Speak!

For many foreign students the usage of ‘讲’ (jiǎng), ‘说’ (shuō) and ‘告诉’ (gào sù) can be confusing. In this article we are going to find out how to use them appropriately.

First of all ‘说’ (shuō) means ‘ to speak’ or ‘to say’, for example, ‘她说她想睡觉’ (tā shuō tā xiǎng shuì jiào) means ‘ she says she wants to sleep.’, also in books ‘说’ (shuō) is often used.

‘告诉’ (gào sù) means ‘to tell’, for example, ‘他告诉我他要去火星’ (tā gào sù wǒ tā yào qù huǒ xīng le) means ‘he told me he will go to Mars’. However ‘告诉’ (gào sù) is often used when there is no explaining involved.

‘讲’ (jiǎng) means ‘to explain’ or ‘ to tell’, for example, ‘讲故事’ (jiǎng gù shì) means ‘ to tell a story’, the reason’告诉’ (gào sù) is not used in this case is because to tell a story involves explaining, whereas ‘告诉’ (gào sù) is only used to pass on the information.

Borrow and Lent

‘借’ (jiè) means ‘to borrow’ and ‘to lend’. When you have got something from someone temporarily ‘借’ (jiè) means ‘to borrow’, however if you have given something to somebody temporarily ‘借’ (jiè) means ‘to let’(see the article picture). For example, ‘你能借给我点钱吗?’ (nǐ néng jiè gěi wǒ diǎn qián mā?) means ‘can you lend me some money?’, and ‘我借了点钱给他.’ (wǒ jiè le diǎn qián gěi tā) means ‘I have lent him some money’, but if the sentence is like this ‘我借了点钱.’ (wǒ jiè le diǎn qián) it means ‘I have borrowed some money.’. Quite the opposite ‘我借出去了点钱.’(wǒ jiè chū qù le diǎn qián) means ‘ I have lent some money out.’, notice the word ‘出去’ (chū qù) it indicates something is going out, and that is why ‘借’ (jiè) in this sentence means ‘to lend’ instead.
Just remember when you give something out ‘借’ (jiè) means ‘ to lend’, on the contrary when you take something in ‘借’ (jiè) means ‘ to borrow’.

Spring time!

If you have noticed some honey bees in the wild that probably means it’s springtime! We all know honey bees are good insects because they produce honey, which is tasty and healthy. So today’s article we are going to have a look at the word ‘honey bee’ and ‘honey’ in Chinese.

‘蜜蜂’(mì fēng) means ‘honey bee’, the character ‘蜜’ (mì) means ‘honey’ and the character ‘蜂’(fēng) means ‘bee’ or ‘bees’. However in colloquial Chinese the word ‘蜂蜜’ (fēng mì) is frequently used to describe ‘honey’ instead, and ‘蜜月’(mì yuè) means ‘honey moon’. ‘甜蜜’ (tián mì) means ‘sweet’ or ‘cheesy’ it depends on the phrase.

Idiom 3

To continue with the pronunciation (fēng) from the previous idiom article. Let’s have a look at a new idiom ‘风餐露宿’(fēng cān lù sù). First of all let’s break it down and have a look at what each individual character means:

风(fēng) means ‘wind’

餐(cān) means ‘meal’

露(lù) means ‘expose’

宿(sù) means ‘shelter’
What it literally means is ‘to eat in the wind and sleep in the open’. This idiom is used in a situation where living conditions are very poor, for example, ‘风餐露宿的日子.’(fēng cān lù sù de rì zǐ) means ‘ going through the hardship of living.’

Idiom 2

If you haven’t read ‘Idiom 1’ article, I advise you to read through ‘ idiom 1’ before continuing to read ‘ idiom 2’.

To continue with the character ‘丰’ (fēng) we are going to look at another idiom that has this character involved as part of its structure.

‘丰衣足食’( fēng yī zú shí) means ‘well-fed and well-clothed’ or ‘well-provided’. Let’s have a look in detail at what this idiom literally means:

丰(fēng) means ‘plenty’

衣(yī) means ‘clothes’

足(zú) means ‘foot’ or ‘satisfy’, and in this case it means ‘satisfy’

食(shí) means ‘food’
Let’s have a look at how it’s used in a sentence, ‘自己动手丰衣足食.’ (zì jǐ dòng shǒu fēng yī zú shí) means ‘Use your hands to make yourself sufficient.’

Idiom 1

Idioms are frequently used in Chinese colloquial speech, and they can be hard to understand. In this article I am going to explain the meaning of 1 idiom.

The idiom is ‘丰富多彩’(fēng fù duō cǎi) and it means ‘to be rich and colourful’ or ‘to be varied and interesting’. Let’s break it down to individual characters:

‘丰’(fēng) means ‘plenty’

‘富’(fù) means ‘rich’

‘多’(duō) means ‘many’

‘彩’(cǎi) means ‘colour’
Now we know what each individual character means, let’s have a look at how this idiom is used in a sentence. This idiom is used to describe an event, for example, ‘这个国家的电视节目真是丰富多彩呀!’ (zhè gè guó jiā dè diàn shì jié mù zhēn shì fēng fù duō cǎi yā!) means ‘This country’s TV program is really interesting!’

Kitchen

Since food is very important to Chinese culture the character ‘厨’ (chú) is used a lot in all different kind of words which are related to food process.

‘厨’ (chú) is made up from three different parts: ‘厂’(chǎng) means ‘workshop’, ‘豆’(dòu) means ‘beans’ and ‘寸’(cùn) means ‘a unit of measure’, all together they make the character ‘厨’ (chú). However, in modern Chinese ‘厨’ (chú) is rarely used on its own. The word‘厨房’(chú fáng) means ‘kitchen’, ‘厨具’(chú jù) means ‘cooking utensils’ and ‘厨师’(chú shī) means ‘chef’.