Mandarin Essentials
Are you a “Cat” (even if you are not)? (Elementary)
Chinese Zodiac is called 生肖(shēngxiāo). 生(shēng) means birth and 肖(xiāo) means resemblance. There are twelve animals in 生肖(shēngxiāo). Yet where did this idea come from? A convincing theory maintains that using animals to symbolize years started with the totems used by minorities in ancient China. Different tribes had different animals as their totems.…
Measure words for Chinese currency
Complete the following conversation with proper Chinese measure words.
Gùkè: Lǎobǎn, píngguǒ duōshǎoqián yìjīn? 顾客：老板， 苹果 多少钱 一斤？ Customer: Boss, how much does 500-grams apples cost?
Láobǎn: Sì ____ qī _____ yìjīn. 老板： 四____ 七 _____ 一斤。 Boss: Four kuai, seven jiao per 500 grams.
Gùkè: Wǒ yào sānjīn.…
Be Careful When Using “eggs” in Mandarin (Elementary)
Let’s look at a dialogue first.(After taking a math exam, Lily and Wang Xiaohong are walking home together.)
Lily: I stink at math. I’m afraid I didn’t pass the exam.
Li Lei: Don’t worry. Doing your best is what matters. Also, I’m sure you will be OK!…
The usage of measure words for Chinese currency
Answers:
块；毛；块；毛；块
Basically, there are three measure word units for Chinese currency in oral Chinese, 分(fēn), 毛(máo), and 块(kuài). In Mandarin, 毛(máo) can be said as 角(jiǎo) and 块(kuài) can be said as 元(yuán). 1块=10毛; 1毛=10分. 分(fēn) is falling into disuse because of inflation. You won’t see a number higher than 10 before the units 分(fēn) and 毛(máo).…
Learn authentic expressions of time in Chinese
Please fill in the blanks with correct Chinese words.
1. -Qǐngwèn, ___ shì jǐyuè jǐhào? 请 问，___ 是 几 月 几 号？
Could you tell me what day it was yesterday?
-___shì qíyuè sìhào. ___ 是 七 月 四 号。
It was July 4th.
2. -Nǐmen dǎsuan shénme shíhou jiéhūn? 你们 打算 什么 时候 结婚？
When do you plan to get married?…
Have you ever sang your own praises for saving 面子(miànzi)? (Elementary)
“We have to choose the best location, hire a French designer, a British butler wearing a wig stands within the building, and looking like a gentleman. When proprietors come, he will say to them “May I help you, Sir?”, no matter how busy he is! Speaking fluent.…
Learn how to convey authentic expressions of time in Chinese
1. Answer: 昨天(zuótiān) According to its translation, “昨天(zuótiān)” should be filled in the blank. Some commonly used expressions concerning “天(tiān)” in Chinese are as follows:
qiántiān zuótiān jīntiān mínɡtiān hòutiān 前天 昨天 今天 明天 后天 the day before yesterday yesterday today tomorrow the day after tomorrow2.…
Explanations about conjunctive words in Chinese
1. Answer: B It’s common knowledge that “地球有吸引力(dìqiú yǒu xīyǐnlì) the earth has a gravitational force, and “因为(yīnwèi)……所以(suǒyǐ)……” is a way to express causal connection in Chinese.
2. Answer: A
After understanding the whole sentence, we know that 马可(Mǎkě) is a bilingual expression. So the relationship between the former part of the sentence and the latter part of the sentence is paratactic.…
Learn how to use conjunctive words in Chinese (Elementary)
Fill in the blanks with the proper Chinese words in order to complete the sentences below. Each sentence has only one right answer from the two choices.
1. _____dìqiú yǒu xīyǐnlì, ______shùshang de píngguǒ wǎng dìshang diào.
_____ 地球 有 吸引力，______ 树上 的 苹果 往 地上 掉。
2.…
How Numbers Became Magical in Daily Life? (Elementary)
One day, Lucy received a love letter from Zhangming. To her surprise, there were no words in the letter, but only some numbers: “584, 5201314.” She was totally confused, and did not know what to think. So she asked her friend Lihua for help. After reading the letter, Lihua translated the numbers into English for Lucy: “I swear that I will love you forever.”…
“Ghost” in the Chinese Language (Elementary)
One day, one of my foreign friends rushed to my home and told me that she was really scared and upset because her neighbor, an old Chinese woman, said she was a ghost! How come this old lady behaved so rude to my foreign friend? For me, it’s unbelievable because this woman is very kindhearted and the kids around the town treat her as their granny.…
Learn Three Antonymies in Chinese (Beginner)
1. Which one is the opposite of 大(dà)? A. 小 (xiǎo) B. 水 (shuǐ) 2. Which one is the opposite of 上(shàng)？ A. 王 (wáng) B. 下 (xià) 3. Which one is the opposite of 左(zuǒ)? A. 右 (yòu) B. 有 (yǒu)