Chinese Words for Life at home

Posted on by tiffany

Chinese Vocabulary · 中文词汇

Chinese Words for Life at Home

居家生活词汇 jūjiā shēnghuó cíhuì

Quick birthday etiquette lesson before we get into the vocab: in Taiwan, you never, ever celebrate a birthday late. Early is totally fine — throw the party a week ahead if you want — but celebrating after the actual date is basically inviting bad luck to your own party. And here’s the real curveball: a lot of Taiwanese people quietly skip celebrating on the 9th, 19th, 29th, 39th… any birthday ending in 9. The number 9 has a reputation for dragging along sickness and misfortune, so when that birthday rolls around, people just let it slide by unmarked. Make it through unscathed, though, and you’re golden for the next nine years — until the next 9 comes knocking.

Everyday objects

Chinese Words for Life at Home

ChinesePinyinEnglishKoreanJapanese
東西dōngxiObjects, things물건物
报bàoNewspaper신문新聞
杯子bēiziCup컵カップ
碗wǎnBowl그릇茶碗
盘子pánziPlates접시お皿
書shūBook책本
电影diànyǐngMovies영화映画
錢qiánMoney돈お金
票piàoTicket표チケット
眼镜yǎnjìngGlasses안경メガネ
生日shēngrìBirthday생일誕生日
生活shēnghuóLife생활生活
照片zhàopiànPhoto사진写真
紙zhǐPaper종이紙

💡 Taiwan says 报纸 (bàozhǐ) for “newspaper” — the full word. In everyday speech in China, people often shorten it to just 报 (bào).

Putting it all together

Examples

你nǐ在zài中国Zhōngguó的de生活shēnghuó怎么样zěnmeyàng？ How is your life in China?

我wǒ没méi钱qián买mǎi电影票diànyǐng piào I don’t have money to buy movie tickets.

What fills a room

Furniture & Clothing

ChinesePinyinEnglishKoreanJapanese
家具jiājùFurniture가구家具
沙发shāfāSofa소파ソファ
門ménDoor문ドア
窗(户)chuāng(hu)Window창문窓
床chuángBed침대ベッド
椅子yǐziChair의자椅子
桌子zhuōziTable탁자テーブル
衣服yīfuClothing옷服
袜子wàziSocks양말靴下
鞋子xiéziShoes신발靴
裤子kùziPants바지ズボン
裙子qúnziSkirt치마スカート

Putting it all together

Examples

我wǒ想xiǎng买mǎi几jǐ件jiàn新xīn衣服yīfu I want to buy some new clothes.

你nǐ的de床chuáng好大hǎodà好软hǎoruǎn啊a！ Your bed is so big and soft!

Test yourself

Vocabulary Quiz

HSK1
Do you like it? 🙂