Learn a little Chinese every day
Before we look up the food and color words in Chinese, let me explain one word first. “Bǐnggān” in Chinese Mandarin, can be translated into the cookie, biscuit, potato chips, cracker, and wafer.The original meaning of “Bǐng” is something shaped like a cake and usually made with flour or rice flour. “Gān” means dry. So…
The word “the” is used frequently in English, and you may wonder how to translate it into Chinese. However, there is no direct equivalent for “the” in Chinese. One common usage of “the” in English is to refer to specific nouns. In Chinese, there are three ways to express this concept. Using Topic-comment Structure In…
The Difference Between 安心 ānxīn and 放心 fàngxīn Both 安心 ānxīn and 放心 fàngxīn indicate a sense of peace or ease, but they have slightly different nuances. 安心 emphasizes a feeling of calmness that results from a sense of safety and security, and it is often used to describe a general sense of well-being. For…
What is the most common sentence order in Chinese? 📌 Time + Subject + How + Location + Action * Time words can either go after the subject or before the subject.* If you want to specify the direction, the directional word should come after ‘how’ and before ‘location’. Time Subject How Direction Location Action 去年 弟弟 坐船…
There are 4 different measure words that can be translated into “time” in Mandarin Chinese: 次 cì, 遍 biàn, 趟 tàng, and 場场 chǎng. Let’s have a small quiz. Do you know which one is correct? A – HSK 考試kǎoshì一yì年nián有yǒu幾jǐ遍biàn？ HSK 考试kǎoshì一yì年nián有yǒu几jī遍biàn？ B – 我wǒ要yào去qù一yí趟tàng台北Táiběi我wǒ要yào去qù一yí趟tàng台北Táiběi C – 我wǒ洗xǐ了le三sān場cháng的de衣服yīfú我wǒ洗xǐ了le三sān场cháng的de衣服yīfu 次 cì — general “time (occurrence)” It emphasizes…