Mandarin Essentials

糖果 (tángguǒ) Candy (Beginner)

糖果 (tángguǒ) Candy 

“糖果 (tángguǒ)” are the Chinese characters for “Candy.” The character

“糖 (táng)” means sugar or sweets and the character “果 (guǒ)” means

fruit.

Example: Měi nián shèngdànjié de shíhou, tángguǒ de xiāoliàng dōu hěn hǎo. 每年圣诞节的时候,糖果的销量都很好。

Candy sells well at every Christmas. …

狂欢 (kuánghuān) Binge or Revelry (Intermediate)

狂欢 (kuánghuān) Binge or Revelry 

“狂欢 (kuánghuān)” are the Chinese character for “Revelry.” The

character “狂 (kuáng)” means unrestrained and the character “欢 (huān)”

means happy.

Example:
Shèngdànjié dàjiā yìqǐ qù kuánghuān ba!

圣诞节大家一起去狂欢吧!

We are going to revel at Christmas.

Got questions?

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圣诞节 (shèngdànjié) Christmas (Beginner)

圣诞节 (shèngdànjié) Christmas 

“圣诞节 (shèngdànjié)” are the Chinese characters for “Christmas.” The character “圣 (shèng)” means saint; “诞 (dàn)” means birth, and “节

(jié)”  means festival.

Example: Yuèláiyuèduō de zhōngguórén yě kāishǐ guò shèngdànjié. 越来越多的中国人也开始过圣诞节。

More and more Chinese people have begun to celebrate Christmas.…

平安夜 (píng’ān yè) Christmas Eve (Beginner)

平安夜 (píng’ān yè) Christmas Eve 

“平安夜 (píng’ānyè)” are the Chinese characters for “Christmas Eve.”

The character “平 (píng)” means flat; “安 (ān)” means peace or safe, and “夜 (yè)” means night.

Example:

Xiàn zài hěnduō niánqīngrén xuǎnzé hé fùmǔ yìqǐ guò píng ān yè. 现在很多年轻人选择和父母一起过平安夜。 …

随便 (suíbiàn) Casual/ Informal (Intermediate)

随便 (suíbiàn) Casual/Informal

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The character “随 (suí)” means to comply with and “便 (biàn)” means convenience. Example: Tā píngshí zhuózhuāng hěn suíbiàn, cóngbù jiǎngjiu. 他平时着装很随便,从不讲究。 He usually dresses casually and never pays much attention to the way he dresses.

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Got questions? // // …

知己 (zhījǐ) Extremely close friend/Bosom friend (Intermediate)

知己 (zhījǐ) Extremely close friend/ Bosom friend 

The character “知 (zhī)” means to know and “己 (jǐ)” means self.

Example:

Yī gè rén huì yǒu hěnduō péngyou, dàn nénggòu chéngwéi zhījǐ de què hěn shǎo. 一个人会有很多朋友,但能够成为知己的却很少。

A person will have many friends, but just a …

Quote of the week (Dec. 15, 2009)

Xiànzài de fángjià shì méiyǒu zuì gāo, zhǐyǒu gèng gāo, bú duàn dì gèng gāo, yuè lái yuè gāo. 现在的房价是没有最高,只有更高,不断地更高,越来越高。 

The housing price now will never reach the highest. It will only go higher and higher.

—From the hot Chinese TV series《蜗居》(Wōjū) Dwelling Narrowness

Got …

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