Any student of the Chinese language, sooner or later, will come across the so-called bureaucratic terms, which are difficult to distinguish one from another, difficult to remember and even more difficult to translate. Bureaucracy is meant as the collective apparatus and people to which is entrusted the administration of a State, and Chinese bureaucracy is …
The determiner and the determined In Chinese, elements such as adjectives, specifications and possessives can appear to the left of other components to specify attributes, modality and characteristics. These elements are conventionally defined as determiners because they determine the component that proceeds them. The determiners, therefore, specify something from “something else”. The component being specified …
Il Museo di Ordos Excited about having seven days off for Guoqingjie (the holiday of the Republic), I decide to organize my trip along with a friend: I go to the ticket office and ask the agent to book two tickets for any destination in Inner Mongolia worth visiting. I take the pink tickets that …
Traveling to Ordos – Walking through the ghost city Read More »
Before speaking about classifiers, it’s good to review the numbers 1 to 10 because they are indispensable for numerical constructions: 1: 一 (yī) 2: 二 (èr) 3: 三 (sān) 4: 四 (sì) 5: 五 (wǔ) 6: 六 (liù) 7: 七 (qī) 8: 八 (bā) 9: 九 (jiǔ) 10: 十 (shí) Classifiers Now that we’ve reviewed …
Adjectives In Chinese, adjectives are called predicative adjectives because they have an intrinsic predicate value, in other words they posses the value given by the verb “to be”. The adjective 漂亮 (piàoliang), for example, is translated as “to be beautiful” (meaning feminine beauty); 帅气 (shuàiqi) is translated as “to be handsome” (meaning male beauty), 新 …
In this article we’ll discuss the doubling of verbs, nouns and classifiers, are one of the most evident and common peculiarities of Chinese grammar. Besides, who’s never said “一点点 (yī̠diạ̌ndiǎn)”? Let’s start with classifiers to then move on to nouns, verbs and predicative adjectives. The doubling of classifiers The classifiers, which we’ve already covered in …
The doubling of classifiers, nouns, verbs and adjectives in the Chinese language Read More »
In the Chinese language, the verb can be followed or preceded by several specific particles that specify its meaning. These specific particles, the majority of the time, are pronounced in the neutral tone.
In this article we’ll see the particles that indicate the aspect of the verb.
In Chinese, the active or passive voice is not compulsorily marked by a particular character. If a subject is present in a phrase – which may also be implicit – the phrase has an active sense; if, instead no subject is present, the phrase has a passive sense. Here are some examples: Active sense (the …
The Chinese language often allows the juxtaposition of two adjectives and or verbs without the help of any element of which a language like Italian or English would use. This juxtaposition is commonly known as “serial constructions”.
Let’s clear up the concept right away: a serial constructions consists of two (or more) verbal predicates that share the same subject and follow one another without the use of conjunctions (or commas).
In Chinese there are different types of serial constructions that are divided according to the meaning that they wish to express.
In this article we’ll synthetically address one of the peculiarities of the Chinese language and other “oriental” languages, the particles under a phrase. The Chinese language uses particular characters under a phrase, conventionally called “particles”. Thanks to these particles, the phrase assumes a different nuance. One of the characteristics of these particles is that they …
With this article it is my hope to give you an idea of what is one of the most important realities of modern China, the National Library of China. As a book lover and student of the great world of China, I find that this place must necessarily be known and explored, especially if you’re …
Like every other place on this planet, even in China there’s a recurring use of slang, or a series of expressions and words that make up a jargon in place of the common language. Slang, in Chinese (俚语, liyu), covers a vast gamut of types: local dialect, jargon and also insults and curses (which we …
Born in 2012 as a modest project, NordVPN has become one of the most complete and popular VPNs on the market. Currently, this VPN provider (whether fortunately or unfortunately) is competing to be one of the leading VPNs in China, which is quite possibly the hardest test of the reliability of any VPN service. Below …
Review of NordVPN, a Premium VPN at a Reasonable Price Read More »
What is Taobao Installing the application Registering Adding an address Choosing products Buying Post-Purchase Use Taobao in English Even though new applications and online shopping sites no longer offer Taobao as the only tool for purchases, it still remains one of the most preferential for online purchases. Just think about the success Taobao has each …
How to Shop With Taobao App – The Complete Guide for English Speakers Read More »
Today is an honor for me to interview Simon Gjeroe, a Danish long-time ex-pat and he has written articles and books on Chinese travel, food, culture, history, and politics. Simon lived in China from 1995 to 1998 and again from 2003 to 2013 where he got married and raised two mixed boys. From his bibliography, …
Giving birth and raising mixed babies in China: Interview with Simon Gjeroe Read More »
Sagaing, near Mandalay – Photo by Matteo Bosi Are you looking for a tour in Burma? Click here to find out more about the tours we recommend Here’s all the information you’ll need to take on a trip to Burma, Myanmar: here we will refer to it as Burma, just as the locals call it, …
Best SEO Strategies for Baidu – Index SEO Strategies for Baidu Don’t use Google Translate when doing keyword research Difference among Baidu and Google Google was blocked in China in March 2009 and foreigners and locals must download a VPN to be able to use it. To many people’s surprise, Baidu was founded as early …
Best SEO Strategies for Baidu: Our Complete Guide Read More »
How to use the DiDi app – Index How DiDi works What you need to install Didi (cell phone number, payment method, etc) How to install DiDi on your cell phone The type of rides that DiDi offers What is the difference between Taxi and Express How to reserve a car with DiDi Quick guide …
How to Use Didi: The Best App to Book a Taxi in China Read More »
Apps for Traveling in Taiwan – Index Google Maps Uber GO! Taipei Metro Tour Taiwan KKday Line Pleco FunNow YouBike Taiwan Weather Travel Taipei Taiwan GuideWithMe Agoda, Booking, and Airbnb Do you plan to travel to Taiwan and want to download a handful of useful applications? In this article, we list some of the best …
Use the coupon code SDC25 to get a 25% discount for the first month! Online learning becomes increasingly popular and we’ve seen many schools popping up in the past years. LTL Flexiclass has received much attention thanks to its special way of training students. As increasingly more Chinese-learners want to know more about LTL Flexiclass, …
Get 3 Months FREE with EXPRESS VPN
+ Best VPN For China
+ 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee
+ 24/7 Live China Customer Support
+ 3 Months Free on 12 Months Package
