A how to for “picking up” in Chinese
Stop sniggering at the back! When you saw the title, did you think we were learning about how to pick up a man or woman in Chinese class today? We…
Chinese Characters for Animals
In the fifth post of this series we looked at some Chinese words for body parts. This time we’re going to continue our thematic learning with another set of twelve…
Tackling the two opposite meanings of 让(ràng)
This article covers the character 让(ràng), a word with two virtually opposite meanings in Mandarin: to permit; to yieldto make someone do/feel something; to have someone do something. Tackling these…
Freezing “to death?” – Adjective/Verb+死+了
It has been very cold in Beijing recently, and out on the streets, you might hear some Chinese people saying: “冷死了(lěng sǐ le, I’m freezing).” "死 (sǐ)" literally means “to…
How to tell 另外(lìng wài) and 另(lìng) apart!
Once your Chinese learning reaches an intermediate level, you may find that you have some difficulty with synonyms. Most Chinese learners wonder if these synonyms are interchangeable, or wonder which…
Chinese Characters Containing the Radical “口”!
Last time we discussed the radicals of some Chinese characters. While learning how to write Chinese characters, it is sometimes helpful to group them by ones containing similar meaningful parts.…
Basic Verbs that are Different in Chinese and English Part II
Although I always know Chinese and English were poles apart, I didn't realize how much simple differences between the two languages could create problems for learners until I started developing…
Recognize Chinese Characters by Radicals
This week, I have picked a set of Chinese characters that may be easily confused by beginners. In the picture below, you will see six pairs of characters. The symbols…
4 Common Chinese Measure Words – 个/只/支/头
Many people have trouble understanding which “measure word” they should use in different situations. If you don’t know what a measure word is – it’s a word that is used…