OneDotDot Chinese Grammar · HSK 1 Grammar Point · HSK 1 在 zài + 方位詞 fāngwèicí Chinese expresses location by pairing the preposition 在 zài with a locative word — a small set of position terms that do a lot of work. The good news: once you know the ten locative words below, you can…
Author: tiffany
Objects at Home
Chinese Vocabulary · 中文詞彙中文词汇 Objects at Home and Furniture in Chinese 居家物品與傢俱詞彙居家物品与家具词汇 jūjiā wùpǐn yǔ jiājù cíhuì Before we get into the vocab, here’s a fun bit of slang: in Taiwan, 盤子盘子 (pánzi) — literally “plate” — has picked up a second meaning. It’s used to describe someone who lets themselves get overcharged or taken…
Question Words in Chinese
Grammar Point:If we exclude particle question words, there are 9 question words in Chinese: what, when, where, how, who, which, why, and 2 variations of “how many”. However, unlike in English, these question words stay in the same position in the answer sentence, without the need to reverse the order or add an extra adverb….
Chang’e ben yue
Story · HSK 2+ · Moon Festival 嫦 Chang’e Ben Yue 嫦娥奔月嫦娥奔月 Posted Sept 23, 2022 Author Tiffany Reading time 5 mins This story is one of the most famous stories associated with the Moon Festival. However, there are four different versions of it, each with slight variations — so if you hear a different…
Expressing Future in Chinese 1 – huì and yào
OneDotDot Chinese Grammar · HSK 1 Grammar Point · HSK 1 會会 huì and 要 yào Both 會会 huì and 要 yào can point to the future in Chinese — but one states a fact, and the other states a decision. The good news: the choice comes down to one question. Is this just going…
Actions in Progress in Chinese
Grammar Point · HSK 1 在 zài and 正在 zhèngzài 在 zài and 正在 zhèngzài go right in front of a verb to say an action is happening — Chinese’s way of expressing “-ing.” The good news: 在 zài works for both quick and long-running actions, while 正在 zhèngzài adds a bit of emphasis on…
”Want“ in Chinese
OneDotDot Chinese Grammar · HSK 1 Grammar Point · HSK 1 想 xiǎng, 要 yào, and 想要 xiǎngyào All three of these words can mean “want” in Chinese — but they sit at different points on a scale from a passing thought to a firm decision. The good news: the three words line up on…
Identity and Family in Chinese
T.M.I Before we look up identity and family words in Chinese, I want to tell you a not important fact. There are three kinds of fans in China. The first one is 團粉/团粉 tuánfěn. It means you like the whole idol group. The second one is 唯粉wéifěn. It means you like only one specific person…
20 Kinds of Fish in Chinese
Food Vocabulary 魚鱼Fish in Chinese A restaurant once offered free sushi to anyone with “salmon” in their Chinese name — and it went about as well as you’d expect. Work through twenty kinds of fish, a sushi/sashimi vocabulary bonus, and how to order at a fish counter. 🐟 The great salmon-name incident Anyone in Taiwan…
到底 dàodǐ
Grammar Point:The Chinese grammar structure 到底 dàodǐ is a commonly used phrase that serves three functions and can be translated to mean “what on earth”, “finally”, or “after all”. Here are the functions, structures, and examples of 到底 dàodǐ: Function 1 – Structure Used to express a question that requires a clear answer, this structure…