Comparing 4 Chinese Words that Mean “the Future”
A real question many Chinese learners will encounter early is how to express future events. In Chinese, we have a series of time words to address that: “将来”(jiānglái), “未来”(wèilái), “以后”(yǐhòu)…
Making a Clean Sweep of all Basic Associated Constructions in Chinese
You may have hit a wall in the study of Function words in Chinese. Maybe you have mastered Function words like “着”, “了”, “过”, but the next step is to…
Ways to Make Chinese Learning Fun for Your Kids!
Learning a second language from an early age is incredibly valuable, so if you have decided to educate your children in Mandarin as a second language, there are some key…
The Extended Usages of “起来”(qǐlái ) and “下去”(xiàqu)
You may have already learned the how to use the Directional Verbs “……起来” and “……下去”， but in some situations, how they are supposed to be used doesn’t work very well,…
总是 VS 一直: “Always” is not always the same in Chinese
If you're learning Chinese, you might have come across two words that both mean "always": "总是(zǒngshì)" and "一直(yīzhí)". While these two words share a similar meaning, they are not interchangeable…
从(cóng) VS 离(lí) and 向(xiàng) VS 往(wǎng): Two Commonly Confused Chinese Grammar Structures
If you’ve spent more than a year or so learning Mandarin, you’ve probably encountered the familiar predicament where you must decide whether to use 从(cóng) versus 离(lí) or向 (xiàng) versus…
Mastering When to Use 一点儿 and 有一点儿
Learning a new language can be challenging, especially when it comes to mastering the nuances and subtleties of everyday conversation. As a Chinese teacher, I often notice my students using…
上下(shànɡxià)？左右(zuǒyòu)？前后(qiánhòu)？- Expressing an “Approximate Number” in Mandarin
If you need to express an “Approximate Number” in terms of time, weight, age, or any other term that involves a number, there are a number of ways to do…
How to Say that Something will Happen “Soon” in Mandarin Chinese
Unlike other languages such as English, Mandarin does not change the form of its verbs to express past, present, and future tenses. Instead, there are other ways to say how…