Before we look up the body part and sports words in Chinese, let me tell you a fact. Taiwan is definitely not a sporting country. Not many people are crazy about the Olympics or World Cup. The reason possibly is because we can not join these international games as a country. The most popular sport in Taiwan was baseball. We have our own Major League, the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL). Going to a CPBL game can be a fascinating cultural experience because you are not allowed to drink. Yes, no drinking. But trust me it still will be pretty enjoyable. By the way, sports is not a good small talk topic in Taiwan.
Body Parts
| Simplify | China | Traditional | Taiwan | English | Korean | Japanese |
| 身体 | shēntǐ | 身體 | shēntǐ | Body | 몸 | 体 |
| 头 | tóu | 頭 | tóu | Head | 머리 | 頭 |
| 头发 | tóufa | 頭髮 | tóufǎ | Hair | 머리카락 | 髪 |
| 眼睛 | yǎnjing | 眼睛 | yǎnjīng | Eye | 눈 | 目 |
| 耳朵 | ěrduo | 耳朵 | ěrduō | Ear | 귀 | 耳 |
| 嘴 | zuǐ | 嘴 | zuǐ | Mouth | 입 | 口 |
| 鼻子 | bízi | 鼻子 | bízi | Nose | 코 | 鼻 |
| 肚子 | dùzi | 肚子 | dùzi | Belly; stomach | 배 | お腹 |
| 手 | shǒu | 手 | shǒu | Hand | 손 | 手 |
| 脚 | jiǎo | 腳 | jiǎo | Foot; leg | 발/다리 | 足 |
Examples
手shǒu and 腳/脚 jiǎo
In Mandarin Chinese, we do have specific words to distinguish between leg and foot, but most of the time we just simply use ” jiǎo. ” It depends on your description or the context, people will get which part of jiǎo you are talking about.
你的腳很長
你的脚很长
Nǐ de jiǎo hěn cháng.
You have a pair of long legs.
你的腳很大
你的脚很大
Nǐ de jiǎo hěn dà.
You have big feet.
Actually, this is the same idea for hand and arm. Maybe you will ask, how if I want to tell a doctor that I hurt my jiǎo? It might not have enough context to show the doctor which part of jiǎo you are talking about, but the answer is quite simple….YOU JUST POINT IT:)
Sports
| Simplify | China | Traditional | Taiwan | English | Korean | Japanese |
| 运动 | yùndòng | 運動 | yùndòng | Sport | 운동 | 運動 |
| 棒球 | bàngqiú | 棒球 | bàngqiú | Baseball | 야구 | 野球 |
| 篮球 | lánqiú | 籃球 | lánqiú | Basketball | 농구 | バスケットボール |
| 网球 | wǎngqiú | 網球 | wǎngqiú | Tennis | 테니스 | テニス |
| 足球 | zúqiú | 足球 | zúqiú | Football | 축구 | フットボール |
| 游泳 | yóuyǒng | 游泳 | yóuyǒng | Swimming | 수영 | 水泳 |
Examples
週末我常常跟朋友一起打網球
周末我常常跟朋友一起打网球
Zhōumò wǒ chángcháng gēn péngyǒu yìqǐ dǎ wǎngqiú.
Zhōumò wǒ chángcháng gēn péngyou yìqǐ dǎ wǎngqiú.
I often play tennis with my friends on weekends.
A1 Body Part and Sport
