#ChineseVocabulary

Answer to Love a Good Bargain? Buy it Second-Hand “二手(èrshǒu)” in Chinese

Answer: A Here, the ordinal number “second” is “第二(dì’èr)” in Chinese. While “second-hand” can be both “二手(èrshǒu)” or “第二手(dì’èrshǒu)” in Chinese, “二手(èrshǒu)” is more widely used. For example, “二手市场(èrshǒu shìchǎng) second-hand market,” “二手车(èrshǒuchē) used car,” “二手房(èrshǒufáng) pre-owned house,” etc. Meanwhile, “第二手(dì’èrshǒu),” with less uses, is …

Answer to What’s the Difference between “保护(bǎohù),” “保持(bǎochí),” and “保留(bǎoliú)”?

Answer: B To understand the correct answer to the quiz we need to first make clear the different meanings of these three similar words: “保护(bǎohù)” means “to protect,” “保持(bǎochí)” is “to remain or keep,” and “保留(bǎoliú)” means “to continue to have/to preserve.”

Examples:

Bǎohù huánjìng …

What’s the Difference between “保护(bǎohù),” “保持(bǎochí),” and “保留(bǎoliú)”?

Choose the correct answer to fill in the blank. Shàngkè le, qǐng _____ ānjìng. 上课       了,请 _____  安静。 Class is beginning, so please keep quiet. A. “保护(bǎohù)”

B. “保持(bǎochí)”

C. “保留(bǎoliú)”

General Chinese (Beginner Level) General Chinese (Intermediate Level)

Dine and Dash? It Is Having “霸王餐(bàwángcān)” in Mandarin!

Previously, we introduced two other Chinese words related to the character “霸(bà)”: “学霸(xuébà)” and “麦霸(màibà).” In this issue we will learn about another one, which is “霸王餐(bàwángcān).”

Literally, “霸(bà)” means “to dominate, lord over, tyrannize over or rule by force” and “王(wáng)” means “king.” Together, …

Answer to “同样(tóngyàng)” and “一样(yíyàng)” Are Not The Same!

“同样(tóngyàng)” and “一样(yíyàng)” both mean “the same.” They can be used interchangeably in most cases, but there are also some subtle distinctions between them. Let’s take a closer look.

“一样(yíyàng)” can be used as a complement and predicate

while “同样(tóngyàng)” cannot. For example, if you …

Talk about Stingy People? Use “铁公鸡(tiěgōngjī)” in Mandarin!

The term “铁公鸡(tiěgōngjī)” comes from the Chinese idiom “铁公鸡,一毛不拔(tiěgōngjī, yìmáo bùbá) You can’t pluck a feather from an iron rooster.”

Here, “铁(tiě)” means “iron” and “公鸡(gōngjī)” means “rooster,” but what the term “铁公鸡(tiěgōngjī)” is really used to refer to is a mean, stingy person who …

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