eats (always).
A desire. He (wants/thinking about) to eat.

But once you add 了 to a verb(as in 他吃了饭),  you thus delete all the mentioned above as a possible translations. Now the situation is "factual \actual". It is not about habit, orders, desires and other irrealis modes. But rendering situation factual is not enough, you still have a big list of possible translations (in proper context), for example:

A fact. He ate.
A fact. He eats... and then... (not as a habit, but actually eats as in some narrative)
A fact. He just initiated a process of eating.
Future. He will have eaten (by the time ...)
any suggestions?

that is why in 他吃了饭 you need further specification! The verb 吃了 is not rendered to ANY time (just rendered to reality, making it a fact or eventuality)!!!

P.S. Please, refrain from "perfective aspect marker 了" viewpoint if it is possible. Thank you!

P.s.s. Please, provide your possible translations and contexts for 他吃了饭 (this is very important for not natives! We need to see the point in adding aspects to naked verbs!!!)

I can't for the life of me understand why switching an associative verb to the front forms a question in English. Am I not stupid?

The fact is, in a lot of cases, languages don't follow any kind of logic or reasoning.

If you say 他吃饭了, it's a complete sentence. If you say 他吃了饭, a listener would expect you to tell him what happened next, like 他吃了饭，拍拍肚子就走了。Now that it's complete, the listener can rest in peace.

So in this case, 他吃了饭 means "After he ate" -- Apparently an incomplete sentence.

But why does switching the position of 了 change its meaning? No one has the slightest idea.

There are situations where "verb + 了 + object" makes a complete sentence. Like when answering "他吃了什么?" with "他吃了一只火鸡."


Why is the boss called 老板? The primary meaning of 板 is 'board'. So why does 老板 or 'old board' mean 'boss, chief'?

Good question. In Traditional Chinese, boss is called "老闆" instead of "老板". "闆" is simplified into "板" but they have different meaning, that is, they are two totally different words. Therefore, "闆" doesn't mean "board". "闆", reads pàn here, means spy through the door. See http://www.zdic.net/z/27/js/95C6.htm.

According to MOE Dictionary of Taiwan, the word "老板" is also used nowadays. See http://dict.revised.moe.edu.tw/cgi-bin/cbdic/gsweb.cgi?o=dcbdic&searchid=Z00000060086.

As for this question, it seems that there are different opinions and you shouldn't trust them blindly.


Does this article claim that Australian citizens of Chinese ethnicity are seeking asylum in China to flee COVID-19? (大多数华裔恐怕只是把中国当成了一处避难所而已) I saw this on a tabloid-like Chinese news outlet:

  不少澳大利亚华裔之所以要离开，很大程度上是因为澳大利亚国内疫情开始呈现爆发迹象，但中国的疫情已经得到了有效控制，所以大多数华裔恐怕只是把中国当成了一处避难所而已，但他们应该清楚的是，拥有澳大利亚国籍的自己早已不是中国公民了。
  易有料, Yiyouliao, undated, viewed 3-rd April 2020

I translate it to:

  Not a small number of Australian ethnic Chinese want to leave, during the "big process" caused by Australia's epidemic situation starting to show signs of breakout, but China's epidemic situation already has effective control, therefore many ethnic Chinese are afraid and only consider China as a place to seek asylum.  But they should be clear: if one has Australian citizenship then they long ago stopped being Chinese nationals.

There's two parts in bold I'm particularly unclear on, although the second part is more important.

很大程度上 seems to mean something like "during [上] the big [很大] process [程度]".  I'm not sure if this refers to Australia's response to COVID-19, or the big process in fleeing Australia to China (given that currently foreigners are not allowed to come to China, so they have to seek asylum).
恐怕只是把中国当成了一处避难所而已 literally translates to "afraid [恐怕] only [只是] China [中国] can be considered [当成] a [一处] asylum [避难] place [所] and that's it [而已]".  I'm not sure if I've understood this accurately.

Question: Does this article claim that Australian citizens of Chinese ethnicity are seeking asylum in China to flee COVID-19?

I'm particularly unsure if the article say it's actually happening, or if ethnic-Chinese Australians are simply considering this as a possibility.

Yes. This article claims that Australian citizens of Chinese ethnicity are seeking asylum in China to flee COVID-19 and yet they failed.

很大程度上 in this sentence means "in a considerable degree". So 很大程度上是因为 can be translated as "this is largely because ... "
只是 …… 而已 means "it's just ... ".
恐怕 is an adverb in this sentence which indicates very likely speculation that means "perhaps" and "maybe", not a verb meaning "afraid" or "fear".

Here are some more examples of 恐怕 as an adverb.

  天恐怕要下雨了

  It looks like it’s going to rain.

  他的英语恐怕是说得最好的了。

  He probably speaks the best English.


Earliest usage of 力不从心? What's the earliest usage of 力不从心?
The earliest I've seen is:

《後汉书·西域传》
今使者大兵未能得出, 如諸國力不從心, 東西南北自在也。

Anything earlier than 后汉书? 445 is, apparently, the given year for completion of 后汉书.

One of the most useful resources for checking this sort of thing is the huge database from Academia Sinica (中央研究院), 漢籍電子文獻.

The earliest instance in 漢籍 is just what you cite, 後漢書西域傳, but 漢籍 also lets you look at the context, which can sometimes give a more precise date.  It turns out this line is attributed to 廣武帝, in 廣武二十一年. This would be A.D. 46-7.

Works such as Shi ji, Han shu, San guo zhi, Hou Han shu, and so on, often incorporate early original documents; if you want to date something, this can be very helpful.

I also can't help feeling that this expression is related to the famous line 七十而從心所欲 in the Analects. 從心 is 從心所欲, right?


What is 汉白玉 and is it 大理石? 汉白玉 is translated to English as "White Marble".

Is that translation correct? Is it a form of 大理石?

And if it is a form of marble then is it a valuable, expensive form or a cheap form?

And is there an English translation of this form of white marble (just as there is Himalayan Marble and Carrara Marble and Calcutta Marble and etc.)?

From the links on your post:

但制作雕像的白色大理岩也称为大理岩
(But the white marble that's for making statue is also called marble)

'white marble' is one kind of 'marble'

'汉白玉'就是纯白色的大理石
'Han white jade' is pure white marble

汉白玉 is not actual jade, but a marble that is pure white

Is that translation correct? Is it a form of 大理石?
is there an English translation of this form of white marble?

Search 'white marble' image and you can find many pictures that we would call 白色的大理石, but most of them are not pure white.
汉白玉 should be translated as 'pure white marble' and it is still a kind of 大理石 (marble)
There is one pure white marble image I found online. It came from Hanoi
Hanoi is in North Vietnam, neighboring China
云石(cloud stone = marble) is another name for 大理石


"I will," "I can," "I will (probably)" A fundamental problem with 會 I've always been a little wary of talking about the future in Chinese using the character 會,  my early teachers made it ambiguous or demanded that I use a 的 at the end of every 會 sentence, but then other times I don't hear them use it. I've gotten a lot of mixed signals. Normally I add on the future time or say 要 instead whenever possible. Even though no one has told me I'm wrong when I use it, I feel like I'm doing something wrong when I use 會 to talk about the future.

However, today I went back into my more basic textbook and started making flashcards, but this time I decided all the definitions would come directly from a Chinese dictionary. The English translation for the context of 會 that I was searching for in this case was "will". The related definitions were as follows:

  (副詞)

  １能、能夠。如：「我會游泳」、「只要努力，理想一定會實現。」

  ２可能。多用於疑問語氣。如：「他會來嗎？」、「會不會是他回來了？」

There was no certainty of the future at all. Does it really just mean "能" or "可能"？

If I'm not mislead, I think this revealed a reality about Chinese thinking to me. No one actually knows if something will happen. We can only say that it's possible that it will happen. "Will" is so definite, confident, it's 100% sure. Either that or this is a bad dictionary.

So my questions are these:

Can 會 directly be used to mean "will"? (As a 副詞)
If 會 does mean "will" could "我會游泳" potentially mean both "I will swim." and "I can swim." depending on the context? (Of course, if so, there are ways to convey the meaning less ambiguously, but I want to use this question to find out if I am using the word correctly.)
If 會 doesn't mean "will" how do I say with the confidence of English that something shall occur in the future (using natural sounding conversational Chinese)?

yes, fx, 他会来吗？是的，他会来。
yes,it depends on the context.
we use extra word to express the confidence, fx.'一定'，‘必然’。


Meaning of 申诉、申足 in the sentences below I have two sentences below that contain the aforementioned words：

诗歌后十句写相思之意，申诉现在之思念，措辞前显，寓意深厚。
”行行重行行“ 言行之不止，致有“想去万余里”“个在天一涯”。三、四句表现极其遥远之概念，以申足此意。

《行行重行行》是产生于汉代的一首文人五言诗，是《古诗十九首》中的第一首，作者不详。
1: I don't think we should understand 申诉 as the word in its legal sense here. Maybe it's a combination of:
申明：state, express +
诉苦：grumble, complain, grievance
申诉现在之思念，: express present longing, repine the past
诗歌后十句写相思之意，
The last ten lines of the poem express yearning,
申诉现在之思念，
repine the past,
措辞前显，
the previous verses express
寓意深厚。
a profound meaning.
2: 申（明）足此意: amply express this idea.
“行行重行行”的意思是：走啊走啊走一直在不停的走。
It is easier to translate the poem in contemporary language:
你走啊走啊老是不停的走，
Keep going, keep going, never stop going,
就这样活生生分开了你我。
thus you and I in this life are parted.
从此你我之间相距千万里， (You know 千万里 just means "a great distance" ?)
Henceforth a million miles separate you and I,
我在天这头你就在天那头。
me in this corner of heaven, you in that corner of heaven.
The older text:(there are experts here who understand these old texts. I am not one of them!)
”行行重行行“ 言行之不止，
"Go on again go on" words and deeds endlessly,
致有“想去万余里”“个在天一涯”。(maybe should be: 各在天一涯）
cause (us to) "want to go more than 10000 miles" "each in their own bit of heaven".
三、四句表现极其遥远之概念，
these 3, 4 lines express the idea of great distance,
以申（明）足此意。
and amply express this idea.


How to say "being" as in "Being jewish" I've always had some difficulty trying to translate the english "being" as in "being Christian" or "being American". I'd like to say
"in the U.S. being Jewish isn't difficult."

Should I say 我在美国成为犹太人并不难  ?

I feel like 成为 in this instance implies becoming - which is not quite what I am trying to imply.

I think the word you're looking for is 作为

in the capacity, character, or role of; as
作为你的朋友，我得劝劝你
As your friend, I have to give you some advice
你作为领导，就要以身作则
As a leader, you should set a good example for others -A Chinese English Dictionary

This is basically the equivalent of as in English - which I think is what you're looking for with 'being'.
being Jewish 作为一个犹太人
being American 作为一个老美
being Christian 作为一个基督徒


How to say ‘freeze tag’ (a game) in Chinese language? If you don’t know this game, please research it before you answer I’m quite new to Chinese, having only started learning it a month ago, I struggle to find words in Chinese for names like: Harrry Potter, Freeze Tag, etc. Can we actually use ‘冻结捉捉’ to say ‘freeze tag’? I’m trying to write a diary in Chinese to practice my Chinese, btw.

Freeze tag may not be as well understood as other games, e.g. the normal version of tag (鬼抓人, lit. ghost catches man), or hide-and-seek (捉迷藏) in Chinese. If you do not wish to specify the person tagged must freeze in the name of the game, you may just say 鬼抓人.

Literal translation is possible (凍結標籤, see here). 標籤 means tag or label. 捉捉 in your proposed translation (凍結捉捉) is nonexistent as a word; perhaps it confers a childlike nuance by means of character repetition, but either way, you need to clarify the details of the game should you adopt a literal translation, because otherwise no one would know what it actually is.

Children say 「抓到了，（換）你當鬼！」 (lit. 'Caught you, now it's you're turn to be the ghost!', or equivalently, 'Tag, you're it!') while playing the game. You may consider not naming it at all and let the dialogues reflect the nature of the game. You may also consider adding this to reflect frozenness: 「抓到了，你當鬼，不許動！」 (lit. 'Caught you, you be the ghost, don't move!').

木頭人 (lit. log-like person, see here) and 紅綠燈 (lit. traffic light, see here) are classic games that are understood to require all players except 'the ghost' to freeze from time to time. Of course they are different games from freeze tag, but my point is, none used the 'frozen' analogy - this is a rather foreign concept, and would likely require a literal translation (and explanation) to a Chinese audience.


Meaning of 一挺 in 雪人大肚子一挺，他顽皮地说：“我就是冬天。” 雪人大肚子一挺，他顽皮地说：“我就是冬天。”

What is the meaning of 一挺 in this sentence? I know 挺 can describe something as straight or erect, but I am confused why 一 is said before it.

This dictionary definition explains the use of 一:

表示猛然发出某种动作或突然出现某种情况
E.g. 往起一站 / 右手一挥 / 眼前一黑。

Basically, this use of 一 expresses the suddenness of an action either intentionally or unintentionally.


What is this character and what does it mean? (Characters identified: 仁爱) I've tried to find this character in dictionaries and by looking it up on Google Translate, etc., but I'm unclear- is it two characters or one? What does it mean? Thanks so much]1

仁爱（rén ài），谓宽仁慈爱；爱护、同情的感情。语出《淮南子·修务训》：“ 尧立孝慈仁爱，使民如子弟。”


Can You Help Me Translate? Can you help me translate these notebok pages please

1st picture:
咱们可以把地下室改为变成(not sure)
体操室，乒乓球室，玩跑跑
跳跳的(not sure)
We can alter the to basement to a gymnastics room, a table tennis room, to play and jump there.
A.
地下室的那些大件，我们无法把
弄出地下室。是否可以在南宁生 (not sure) 网上
发布消息，有婴幼儿大件物品免费 (later inserted word) 送出，
自己负责搬运。
地下室的那些大件，我们无法弄出地下室。是否可以在 ？？？ 网上发布消息，有婴幼儿大件物品免费送出，自己负责搬运。
We can't get the big items in the basement out. Should we post a message on the ??? website, that we have some free big infant items, but need to move it by self.
清理后：①体操②乒乓球
Left (after cleaning): 1. gymnastics 2. ping pong (table tennis)
B.
娱乐室的一侧衣帽间存放了两张
床垫和铁床执架，基本已满。
娱乐室的一侧衣帽间存放了两张床垫和铁床架，基本已满。
There are two mattresses and iron bed frames stored in one side of the recreation room, almost full.
①另一侧的物品是否打算捐出？
Should the items on the other side intended to be donated?
②睡房的三张海执绵垫捐出吧，床垫
已经够多了。睡房衣帽间打算整理一下，放衣物。
睡房的三张海绵垫捐出吧，床垫已经够多了。衣帽间打算整理一下，放衣物。
There are enough mattresses, we can donate three sponge mats in the bedroom. The cloakroom is going to be sorted to store clothes.
执: about to write 垫 and then deleted.
2nd picture:
用外卖饭盒的铁线做个 (not sure for it's blocked) 挂勾 (should be 挂钩 here)
Make a hook with the iron wire (means the handle here) of the takeaway box.
周三晚餐 (written as 歺 here)：
Dinner for Wednesday:
1.煎荷包蛋，三只fried poached egg, of three.
2.滚牛肉丸，10粒rolled beef balls, of ten.
3.蚝油炒西兰花，青豆粒fried broccoli with oyster sauce, and green beans.
4.煮饭cook rice.


Are people's names always pronounced the same in Mandarin? In many languages, you can not be really sure how to pronounce a person's name, so you have to ask them first, and remember. For instance, "Broglie" can be brɔɪ or brɔˈgli, "中島" can be Nakashima or Nakajima.

Newbie question: Are there any Chinese names with different pronounciations in Mandarin?
If yes, what percentage of the population have such ambiguous names?

Or do all Chinese names have only one possible reading in Mandarin?

Or do all Chinese names have only one possible reading in Mandarin?

No.

Apart from first names (when 多音字 (polyphone) is used they might pronounce differently), even for the last names, there're some (not much) with different pronunciations. Note that these names with different pronunciations almost means different origins. That means you have to confirm with the person about the pronunciation of his/her given name; on the other hand, if you know that you could get more informations, like how the name originated (from where or from who), and the informations about his/her ancestors. e.g.

费（Bì，  Fèi）
覃（Tán， Xún， Qín）
郗（Chī， Xī）
贲（Bēn， Féi）
隗（Kuí， Wěi）
郇（Xún， Huán）
乐（Lè，  Yuè）
召（Shào，Zhào）

References:
这些姓氏你能正确读音吗？（汇编）
「費」姓該怎麼讀？
一个可能被误读的姓 乐姓


Contracted pronunciations of 今天 and 这里【這裡】(Taiwan)? I was watching this great video interviewing people on the street in Taiwan. The interviewer asks the question “你今天來這裡做什麼？” to many people. When introducing the question to "us", the interviewer uses the "full" pronunciation, but when interviewing, the interviewer and interviewees pronounce the word EVERY TIME as one syllable and sounds more like /jian1/ to me (see 0:057 for example). According to the subtitles they are saying 今天 but the actual pronunciation is not that.

My question is is this a different word, or some aural contracted form of 今天? Is this common in both Taiwan and China?

I noticed something very similar with 這裡 【这里】where the sound comes out as one syllable where the /l/ of 理 seems completely gone. Is this normal/expected?

Is this specific to the interviewer, to Taiwan/Taipei? Or more systematic?

I don't quite have enough personal experience of enough parts of Mainland China to be able to judge how prevalent it is. I will say however that it is far more prevalent in urban Taiwan (particularly Taipei) than rural Taiwan, and more prevalent across Taiwan than in its closest linguistic areas on the mainland, i.e. Fujian, Zhejiang, Guangdong. I do find more northern Chinese prone to "slurring the sounds", most characteristic of the Beijing dialect of course, but also fairly common in fast speech across the parts of the north that I've been to, from Shandong to the northeastern area.

The 连音 / contraction so common on Taiwan is what you're picking up, enough to be a defining characteristic of casual Taiwan Mandarin, and easily perceived by a Mainland Chinese ear. The "extreme reductions" have been studied by linguistics researchers, and according to this 2009 paper from researchers at University College London, it is actually an ongoing productive process. Vowel + vowel interfaces are most likely to be contracted.

The outcomes of a lot of these contractions are starting to be fossilised, and are changing the phonotactics of colloquial Taiwan Mandarin slightly. Some of these are documented in this 2006 paper from NTU. Certain initials are more resistant to change than others; the labials b-, p-, f-, m- are mentioned as consistently so, with the one exception being 根本 gēnběn which becomes "gèmm" with an elongated m, phonetically [kəmː˥˩].

Of course, removing contrasts do create conflict and confusion. This 2010 paper from UCLA shows that perceptual cues nonetheless remain. Length seems to be increasingly contrastive in this role, as are the exact scale of the tones.


Translation of 这庙又不是我家开的 So I'm reading this manhua to practice my Chinese (I'm A2 level) and this sentence came up: 这庙又不是我家开的

Does this mean “this is shrine is not my home to open”

Tang Ho's answer is correct, but the grammar on the English side is a bit incorrect.
While the literal translation is "This temple actually is not my family operated", the more proper translation would be "This temple isn't actually operated by my family". Phrasing in Chinese is somewhat different from phrasing in English.


What is the meaning in this 兼？ My text is talking about charity. It contains this old saying:

(儒家提出)“穷则独善其身，达则兼济天下。”

(The Confucian School suggests)"When you are poor you can only help yourself,
when you become rich you can (simultaneously 兼??) help the whole world."

What is 兼 here? Is 兼济 1 word, something like 'multi-help'? (Not that that word exists in English， at least not yet!)
I think:
独： 独自， alone (but it has to become 'only' in English.)
达： 发达， get rich
兼： 兼顾， do more than 1 thing at a time
济： maybe 救济： help the needy

窮則獨善其身﹒達則兼善天下

the original verse should use the character "善", which is from 孟子　盡心上

the verse "窮則獨善其身﹒達則兼濟天下", using the character "濟" is a deviation.

the earliest one i found, is from the letter "與元九書", written by 白樂天, which was in 白氏長慶集　卷四十五.

  古人云﹒窮則獨善其身﹒達則兼濟天下﹒僕雖不肖﹒常師此語﹒大丈夫所守者道﹒所待者時﹒

  時之來也﹒為雲龍﹒為風鵬﹒勃然突然﹒陳力以出﹒

  時之不來也﹒為霧豹﹒為冥鴻﹒寂兮寥兮﹒奉身而退

  進退出處﹒何往而不自得哉﹒

  故僕志在兼濟﹒行在獨善﹒奉而始終之則為道﹒言而發明之則為詩﹒謂之諷諭詩﹒兼濟之志也﹒謂之閒適詩﹒獨善之義也﹒故覽僕詩﹒知僕之道焉

first of all, it's not talking about charity. then, such claim, implying it's confucianism; is falseness.

intepreting "達" as rich, "濟" as "help the needy", "relieve" is, imo, imaginative, and severely derived from orthodox.

fortunately, the character "兼" is correctly interpreted.

edited.

let's examine the version of mr 白.

a manly man (大丈夫) behave (所守) according to the proper way (道), wait (所待) for [his] times (時).

when his times do not come (時之不來也), it's 窮; then (則), he make good (善 ) himself (其身) alone (獨)

when his times comes (時之來也), it's 達; which means he become high official, then (則), his governing accords to the proper way, brings goodness (濟) to all people in the nations (天下)

兼 (both), is used, because, in such state "達", he do goodness to himself, and, to others peoples.

imo, though the character "善" was replaced by "濟", mr 白's usage was similar to mr 孟's, without great difference.

classical text were interpreted, remarked through out history; so, it's better to use these remarks to understand the classical text.

that's culture heritage.

now, my rant, related to the comments:

1　he know the orthodox meaning, and ask for a government post from the communist.

2　he does not know the orthodox meaning, use current usage of character meanings, mislead other by implying it's confucianism.

it's no virtue, or cheating :(

last, a metaphor:

"dog", "green", "hot" & "house" are words taught in kindergarten, everyone know the meaning.

now, a "rich" man claims that "greenhouse" is a house with green color, "hotdog" is a dog that is hot.

how do you response?


What does 必死的决心 mean? Must-die determination? 我以必死的决心发誓，从此绝对不会手淫src
I, by a must-die determination pledge, from now on absolutely won't masturbate.
抱着必死的决心去奋斗，不论前方有多大的困难src
Carrying a must-die determination go [and] struggle, regardless of big difficulties ahead.
我是抱着必死的决心来做的,求大家支持src
I, carrying a must-die determination, come here, [and] seek everyone's support

I don't have a clear understanding of 必死的决心.  It breaks down:

必 = must
死 = die
的 turns 必死 into an adjective
决心 = determination

So I've translated it to "must-die determination" above, but I don't really know.
Question: What does 必死的决心 mean?

必死 = certain death

决心 = determination

必死的决心 means "A determination so strong that you prepare to meet certain death to carry it out"

It is a 誇張詞 (exaggeration phrase).

Similar to "誓死" (swearing on one's own life)

You can omit "的" and say "必死决心"


What is the difference between 撒谎 and 说谎? As far as I know, 撒谎 and 说谎 have the same meaning of "telling a lie". Is there a difference between them?

In my opinion,

说谎 can be used in the case of telling white lies; 撒谎 usually means telling malicious lies just to cheat someone.
说谎 is inclined to telling meticulously prepared lies; 撒谎 in inclined to telling casual lies.
说谎 is more formal; 撒谎 is used in spoken language more.


Chinese words that are their own antonyms Are there (m)any Chinese words that are their own antonyms? Similar to English "terrific", "wicked", etc. (which originally had negative meanings and now have positive meanings).

I imagine that as Chinese words are so heavily tied to their etymology (and the meaning of the characters used to write them), "auto-antonyms" would be rare???

Not sure if this is exactly what you're asking, but 厉害 (li4hai) can have both a good or bad meaning depending on the context. For example, if a student says a teacher is li4hai they probably mean strict. If you do something and demonstrate great ability, someone might say, "Wow! You're really li4hai!"


How do I type 了 with m17n tonepy in ubuntu? I understand this character to be "le1."
Here are what I get for the options of le+tone:
le1:

le2:
(nothing)
le3:
(nothing)
le4:

I do not see what I am looking for and expected this common character to be easier to find.


Sentence Translations with an Emphasis on 被 and other general sentences I translated these sentences. I just wanted to make sure they made sense. If there is anything I can fix, please tell me. Thank you very much.

My leg hit the ground and was injured.

我的腿撞到地上，被受伤了。

He was seriously ill and was sent to the hospital.

他病得很重了， 被送往医院了。

We both fell on the lawn. Fortunately, we were not injured.

我们两个草坪上摔倒了。幸好，我们没有被受伤了。

The taxi driver's injury is not as severe as the bus driver's

出租车司机的受伤没有巴士司机的那么严重。

Five bicycles were stolen last week, and the thieves have not been found yet.

上个星期五辆自行车被偷了，还没有被找到小偷们。

The color, size, and style of the jacket fits you.

夹克的颜色，大小，和款式适合你。

The jacket is a little too loose.

夹克有一点儿太松。

The pants are thin and long, making your legs look long.

裤子又瘦又长，让你的腿看起来很长。

The Skirt is not too long or too short. You look beautiful wearing it.

裙子不是太长或太短。你穿裙子看起来很漂亮。

The department store is having a special sales event this weekend.

这个周末百货商店有一个特别销售活动。

我的腿撞到地上，被受伤了--> 我的腿撞到地上被弄伤了 (受伤 is an intransitive verb and it doesn't work in the passive voice. Similarly, we don't say 被死去了 or 被昏倒了)
他病得很重了， 被送往医院了。 --> 他病得很重， 被送往医院了。 (we only need one final particle 了 in the same sentence)
我们两个草坪上摔倒了。幸好，我们没有被受伤了。 --> 我们两个在草坪上摔倒了。幸好没有被弄伤。 (need preposition 在 before 草坪. Again, 受伤 is an intransitive verb and it doesn't work in the passive voice and you don't need to repeat the subject 们两 = 我们)
出租车司机的受伤没有巴士司机的那么严重。 --> 出租车司机受的伤没有巴士司机的那么严重。 (的受伤 is not as native as 受的伤)
上个星期五辆自行车被偷了，还没有被找到小偷们。 --> 上个星期五辆自行车被偷了，小偷们还没有被找到。 (with 被 before the verb 找到 the object 小偷们 should be placed before 被 and the verb)
夹克的颜色，大小，和款式适合你。 --> 夹克的颜色，大小，和款式都适合你。 (add 都 after the last item on a list make it sound more complete)
夹克有一点儿太松。 --> 夹克有点儿太松。 (一点儿 can be reduced to 点儿 or 点)
裤子又瘦又长，让你的腿看起来很长。 --> 这裤子又窄又长，让你的腿看起来很长。。(瘦 for thin is normally for people or animal, for objects, we use 幼 or 窄 for thin
裙子不是太长或太短。你穿裙子看起来很漂亮。 --> 裙子不太长不太短。你穿起來很漂亮。 (no need to repeat 裙子 in the same sentence)
这个周末百货商店有一个特别销售活动。 --> 这个周末这間百货商店有一个特别销售活动。 ('这間百货商店' specify a particular store; while '百货商店' refers to all 百货商店 in general)


What is the meaning of ...不断向产业链的高端提升是发展趋势的要求? I can't quite get the last part of this

专家：这个问题不能一刀切。对于东部的企业，因为起步较早，有一定产业规模和资金积累，所以调整产业结构，提高技术含量，不断向产业链的高端提升是发展趋势的要求。

Can I rewrite the last bit thus:

不断向产业链的高端提升是发展趋势的要求。= 发展趋势的要求是不断向产业链的高端的提升。
发展趋势的要求是不断向产业链的高端的提升。

develop trend 的 demand is non-stop to supply chain 的 high-end 的 increase
= the development trend is towards an ever increasing luxury car market.

I think you are confused about 产业链的高端, is that right?

It may be translated as high level of supply chain.

I think he want to express that the companies should become the creator, not just the manufacturer.


What is the meaning and origin of 高人一等? So I have just started to learn some 成语 but I came across a 成语 that is 高人一等. I was just wondering what it means, and where it could have come from. From context clues, I think it has to do with tall people or people that are higher(hierachy?), but I am not too sure if I'm on the right track. Thanks for the help!

First of all, 高 doesn't only mean high or tall. 高 also figuratively means good, smart, superior and so on. E.g. 高招 (smart move), 高人 (a person who has very good idea).
so, 高人一等，literally means 比别人高一个等级，which figuratively means better than/superior to other people.
It can be used both positive and negative ways. When you describe quality, strategy, and so on, it is usually positive. Positive usage examples:
我们部队的战略高人一等。
他们公司的产品质量高人一等。

When used directly on a person, it is usually negative. If you say a person considering himself as "高人一等"， you don't like him because you think he is arrogant and always see below others. Please note that, the general idea is that you should NOT 高人一等, so if you say "我觉得他高人一等"，that is not a praise, that is the same as "I feel he is arrogant and not friendly".
Negative usage examples:
那个人目中无人，总是觉得自己高人一等。
大家都是普通人，没有谁高人一等。