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Category Archives: Explanations

Méi shì 没事 vs. Méi cuò 没错

Posted on 2012 June 26 by Albert — 3 Comments ↓

I now offer you a slice-of-life just exactly as it was told to me by one of my Chinese students. The thing that’s so interesting about it is that both people in the story are native speakers of Chinese, speaking Continue reading Méi shì 没事 vs. Méi cuò 没错→

Posted in Explanations | 3 Replies

Taiwanese “Panda” = “adnaP”

Posted on 2011 August 9 by Albert — 16 Comments ↓

A friend just came back from Taiwan where he (somehow) met a local bear expert. The man told him: “On the mainland they call pandas ‘xióng māo’ 熊猫, but here in Taiwan we say ‘māo xióng’ 猫熊.” Regional differences are Continue reading Taiwanese “Panda” = “adnaP”→

Posted in Explanations | 16 Replies

My One Friend

Posted on 2010 May 28 by Albert — 11 Comments ↓

Here’s a little trip down grammar lane, trying to get to the bottom of how the English word “one” can be translated so many different ways in Chinese. It might surprise you how the Chinese say: 1. “one of my Continue reading My One Friend→

Posted in Explanations | 11 Replies

Nǐ hǎo 你好: A Very Fake Greeting

Posted on 2010 February 8 by Albert — 56 Comments ↓

[Update: June 26, 2014. Julie Tha Gyaw at Yoyo Chinese just wrote an excellent related post: How Chinese People Want to Be Greeted] I was waiting for my turn at the ping pong table the other night, when an older teacher started Continue reading Nǐ hǎo 你好: A Very Fake Greeting→

Posted in Explanations | 56 Replies

Tennis Players and Drummers

Posted on 2009 December 16 by Albert — 5 Comments ↓

As I’m sure my English-speaking readers would agree, the agent marker “-er” is tough for Chinese learners. We use it all the time in English (3 times in the previous sentence) but it’s not so readily available in Chinese. Example Continue reading Tennis Players and Drummers→

Posted in Explanations | 5 Replies

Doubt: Harder Than You’d Suspect

Posted on 2009 August 17 by Albert — 9 Comments ↓

Quiz time! 1. Look at the picture 2. Answer the question (to yourself) 3. Check the answer below (no peeking!) Question This is a picture of graffiti advertising for machine drilling a new well (jī zuàn jǐng 机钻井). I asked Continue reading Doubt: Harder Than You’d Suspect→

Posted in Divergent Concepts, Explanations | 9 Replies

bié 别 vs. bú yào 不要

Posted on 2008 September 29 by Albert — 7 Comments ↓

In my last (real) post there was a whole lot of “bu yao-ing” going on to tell someone not to do something. Well, now I’m going to ask a question that I feel I’ve never really gotten to the bottom Continue reading bié 别 vs. bú yào 不要→

Posted in Explanations, Vocabulary | 7 Replies

A Bit about Bù 不

Posted on 2008 September 14 by Albert — 4 Comments ↓

As promised, here’s a little bit about how you have to be careful where you put your bù (不). There are some tricky things that can throw you for a loop if you’re translating English into Chinese (which is what Continue reading A Bit about Bù 不→

Posted in Explanations | 4 Replies

Why does Chinese have measure words?

Posted on 2006 December 18 by Albert — 30 Comments ↓

As I finished these measure word posts I had to ask myself (again), “Why does Chinese have all these darn measure words?” Is it like the tones, which seem to exist only to keep foreigners from learning Chinese? As I Continue reading Why does Chinese have measure words?→

Posted in Explanations | 30 Replies

Which measure words do they really use?

Posted on 2006 December 17 by Albert — 24 Comments ↓

See also: Top 10 measure words to know As a friend who recently arrived in China said, “Yes but do they really USE all of those measure words?” I don’t know about all. But yes, unfortunately, they do use a Continue reading Which measure words do they really use?→

Posted in Explanations, Listening, Vocabulary | 24 Replies

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