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 won’t cover here).

Slang represents that popular culture as it’s an informal way of speaking confined to a specific circle. It’s a language that’s rather vulgar,crass and simple but its intrinsic meaning can be quite profound and eloquent.

Slang has always been a part of life for the Chinese and anyone wishing to study this world must also immerse themselves in this type of language. To give an example, let’s use the word (折, she) that means “to break, break apart, to bend, to flex”.

In slang you can use “she” for another meaning, such as: 我的考试折了 (wo de kaoshi she le), which means: “my test went badly”.

In this article I’ll seek to list the most common slang expressions (in alphabetical order).

Here they are:

啊木林 (A mu lin), “stupid person” (literally a piece of wood)

他真是个啊木林 (Ta zhen shi ge a mu lin): “he is truly stupid”. [Read more…]

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.

Let’s study these serial constructions in detail:

Serial constructions that express a time sequence

The action expressed by the first verb takes place before that expressed by the second verb. Usually, after the first verb you’ll find the perfect particle 了 (le) which we’ve already discussed in detail in a preceding article.

Here are some examples: [Read more…]

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 a preceding article, can be doubled according to precise rules. Doubling classifiers is divided into three “types”.

The simple doubling of classifiers

The first type of doubling we’ll consider is simple doubling, which is made up of a classifier followed by a classifier:

Classifier – Classifier

The simple doubling of classifiers accentuates the collective value of a noun. This doubling always appears in the segment of the phrase that precedes the verb. Usually, classifiers doubled in this way are covered by the adverb 都 (dōu), which means “all”.

Let’s look at a few examples: [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.

The completed aspect of the verb by means of the particle 过

To indicate the completed aspect of the verb, or to represent the action as an experience had at least once in life or to indicate an action as a completed event, one would use the particle 过 (guò), which is inserted to the right of the verb to which it refers:

我去过北京。
Wǒ qù guo Běijīng.
I’ve been to Beijing.

我没去过上海。
Wǒ méi qù guo Shànghǎi.
I’ve never been to Shanghai.

我吃过中国菜。
Wǒ chī guo Zhōngguó cài.
I ate Chinese food.

我没吃过泰国菜。
Wǒ méi chī guo Tàiguó cài.
I’ve never eaten Thai food.

我看过《哈利波特》。
Wǒ kàn guo Hālì Bōtè.
I read Harry Potter. [Read more…]

The greater than comparative

In Chinese there are two ways to form a greater than comparative.

The first, quite simply, is by inserting adjectives with an opposite meaning in a phrase. In this case, the adjectives have an intrinsic comparative value. When using this form of comparative, the intensifier 很 (hěn) – or any other intensifier – should not precede the adjective.

This type of comparative doesn’t have a specific name but is commonly identified by the expression: “simple propositions containing contrasting adjectives”. Here are some examples:

我们班，男学生多，女学生少。
Wǒmen bān, nánxuésheng duō, nǚxuésheng shǎo.
In my class there are more male students than female.

我妹妹的房间大，我的房间小。
Wǒ mèimei de fángjiān dà, wǒ de fángjiān xiǎo.
My little sister’s room is bigger than mine.

我的朋友高，我爸爸矮。
Wǒ de péngyou gāo, wǒ bàba ǎi.
My friend is taller than my dad.

The second way to form the greater than comparative is by applying the following rule: [Read more…]

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 (xīn) as “to be new”, 旧 (jiù) as “to be old”, and so forth.

Having an intrinsic predicate value means that, aside from exceptions, when we have to form a nominal predicate (she is beautiful, he is skinny), the verb “to be” must not be inserted, as it is already present in the adjective:

她漂亮。
tā piàoliang.
She is more beautiful.

The phrase, constructed like this, presupposes a comparison or contrast. So that the phrase loses this comparative sense, before the adjective a character called an intensifier would be inserted. There are many intensifiers as we’ll see later on. The most common one is 很 (hěn), which means “many”. [Read more…]

Cong zi wu bi, zhi shi, 从子无臂，指事 (From the character “baby” without arms, an abstract symbol)

According to many students of the Chinese language, the particle le (了) is among the most difficult Chinese grammatical particles to master. 了is not an element to represent the past tense (like many think); it is a particle that does not have a meaning or a concrete term. In structural terms, 了 can show up in two different positions within a phrase.

When 了represents the action expressed by the verb as a realized event

了can be found right after a verb. In this position, 了 indicates the perfect aspect of the verb, or represents the action expressed by the verb as a realized event; the realized event can be situated in the past or in the future. If the verb in question is the main one of the phrase, it means that the action was realized in the past.

Past
他看了一本书。
Tā kàn le yī běn shū.
He read a book.

Future
到了中国，给我写一封信。
Dào le Zhōngguó, gěi wǒ xiě yī fēng xìn.
Once you arrive in China, write me a letter.

When 了represents a change of situation

[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 numbers, we can get going on our main talking point: classifiers.

In Chinese, when formulating numeric or quantitative expressions, such as “two books”, “three notebooks”, “five pens”, the number must be followed by a character which is traditionally called a classifier.

There are hundreds of classifiers that vary according to the noun that they must – appropriately – classify. For example, if we want to say “three books” after the number there must be a specific classifier for the readable objects.

Keeping in mind that the classifier for the readable objects (books, novels) is 本 (běn), the phrase “three books” will be formed this way:

三本书。
Sān běn shū. [Read more…]

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 as having certain characteristics is called the determined.

Between the determiner and the determined you must insert the particle 的 (de). The representation of the particle of determination的 is a characteristic peculiar to the modern Chinese language, rather distant from “western” languages for which it is difficult to understand and fully master its usage.

We’ll therefore try to see it detailed in all aspects. Let’s start by analyzing the phrase: 我的书 (Wǒ de shū), or “my book”: [Read more…]

A long time ago, Mao Zedong said: “Latinization is an excellent tool for defeating illiteracy“.

Chinese characters

Chinese is a language without an alphabet that uses instead the so-called hanzi (汉字), or “Chinese characters”. To state it briefly – and in a very non-technical way – there are tens of thousands of characters and each corresponds a syllable with a very distinct meaning.

The most complete Chinese dictionaries – such as the Hanyu Dacidian (汉语大词典) “the Great Dictionary of the Chinese Language” edited by the editing house Shanghai Cishu Chuban She (上海辞书出版社) – reports a number of characters ranging from 56,000 to more than 80,000. To be able to read and write fluently in proper Chinese you’ll only need to memorize anywhere between 2,000 and 3,500 characters.

In China this means literacy starts at 2,000 characters and a Chinese person’s culture is measured by how many characters they know.

Memorizing Chinese characters is not always easy. These days there are many techniques and software that help with learning the characters (such as Skritter) but, despite these, you have no choice but to be very patient. [Read more…]

Phrases with 把 (bǎ) represent a peculiar characteristic of the Chinese language. The function of the character 把 is directly derived from classical Chinese where it had the meaning of “to take”.

Now this character is used for the verb “to take” and as a classifier for objects that can be grasped or objects with a handle (两把椅子, liǎng bǎ yǐzi, “two seats”).

Phrases with 把 are used to emphasize the result or consequence produced by a verbs. As an aid, think of phrases with 把 as responding to the question “what did the subject do to the object?”.

When using phrases with 把bǎ, the position of the object changes: the object comes “first”. Yes, usually simple phrases in Chinese go Subject + Verb + Object, but in this case it becomes Subject + Object + Verb, a formula directly derived from classical Chinese and still used in modern Japanese which, let’s remember, is more similar to classical Chinese than modern Chinese.

Structures with 把, as mentioned before, serve to place emphasis on the effect that is applied to a determined object, and to do so, the verb alone is not enough. For this reason, right after the verb “other elements” must be inserted that indicate the result caused by the action. [Read more…]

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 subject is expressed):
我弟弟把刚买的仙贝都吃掉了。
Wǒ dìdi bǎ gāng mǎi de xiānbèi dōu chīdiào le.
My younger brother ate all the recently bought Xianbei.

Passive sense (the subject is not expressed):
刚买的仙贝都吃掉了。
Gāng mǎi de xiānbèi dōu chīdiào le.
All the recently bought Xianbei have been eaten.

Active sense (the subject is expressed)
我妈妈花了钱。
Wǒ māma huā le qián.
My mother spent the money.

Passive sense (the subject is not expressed)
钱花了。
Qián huāle.
The money has been spent.

Active sense (the subject is expressed)
学生在教室里不能睡觉。
Xuésheng zài jiàoshì lǐ bùnéng shuìjiào.
The students cannot sleep in class. [Read more…]