What is the difference between 随手 and 顺便？

How should 顺便 be used?
顺便 does not mean "conveniently" per se. One can say, 从我家去地铁站很方便, but one cannot say 从我家去地铁站很顺便.
Rather, as stated by Shudong's answer, 顺便 implies that the action is part of a larger set of events. Moreover, this action is something of an "afterthought", something we might as well do because it's convenient (as a result of the larger context). For instance:

今天我去见我导师，顺便去大学图书馆借本书。
Today I'm going to see my advisor, so I might as well stop by the university library to borrow a book.

These dictionary suggestions of "on the way" or "by the way" can thus also be more appropriate than "convenient", although they are rather lacking.

"on the way" suggests some sort of ordering that may be inappropriate (since that would imply that whatever is "on the way" comes before the more important event). (For instance, in my example, it's possible that I might go to the library after seeing my advisor; there's nothing to suggest otherwise.)

"by the way" doesn't give us the full picture. I would translate 顺便问一下 more closely as "while I'm at it, I might as well ask", even if "by the way" does work as a gloss of the entire phrase (once an appropriate verb -- here which should be related to speaking -- is added to 顺便).

What is the meaning of 随手?
My dictionary gives "at one's convenience" as the definition for 随手. This can work for an approximate gloss, although "carelessly" (or words with the same connotations) tend to fit more the scenario consistently. For instance, using examples taken from here:

废旧电池即使没有了使用价值也不可随手乱丢，因为它们会污染环境！Old batteries can't be discarded casually even when they are no longer useful, because they'll pollute the environment!
"at one's convenience" still works, because "at one's convenience" would imply a certain lack of care.

护林人随手扔下的一个烟头居然引燃了这场森林大火。A [cigarette butt] left in passing by a forest ranger could have caused the forest fire.
"at one's convenience" definitely doesn't work here. Nor does "conveniently".

However, "carelessly" still fails as a translation in cases like 请随手关门 ("please close the door on your way out"). There are similar examples in the source I linked to. Given all this, it would seen that there's no one-size-fits-all translation for 随手. However, we can at least deduce that it is used for actions that can be done with a lot of convenience, which is also why "carelessly" is sometimes a good fit.
Moreover, 随手 is restricted to actions that involve the hands. For instance, we cannot say 随手问. (As pointed out by NS.X., there is also 随口 or 顺口. As with 随手, 随口 tends to only be used for the relevant body part, here things related to speaking, although it can be more consistently interpreted as "careless" than 随手 can be. While 顺口 can mean something like "flowing" even if a similar lack of restraint can be implied in the right contexts, it also is restricted to things that might involve some sort of speech.)
So what's the difference?
随手 does not imply that the related action is connected to a larger set of things. The example sentences with 随手 would still make sense out of context if I removed the unrelated clauses, whereas a sentence with 顺便 must be at least be understood to fall within a larger framework. (I can say 我顺便去图书馆借本书, but it's understood that I am also going to do something else because of the use of 顺便.)
"conveniently" is a poor fit as a direct translation for both terms, for the reasons I described above. In terms of clearly connoting convenience, 顺便 does a slightly better job, but it can only be used in specific scenarios. Moreover, the convenience aspect when 顺便 is used may be a bit more dependent on context than when 随手 is used -- it's convenient for me to go to the library because I'm already meeting my advisor, whereas it's almost always convenient to simply throw batteries in the trash.
Finally, 顺便 can generally be used for any types of actions, whereas 随手 cannot be.


Yes you do, you just have to look further down the results of Google image search (and I wasn't expecting the top most images =.=). However, I don't think 阜 means dam, but it does mean mound, though in 99% cases it would be 土丘 or some other words because 阜 does not appear in conversational Chinese as far as I know. You get images related to ears because 阝 looks like an ear.


Does ...我的中文知识不足够的，所以不可能帮你们... sound awkward?

Well, I can understand your meaning very well, it's good!

For some recommendations，

“太好了！”

There's an adversative after it, you can use "只是" (but).

“很不幸” should be “很遗憾” (unfortunately)

“我的中文知识不足以帮到你们”

Well, just for the second sentence, I can't imagine what do you want to mean by "我很兴奋的"... but you can use “支持你们！” (support you)

  太好了！只是很遗憾，我的中文知识不足以帮到你们。支持你们，加油！


Why is 儿 in different positions in "儿子" and "女儿"?

This is an interesting question, because it allows us to look at how words are formed in modern Chinese.

The Characters

Both 兒 and 子 meant "child" or "son" in ancient Chinese. 兒 was more specific, while 子 had a variety of other uses, like "master" (as in 孔子 - master Kong/Confucius). When 子 meant child, it was somewhat inclusive of female children, although it can also refer to males only, as in the sentence 无子,有女二人 [he had] no sons, but two daughters.

兒 can sometimes be used for "children" in general, as in the modern 兒童, but in ancient Chinese, it tended to be male-specific. The Qin dynasty proto-dictionary 倉頡篇 Cangjiepian gives the definition:
男曰儿,女曰婴 male [young children] are called 兒, female [ones] are called 嬰.
When 兒 refers to the child of someone, it means son.

女 means daughter, but has always also meant "woman" or "female (human)".

Forming Two-Syllable Words

As the pronunciation of the Chinese language changed over the centuries, many one-syllable words became homophones. In order to clarify which word they meant, people formed two-syllable words that were less likely to be confused. Three very common ways to do this are:

putting two words with very similar meaning together, as in 房屋 (house-house), 幫助 (help-help) or 美麗 (pretty-pretty)
adding a more general word that clarifies the type of thing being described:  偉大 (grand-big) or 月亮 (moon-light)
only for nouns, adding 子: 桌子 (table), 梨子 (pear) and 褲子 (pants) all mean the exact same thing with or without the 子

It’s easy to see how 兒子 follows all three of these rules. I suspect it was formed by the third rule, because the 子 is pronounced in the fifth / neutral tone, which suggests it does not carry the meaning of the word.

So why 女兒 instead of 女子? Firstly, 女子 can mean daughter or "female child". But it can also refer to "women" in general. So 女兒 is more specific.
And why not 兒女? The word "daughter" would not be formed this way, because 女 is more specific than 兒, which can be gender-neutral. Therefore, 兒女 reads as "sons and daughters", which is indeed what it means.


Meaning of 踏破铁鞋无觅处，得来全不费功夫

It literally would mean 'unsearched location,'

The point is that 无 is used for 处 (place) here, not 觅 (seek). So 无觅处 should be parsed as 无|觅处, which literally means "there's no seeking place", i.e. there's not such place for seeking, semantically means "(something) can't be found at all (and you even don't know where to look for)".

If you parse it as 无觅|处, you'll get "unsearched location" which literally means 没有找的地方, which indicates that there're still places which could be sought; they're just not be sought by now.


It is called 鼠妇 in writing phrase，also some nickname which is 西瓜虫 潮虫 团子虫 etc


Originally it means empirical wisdom gleaned from the streets.

市井聪明, 街市里积累的智慧

市井 [street]∶街市,
    [urban vulgar class]  指城市中流俗之人

Source: http://baike.baidu.com/view/849797.htm

聪明【英译】wise；sensitive clever；smart

Source: http://baike.baidu.com/subview/95047/11119951.htm


What are the different ways to say "Chapter" in Chinese?

There are a quite few ways to denote a chapter in Chinese. Some of the most commonly seen are:

章, 卷, 回, 篇.

If you wish, you can easily find examples of their usages here: "www.shuku.net". For your convenience, here are some links.

章:
http://www.shuku.net:8080/novels/classic/zhongyong.html

卷:
http://www.shuku.net:8080/novels/history/csdsgz/sgz.html

Because I need at least 10 reputation points to post more than 2 links, I cannot link examples of others.


Meaning of "绽开来" in 这句话让她脸上的皱纹菊花般绽开来?

绽, 绽放, means bloom/blossom.

皱纹菊花般绽开来 means the wrinkles bloom like chrysanthemum, which is used to describe smile here.

To be honest, using 绽放 instead sounds more natural to me.


Is it acceptable to omit 的 before a noun in degree complement, when the verb follows the noun?

You cannot omit the possessive 的 in 你的菜, 你的字, 你的中文, if your comments are about 'your cooking', 'your writing' or 'your Chinese'

However, you can remove (not omit) '的' to change the topic from '你的~ (your~)' to '你 (you)'

  [你的菜 (topic)] [做得很好(comment)] - "your cooking is cooked very well"

  [你的字 (topic)] [写得很漂亮 (comment)] " your writing is written very beautifully"

  [你的中文 (topic)] [说得很好 (comment)] "Your Chinese is spoken very well"

  '你的菜', '你的字' and '你的中文' are the topics

~

  [你 (topic)] [菜做得很好 (comment)] - "you cook very well"

  [你 (topic)] [字写得很漂亮 (comment)] - "you write very beautifully"

  [你 (topic)] [中文说得很好 (comment)] - "you speak Chinese very well"

  '你' is the topics

~

  '你做得很好', '你写得很漂亮' and '你说得很好' are basic [subject + verb]  phrases


which is the correct word to say "you are welcome"?

Both 不谢 and 不用谢 are correct.

MDBG

不谢

  don't mention it / not at all

不用谢

  You're welcome / Don't mention it

Hell, I have had an old lady tell me: 不用谢谢 - but I wouldn't recommend using this one.

In the north you might hear 甭(béng)谢, 甭 being a contraction of 不 and 用.

You can also use 不客气

  you're welcome / don't mention it / impolite / rude / blunt


Condom poster: What should 爪 in ...因爪安全性行为感染艾滋病 actually be? And why is 经 in 预防艾滋病经性传播?

It is 不安全性行为 (unsafe sex) , not 爪安全性行为

经 means 'through'

性 means 'sex'

预防艾滋病(经)性传播 = prevent aids spread (through) sex

A more clear phrasing might help new learners understand better - 预防艾滋病经(由)性(愛/交)传播

经由 = 'through'

性愛 = 'love making'

性交 = 'sexual intercourse'


What is the difference between 讲课 and 演讲?

讲课

is strictly a verb meaning:

  to teach/to give lessons (in ....)

演讲

can be a noun meaning

  speech

or a verb meaning

  to give a speech

Both could be translated as: lecture, if you wanted.

The biggest difference is the 课 in 讲课 - meaning class or course.


Here's maybe a different way to think about 到. In the context you mentioned, 到 here means to have done said action. The state of the action has been brought into existence; it is now a fact. So think of it more like:

看到 = have seen
闻到 = have smelled
吃到 = have eaten/have tasted

That's why in English we say "I can see/smell/taste...", like "I can taste sweetness." It's not saying "I am able to taste" but rather my tasting of sweetness is now a fact. 到 can be used with almost any verb in this context.

In your example of 他梦到你, the 到 here has nothing to do with 你. The 到 here modifies 梦 to say that his dreaming of you (or anything) is a fact. You can't say 他梦來你, since it would not make any sense at all.

來(来) is more literal, denoting arrival at your current location. You don't say, 吃來 or 喝來. But you say, 回來 or 走來.

What might be confusing you with 來 and 到 is another use of 到, which also means arrival, but at any location.

我走到市場 -- I walk to the market (the market can be anywhere)
我走來市場 -- I walk to the market (and that is where I am currently)


It looks like it is indeed 丁. The Flickr link mentioned the photo was taken at 茶山草堂. With that information, I was able to find another site with a photo of the same doorway indicating that it says 寶丁山房.

I don't know the specific reason why the character is stylized in this way, though 茶山 refers to the pen name of Joeng Yak-yong (丁若鏞), so it could be in reference to his surname, 丁.


Why does "these aren't the droids you're looking for" translate to 这些不是你要找的机器人?

"这些" (these) is the correct pronoun for objects in plural number including two

Droid is short for android (a mobile robot usually with a human form)

"Robot" is translated as "机械人/机器人" in Chinese, despite the fact that not all robots look like human (a car assembling machine with only one arm attached to a box is also qualified as robot in English, but to Chinese, that is just a machine - 机械/机器) .

Android is designed to look and act like human, it should be more specifically classified as "人型机械人"(humanoid robot). But to most Chinese, "人型机械人" and "机械人" belong to the same group (they are all machines) therefore translate both "droid" and "robot" as  "机械人/机器人" is acceptable in Chinese

You are right, by its look, R2-D2 should not be classified as an android. Using 'droid' in the English subtitles is technically wrong. But it is a fictional story in a fictional world. It is possible for characters in this world treat robot and droid as the same thing (Storm troopers might not be all well trained in linguistics). Or the term "droid" to them generally means "a machine capable of human like behavior" -- in human form or not


Entirely/completely defeated, without any score.  See, all your examples are nothing to 3, hence, the other (winning) side is 完胜：主队3:0完胜客队。


Selling it as soon as you've bought it — Chinese expression

The most common way you would say is

  现学现卖 or 现炒现卖

However, the actual and original expression is

  旋炒旋卖

if you read ancient Chinese novels. The character 旋 means right after. This expression is more correct, I would say.

However, you would just say 现学现卖 or 现炒现卖 nowadays, if you were to use the original expression, most likely people would not understand.


What does this red seal and picture say or mean? (Characters identified: 天天快樂，前程似錦)

The writing: 天天快樂 (happy everyday)

The seal: 前程似錦 (have a bright future)

No signature in the picture you posted


How to ask a native speaker's preferred input system (pinyin, bpmf, etc)

The clearest way I could ask, as a native speaker, is

  你都是用什么输入法来打字的？

输入法 refers to “input system”, and “打字” means type.


From the description, it contains glass noodle (a.k.a. clear noodle, noodle made of bean or potato starch), in that case the glass noodle is the main and other food materials are just sides, though in the picture the side overwhelmed the main. It is called 东北大拉皮, 哈尔滨大拉皮 or 五彩拉皮. 大拉皮 literally means 'grand (dish of) glass noodles'. 五彩 means 'colorful' referring to the sides.

A dish that looks similar but without glass noodle in it is called 东北大拌菜 or 哈尔滨大拌菜. 大拌菜 literally means 'grand mix of food'.

The recipe of both dishes can vary from home to home, restaurant to restaurant. They usually contain Chinese cabbage, carrots, cucumber. Other common materials you may see include beancurd sticks (strips of tofu skin), Chinese cilantro (a.k.a. coriander), turnip. After 1990's people start to put lettuce and cherry tomato in them.

The main difference between the two dishes, other than having glass noodle or not, is the seasoning. Usually 大拉皮 is salty and dressed with chili or mustard, 大拌菜 is sweet and sour.

东北大拉皮/哈尔滨大拉皮 'Grand dish of glass noodles'：

五彩拉皮 'Colorful glass noodles'：

东北大拌菜/哈尔滨大拌菜 'Grand mix of food'：


Are there any free/open fonts designed to help learn/read Chinese?

as Stumpy Joe Pete said, you'll be hard pressed to find a font that works in all cases, and that you may want to look into a browser extension that highlights, magnifies, and explains the character you've hovered over.

I recommend Pera Pera Kun: http://www.perapera.org/

They have extensions for FireFox and Chrome.

Here's a snapshot:

I have never seen or heard of a font that will provide that functionality intrinsically. Kids Chinese books, however, often have the pronunciation under the characters to help the kids learn.

Hope this helps.


Why are people writing 打井 (dǎjǐng) = "to dig a well" on this construction site wall?

I myself as a Chinese can tell you that they are all advertisements for well digging, as those places are near the countryside where some villagers might need well for water, therefore those people with the equipment seek those opportunities by these advertisements. The number follows are phone numbers.


What does “5339 之（代） 5340 之（助）” mean in the lists of characters for the new HSK 2021?

Possibly there is a distinction between a 代名詞 (pronoun) vs. 助詞 (particle). The 3rd person pronoun usage of 之 and ordinary relational connector 之 might be sufficiently different to be considered separate.
There might be a separate entry for 之 (動) for 動詞: the verb 'to go', also a meaning of 之.


The taboo is just due to the general view that foxes are inauspicious/trickster/fierce animals.

Reference 1 (https://new.qq.com/omn/20171112/20171112A08Q1T.html):

  蜀话中的忌讳说凶恶动物，例如蛇在四川话中的讳称有“梭老二”、“梭梭”、“干黄鳝”、“长虫”等，老虎在四川话中的讳称有“猫猫”、“大猫”、“大头猫”、“扁担花”等，狐狸在四川话中的讳称为“毛狗”，老鼠在鼠话中的讳称有“耗子”、“老水子”、“高客”、“喜马”等。

Reference 2 (https://wenku.baidu.com/view/7890ddc05fbfc77da269b180.html):

  俗传狐狸成精后,会变成女人害人,故成都、重庆、南川、阆中、泸州、西充、綦江、金堂、仪陇、云阳等地改称为“毛 狗”。


What is the ancient Chinese one-character name for woman like '子’ means man?

The equivalent of 子 for women is also 子.

  【清·張自烈·正字通】子部：女子亦稱子

Examples from Old Chinese texts:

  【孟子·告子下】逾東家牆而摟其處子，則得妻，不摟，則不得妻，則將摟之乎？

The Works of Mencius: "Breaking into your landlord's house and harass the virgin girl gets you a wife; refrain from harassing and you don't get a wife. Does that mean you would do it?"

  【詩經·國風·周南·桃夭】桃之夭夭，灼灼其華；之子于歸，宜其室家!

The Classic of Poetry: "Forests are green and flowers are red; a girl is marrying, and she'll make her new family happy."

In ancient Chinese, 女 either meant "unmarried woman" or "you". The character for the latter usage became 汝, but is still printed as 女 in many modern publications of ancient works.


Yes this is correct.

都 dōu is most commonly encountered as an adverb, and fits into the pre-verbal position shared by adverbs of manner (e.g. 慢慢 mànmàn). It has a stronger link in prosody to the verb than to the noun/pronoun before it, just as your Mandarin speaking friends have demonstrated.

It does also emphasise the subject, but its semantic value is different, close to English "even" than to "all", and it is still in pre-verbal position rather than than some kind of post-noun position (I don't think that really exists to be honest).

Chinese does have ways of putting "all" in the noun phrase: the use of 所有 suǒyǒu, and also the use of 全 quán to mean "whole, entire" which can be translated "all" in certain contexts. Note though that 都 is still present pre-verbally in such constructions.


Etymology of glyph 袭 = dragon + clothes?

Phonology

「龖」is indeed thought to be the phonetic.

Since these characters were created very early on, we need to use our best guesses of the sounds of these characters when they were created to make sense of the phonetic components. Zhengzhang's Old Chinese reconstructions gives

龖: /*l'ɯːb/

Middle Chinese: /dʌp̚/, Mandarin: /tä³⁵/

襲: /*ljɯb/

Middle Chinese: /ziɪp̚/, Mandarin: /ɕi³⁵/

Bypassing a detailed treatment of the phonology involved, a very simplified explanation is that consonants pronounced at a similar place of articulation and vowels articulated with similar tongue positions tend to change into each other over time.

  To see the relationships between the consonants according to their different places and manner of articulation, you can view the columns and rows of the IPA table given in Wikipedia:

  Please note:

  The palatal approximant /j/ (in /*ljɯb/) is related to the vowel /i/:

    The palatal approximant can in many cases be considered the semivocalic equivalent of the close front unrounded vowel [i].

  the /-p/ ending (/dʌp̚/, /ziɪp̚/), in Middle Chinese is classified as a checked tone, and this "tone" (meaning the /-p/, /-t/, and /-k/ endings) has been lost in Mandarin and redistributed to Mandarin's four tones.

Paleography and semantics

In the modern form, the two「龍」have been reduced to one in「襲」.

西周金⿹戈冬方鼎集成2824秦簡法105睡虎地秦簡今楷

The original meaning is indeed to do with fabric on clothing for dead people, extended to mean layer upon layer of clothing, then finally carry on and on; following customs, traditions. This meaning is written as「沿襲」.

The link between clothing and attack is obscure, if any, and is more likely to be a rebus borrowing.

  If you must link clothing with attack, a rather far-fetched way to analyse it is through the following series of extensions (the meanings of which have actually all existed in literature):

  Layers upon layers of clothing > to hide or conceal something > surprise raid/attack > attack.


How to write 400,002,000 in Chinese properly?

你的第一种读法是正确的：

四亿零二千

此外，之前已经有人讨论过相关内容了，请看这个问题：
Rules for saying numbers


How do I say "from this"/"this shows"? Like, "this shows you are lazy" or "from this I can tell you are lazy"

Words I can get are 看出(来)，说明，表明， 表示.  表明 and 表示 can be used in formal circumstances.

For example,

this shows you are lazy: 这说明/表明你很懒.

from this I can tell you are lazy: 从这可以看出你(很)懒.

The way he walks shows that he is self-confident: 他走路的样子说明他很自信.

Your dark tan tells me you like spending time outdoors: 你黝黑的肤色说明/表明你喜欢经常做户外活动。


Are 朝鲜冷面 (Cháoxiǎn lěngmiàn) from Korea (North and South) or only North Korea?

朝鮮冷麪 is just Korean cold noodles, not specifically from North or South Korea.

The confusion arises because 朝鮮 may be either translated as

Korea, as it is the traditional name for Korea which matches the Joseon Dynasty (大朝鮮國 or 朝鮮王朝);
North Korea, because this is what 朝鮮 refers to after the Division of Korea; the official name of the country is 朝鮮民主主義人民共和國 (Democratic People's Republic of Korea).

For anything to do with traditional culture/art/food etc., it is improbable that 朝鮮 means North Korea, although only context can make you certain of what it really refers to. Since cold noodles is a traditional food eaten throughout the whole of the Korean peninsula, 朝鮮冷麪 should be taken as (traditional) Korean cold noodles.

For disambiguation purposes, one may call North Korea as 北朝鮮 or 北韓 instead. Compare South Korea, which may be unambiguously called either 南韓 or 韓國; note that it is exceedingly rare to refer to South Korea with the name 朝鮮.

If one wants to unambiguously refer to Traditional Korea, one may use the archaic word 高麗 instead, which is where the English name Korea comes from.


What's the etymology and significance of yuenyeung (鴛鴦)?

鴛鴦 is actually the name of a bird; more specifically, the mandarin duck.

Here's an image:

(Look at how cute they are!)

In Chinese culture, the mandarin duck is a symbol of lovers, much like the lovebird in English culture. The term 鸳鸯 is often used to describe pairs of things that make a good match. As for your drink, this most likely refers to the tea and coffee, which, despite tasting very different (much like the colour difference between the male and female duck), are actually perfect for each other.

The common radical, 鳥, means "bird". "鴛" refers to the male duck, and "鴦" refers to the female.


Both of "接着" and "继续" can mean "to continue"(of course,either of them has other meanings), in this case, I would say "接着" must have an infinitive while "继续" may not have. Examples:

  现在太晚了，明天再接着写吧。  Right  It's too late now. [I suggest you]continue to write tomorrow.
  现在太晚了，明天再继续写吧。  Right It's too late now. [I suggest you]continue to write tomorrow.
  现在太晚了，明天再继续吧。   Right It's too late now. [I suggest you]continue tomorrow.
  现在太晚了，明天再接着吧。   Wrong


Is "它多大了?" Correct?

No. This can be used to ask the age of a pet, but not a used item.
You can use, “这个东西用了多少年了？” “这个东西买了多长时间了？”


In Old Chinese, it is generally thought that some words followed regular morphological alternations (which are preserved in a few places in MSM, but "frozen", i.e., no longer productive). For instance:

Verb/Noun
处 chu3 "to dwell" / chu4 "a place"
数 shu3 "to count" / shu4 "a number"
知 zhi1 "to know" / (also 智) zhi4 "knowledge"

Similarly:

Active/Inactive Verb
好 hao4 "to like" / hao3 "to be good"
系 ji4 "to tie" / xi4 "to be connected"
会 kuai4 "to bring together" / hui4 "to come together"

Phonetic reconstructions for these alternations generally follow a regular pattern (e.g., voiced/voiceless, 去声/other tone), although specific reconstructions differ.
会 is a somewhat odd example, in that the hui4 reading has displaced the kuai4 reading in almost all places except proper nouns and 会计 = accounting. Branner gives the example from Confucius:

君子以文会友，以友辅仁

The customary reading of 会 in this passage is hui4, but etymologically, it really should be kuai4.
My references are taken from Branner's excellent essay, "On Early Chinese Morphology and its
Intellectual History"
EDIT:
The Middle Chinese readings corresponding to "hui4" and "kuai4" are "hwajH" and "kwajH" in Baxter's notation; the initials being 匣 and 見. Based on this, one would expect the MSM pronunciation of the latter to be "gui4" rather than "kuai4". The common Japanese On reading of かい "kai" (attested earlier as くわい "kwai") is actually a kan-on reading. According to wikipedia, the k- initial in a kan-on reading could correspond to either a 匣 or a 見 MC initial. In any event, the "kai" reading is used in both the 'meeting' and 'accounting' meanings, regardless of which MC reading it corresponds to. Some speculate (e.g., Victor Mair, p31) that the MSM "kuai4" may have been influenced by the Japanese "kai" (i.e., that the etymologically expected "gui4" was displaced by "kuai4" when 会计 was re-borrowed from Japanese to mean "accounting"). It is not the case, however, that the hui4/kuai4 distinction is an artifact of Japanese borrowing--a meaning of "settling accounts" is attested dating back well before the Japanese neologism for accounting (see halfway down random blogpost quoting from dictionary).


废 is a slang, and as NS.X mentioned, "waste" is a pretty good translation, as in

  I'mma waste you

Nonetheless, IMHO, 废 doesn't necessarily mean waste. Other meanings include:

What you thought it is, "to cripple".
"To destroy (life, job, etc)", as in

  我废了你（的人生）

  I'mma destroy your life


Two terms for "According to" - What are the differences between 根据 and 按照?

根据 is more formal, and preferably used when speaking about doing something according to some serious guidelines. Like following a law.

按照 is less formal, and can be used when doing something according to some less serious guide. Like following a person's idea.

Examples

根据新法律上的规定，小学老师都必须..
In accordance with the new law, all elementary school teachers must...

按照我们家的习惯，晚上九点钟小孩要去睡觉。
At our home we are accustomed that kids go to sleep at 9pm.


Touch: difference between 碰，碰觸，觸碰, and 觸

see dictionaries  e.g. bkrs (supplied excerpts restricted to physical touching)

碰 collide, bump into (4)(of 7) 用手、 脚或器械触及 [bump; touch]。 如: 碰手(方言。 触手、 触疼手); 碰触(接触); 蛇你如果碰它, 它就要咬你 1) touch; knock against
别碰我肩。 Don't touch my shoulder.#2741

碰触 接触、碰撞。
如：「小心，不要碰触电源。」to touch
接触；碰撞。
用指尖轻轻地触碰

触碰:我们不能触碰法律的底线 触碰一下

触  touch ① 接触；碰；撞：抵触 | 触电 | 一触即发。(6)(of11) 接触 [touch; contact]。 如: 触物(接触景物、 事物); 触桶(便桶); 触冒(接触, 冒着)
to make contact with sth 接触）
游客请勿触摸陈列品。 Visitors are requested not to touch the exhibits

relevant examples from iciba:碰 他绕桌子走了一圈， 和所有的外宾都碰了杯。碰触 你会颤抖吗 , 如果我碰触你的唇.她伸出手，想去触碰母亲的胳膊。触他第一次触球就得分了

"touch" more commonly(w/o collision) 触摸

interchangeability seems to be a matter of degree, as users can tell in the sense of touching supplied verbs have a high degree of interchangeability, b/c of their other meanings, composition (in case of compounds) they
may convey different flavours

it is also a matter of collocation (搭配)，e.g. for "getting an electric shock " see 触电 above


Do people say "使用 。。 表达” or "通过。。。 表达“》

Theoretically, both of them might be appropriate in specific situation. But most of the time, that can be translated as "用...来表达..."
For example, “use wine to express romance” can be translated as "用（以）酒来表达（表现）浪漫"


If something bad happened, you can 脚底抹油 (put oil on the sole of foot) , and then 开溜 (start to slip away quickly).

In short, it means expeditious retreat.

BTW: Here's another statement as 脚底抹油 - 溜之大吉, which has a similar meaning.


u have to read that all,combine them and think what it means."减半",when u compare to above,u will know it is half of the originl。(比原来减少一半).e.g:the first year to fifth year u have to pay tax to goverment like 5 yuan,th sixth to 10th u only need to pay 2.5 yuan(减半).

15％,when u see above,u know that when  ur company is not in the goernment's support project,ur have to pay like 25% tax,but if ur company is in the special project,u just happily need to pay 15% tax.｡◕‿◕


How can I know a similar or related word in Chinese?

One answer is use a Chinese dictionary 网易有道词典. Example on 培育 (on iOS app):

Since it shows 幼小生物, the word seems to be inappropriate in this context.

However, sometimes, the entry for a given word lists related words (近反义词). In this specific case it got me to jump over to 养育.

At least this seems more reasonable, although this could never ensure the most appropriate, and there is possibly a better word.


According to the official rules of pinyin, should 道德经 be transcribed with or without spaces between the individual syllables?

Most of foreigners use emphasized text "Tao Te Ching". Of course, it's not in Mandarin Chinese Pinyin, but in old Chinese Pinyin. It is very common, such as Peking and Sun Yat-sen. And, how to write it in Mandarin Chinese Pinyin?
Rules:
There should be a space between two words what mean different.
《现代汉语词典》 Xiàndài Hànyǔ Cídiǎn
《毛主席语录》 Mao Zhuxi Yulu
《市民准则》 SHIMIN ZHUNZE
Here's the exact rule:

书报名、标题名可以全部大写，也可以每个词开头的字母大写，有时为了美观，可以省略声调符号。如：
儿童文学 ERTONG WENXUE
《现代汉语小词典》，复旦大学出版社，P1011

To solve this problem, we need to know is "道" and "德" in one word, or have different meaning. I searched for it, and got to know:
"道" is "天地万物的演化运行机制(The evolutionary operating mechanism of the universe)".
"德" is "人的素质或者事物品质(Quality of people or things)".
Also, there are two parts in "Tao Te Ching", 《道经》 and 《德经》. So, it should be "Dao De Jing".
Why not "Daode Jing"?
In modern Chinese, "道德" is one word, means "人们共同生活及其行为的准则和规范(The rules and norms of people living together and their behavior)". It's different to "道德" in《道德经》.
Actually, you can also translate it yourself. For example, you can translate it into "Theory of Everything and Code of Conduct in all the Time in Life"(my bad translation). But I still think "Tao Te Ching" is the best choice because it is common. When people see this title, they knows which book it is in a few seconds.


Chinese computer vocabulary, and most frequently encountered common computer terms

computer -  电脑
internet -  因特网
software -  软件
program -  程序
Windows -  视窗
Mac -  苹果（电脑）
Apple -  苹果 （公司）
Microsoft -  微软 （公司）
Google -  谷歌
file -  文件
copy -  复制
save -  保存
delete -  删除
open -  打开
close -  关闭
click -  点击
double-click -  - 双击
turn on -  打开
turn off -  关掉
plug in -  插入
image -  图片
video -  视频
connect -  链接
network -  网络
wireless -  无线
email -  电子邮件
inbox -  邮箱
browser -  浏览器
URL / Internet address -  网址
send an email - 发邮件
reply -  回复
forward  -  (v.) 转发
chat -  聊天
hard disk -  硬盘
keyboard -  键盘
drive (n.) -  磁盘
screen -  屏幕
mouse -  鼠标
USB drive -  U盘
crash -  (v.) 电脑死机
broken -  (adj.) 怀了
desktop (computer) -   台式机
laptop (computer) -   笔记本
desktop  -  桌面  (means: computer background)
icon -  图标
Excel -  Excel （软件）(no translation)
Word -  Word （软件）(no translation)
Powerpoint -  简报 （软件）(more commonly called PPT; no translation)
spreadsheet -  表格
Word document  -  Word文档
slideshow -  幻灯片

:) Self-compiled.


I can't for the life of me understand why switching an associative verb to the front forms a question in English. Am I not stupid?

The fact is, in a lot of cases, languages don't follow any kind of logic or reasoning.

If you say 他吃饭了, it's a complete sentence. If you say 他吃了饭, a listener would expect you to tell him what happened next, like 他吃了饭，拍拍肚子就走了。Now that it's complete, the listener can rest in peace.

So in this case, 他吃了饭 means "After he ate" -- Apparently an incomplete sentence.

But why does switching the position of 了 change its meaning? No one has the slightest idea.

There are situations where "verb + 了 + object" makes a complete sentence. Like when answering "他吃了什么?" with "他吃了一只火鸡."


1 孤注一掷
2 沐浴
3 酒池肉林
4 人往高处
5 战功
6 居无定所
7 衣冠禽兽
8 扬名立万
9 以牙还牙
10 江户
11 力量
12 危如累卵
13 血流成河
14日落西山
15 偷梁换柱
16 河马
17 捋虎须
18 四大皆空
19 光天化日
20 如沐春风
21 平均分
22 大公无私
23 朝令夕改
24 民生国计
25 不二之臣
26 善解人意
A 孤儿
B 居安思危
C 一马平川
D 如狼似虎
E 一言为定
F 一分为二
G 以卵击石
H 一朝天子一朝臣
I 衣锦还乡
J 沐猴而冠
K 偷天换日
L 改善
M 人面兽心
N 中流砥柱
O 四世三公
P 趾高气扬
Q 江河日下
R 自立门户
S 空空如也
T 民心
U 肉搏战
V 力拔山河
W 春秋战国
X 功德无量
Y 马耳东风
Z 计算


我爸是个医生。有一次，我爸给一个病人看玻那个病人问:请问您尊姓大名？我爸说:姓齐。那个病人说：哦，您原来跟齐天大圣一个姓埃我爸差点晕倒。

The real name of 齐天大圣 is 孙悟空 (one of the major characters in 西游记) so its family name is 孙, but the patient misinterpreted, he think his family name is齐.

Maybe I could translate it in EN:

  My father is a doctor. Once he met a patient.

  The patient: "What's your name, sir?"(very formal/serious tone)

  My father: "My family name is 齐(qi)" (We won't call one's first name
  if we're not familiar to him in general for regard)

  The patient: "Wow, your family name is the same as
  齐(qi)天(tian)大(da)圣(sheng)'s!"(surprised tone)

  My father nearly passed out at that time.


Both five sentences above will be used under talking with strangers rather than people who you actually know. These are very polite expression and are in most case inter-changeable. However, it will be odd to talk to someone who you have already known with that level of politeness. It might work for Professor(s) / leader(s). Talking with friends or family will use more colloquial expression like

"稍微慢一点" "等一下，你说得太快了"


Burner is not equivalent to, and not related to, 棒棒机.

棒棒机 implies the form of the mobile phone – a phone that takes the shape of a cuboid, usually with rounded corners and/or edges.
Burner implies the use case of the mobile phone – a phone quickly disposed (burned) and replaced.

The English equivalent you are looking for is a bar/candybar/slab/block phone.

For more information, you can refer to this wiki page.


Translations: 'Crack' as in 'Crack Knuckles'

This depends on the method used to generate the sound. The actual "cracking" is not generally mentioned when speaking about this phenomena in Chinese. Instead, the act that you perform to get the sound is the focus of the phrase.

For example, "cracking your knuckles" would become something like "squeezing your fingers", which is "捏手指", 捏 being "to pinch". As a direct translation, "pinch" doesn't make much sense in English, but just imagine the action of squeezing when pinching two pieces of skin together.

Chinese people don't always use this method of cracking fingers, however. Many people choose, instead, to twist their their individual fingers one by one. This has a different term: "掰手指", "掰" being something like "to twist".


What translation of "carrot" sounds like "Robert"?

It's 萝卜, not 胡萝卜.

BTW there're many terms for 萝卜 in Chinese, such as 胡萝卜, 红萝卜, 白萝卜, 青萝卜, 水萝卜, and so on.


《說文解字》似乎並無「奈」之條目。
It seems that 《說文解字》 does not have the entry of 奈.

「奈」由「柰」衍生而來，可能是新造字，也可能是誤寫。「柰」的本義是「果名」，借用為「柰何」，猶言「如何」。後來，分成「柰」表「果名」，而「奈」則專用在「奈何」之類的字詞。
奈 was derived from 柰. It might be a new word, or due to miswriting. The original meaning of 柰 is the name of a fruit. 柰 is then borrowed and used in 柰何, which means 如何 (how; what; what way). Later, in most cases, 柰 represents the fruit name, and 奈 is dedicated in 奈何 and the like words.

  《古汉语常用字字典》

  奈 nài
  ① <副> 无奈。 (however; how can one help; how to handle it)
  ② <动> 通“耐”。禁得起；受得住。 (to stand; to bear; to endure)
  ③ <动> 处置；对付。 (to deal with)

According to this, the 奈 of 无奈 is an adverb, and means "how to handle it" or "with means". Then, 无奈 means "not to know how to handle it" or "without methods".

  《汉语大词典》

  无奈，亦作“无柰”。
  ① 谓无可奈何。 (cannot help it; to have no alternative; to have no choic)
  ② 犹无比。 (incomparable; matchless)
  ③ 犹可惜。 (unfortunately; It's a pity.)

无奈 may mean 无可奈何 or others. That is why we have two phrases instead of only 无奈. We also prefer different words/phrases to prevent repeats.

  《汉语大词典》

  奈何
  ① 怎么，为何。 (why)
  ② 怎么样；怎么办。 (how; how to do)
  ③ 犹言办法。 (method; means; way)
  ④ 谓采取手段、办法整治对方。 (to adopt means or methods to handle others; to do something to others)

Depending on the context, 奈何 may be an adverb (① and ②), a noun (③) or a verb (④).

If 无可奈何 is a brief term of 不知道该怎么办或不知道如何处理 (do not know how to handle it)，奈何 is ② an adverb phrase.

If 无可奈何 is a brief term of 没有可以用的办法 (there is no way to use it), 奈何 is ③ a noun.

If 无可奈何 is a brief term of 没有办法可以奈何得了他／它 (there is no way to treat him/it...), 奈何 is ④ a verb phrase.

无奈我爱你 cannot be accepted as "I can't help to love you".

"I can't help to love you" means 我不能帮着爱你.

"I can't help loving you" means 我不能不爱着你, 我没有办法停止爱你 or 我禁不住地爱着你.

无奈我爱你 may mean 没有办法（改变），我就是爱你 ((there is) no way (to change), I just love you).

Although it is not so common, we can still use 有奈. 有奈 is intentionally used as the antonym of 無奈. Thus, they are often used together. Otherwise, many people do not know what 有奈 means.

「有奈無奈，赤腳跑到五寨」是清朝 康熙年間，雲南 鶴麗鎮 總兵 郝偉（1653—1718）的發跡故事 (the story of 郝偉)。

「变无奈为有奈，化奈何为何奈」是一篇文章的標題 (the title of an article)。

「因為無奈 台灣現在能有奈嗎？」是一則新聞的標題 (a news title)。


How do you say a "quote" as in a "quote from a author"

引号  quotation mark

引文  quoted passage (usually in written format, rather than verbal format)

引用  to quote from some place

As a result, "quote from an author" should be "作者的引文", which is the only grammatically correct choice among the three words. However, it seems to be very unnatural for native Chinese speaker. The more native expression should be "作者曾说过" (the author has said).


佐 means 'assist' ; 佑 means 'protect'. "佐佑"(to assist and protect) is different from "左右" (to make someone go left or right = "to influence")

左右 http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/words/332/
[v] influence; master; control

In your sentence, 左右着他们 would mean: "influence them" or "control them"
More example:
左右朝政 (exert influence/control over the government's policy; influence the government)
大企業以財力左右政局 (Large enterprises use financial resources to influence/ control politics)
左右局勢 (exert influence/control over the situation; influence/control the situation)
憑他一人之力是無法左右大局的 (With his power alone, he can’t influence/ control the big picture)
左右(to influence) might or might not had been evolved from 佐佑(to assist and protect). In any case, its meaning in modern Chinese is completely different from 佐佑
左右 = to make go right or left = to influence; to control
佐佑= 佐助 (to assist) 庇佑(protect)


From the wikipedia article:

關於「萌」這個字現今用法的來源，至今依舊眾說紛紜，以下為部份幾種的說法：

有種說法認為，原本所用的詞語應該是「燃え」(もえ)，但是因為「萌え」和「燃え」的日語發音相同，且動漫喜好者認為「萌え」更能形容他們對事物喜好的狀態，因此後來都用「萌え」了。

亦有說法認為，這個詞語原本來自較為常用的「燃えている」（燃燒），但由於日文電腦輸入平假名時會智能判斷漢字，而萌え排序在前面，變成現在的寫法。

目前「萌」大多使用在二次元裡，如果遇到刻意將現實世界（三次元）的人套用到二次元的審美的情況，也有可能用到「萌」。 不過這種狀況十分稀少，因為三次元的人通常難以構成萌屬性。 現在「燃え」在中文界解作萌的相對詞，是對熱血的喜愛。

Abbreviated translation:

There are two main theories of the origin:

One is that 「燃え」(to burn, describing a reaction to something attractive) is a homophone in Japanese with「萌え」(to sprout), so Japanese Anime enthusiasts decided the latter was a better (perhaps more poetic?) way to describe this kind of reaction.

One is that「燃え」and「萌え」got switched because the IME would put「萌え」 first.

In any event, it seems clear that this use of 萌 comes from Japanese anime, and it originally described a reaction to a beautiful woman. Now, it can refer to anything loveable.


The trick is the omission behind (again).
It is the objective that is omitted, not the MW words.

The complete words are:
三年(时间),四周(时间), etc

As you can see now, there are MW words. Just too obvious to add the objective again.

Another example, after business dinner in CN, people usually ask 刚喝了几杯,  which means 几杯(酒). But we never say 几酒.


Where can I find isogloss maps for Mandarin?

The shapes of Isogloss maps are generally identical to those of dialect maps. So I think this could give you some clues.

Below is a sample for isogloss maps(from http://www.yupoo.com/photos/9919/7485900/)

More of them:

Suggestion: For more information about isogloss maps, visit http://image.baidu.com/ and type in "同言线". Further reading: http://book.kongfz.com/15325/226467644/ This is a book about chinese linguistic geography. For more books in this subject, search "汉语方言地理学".


呢 is a final particle. It denotes interrogative form in your example sentence. (it has other usages in other context)

You can just use a question mark e.g. "你在听什么？" (what are you listening ) to mark the sentence as a question

"呢" in "你在听什么呢？” asks the question of "what" are you listening to

"嗎" in "你在听什么嗎？” asks the question of "are" you listening to something


How do you say "You mean ...?" to respond to what you don't understand enough?

So how can I express "You mean ...?" in Mandarin, to ask what they mean?

"你的意思是XXX？" means you are making a guess, and asking for a confirmation

If you don't understand a person's single statement, the simplest way to ask for clarification is "你的意思是...?" (you meant....?) and let that person explain. or you can say "这是什么意思？" (what does it mean?)

If you don't understand a person's speech, you can just say "我不知道你在说什么" (I don't know what are you saying)  , "我不明白你在说什么" or 我听不懂你在说什么" (I don't understand what you are saying)

It is the perfect response to the speech in your example

  Come back to "你的意思是XXX？" (you meant XXX?)

The usage are the same in Chinese and English

Example:

A: "我讨厌生鱼!" (I hate raw fish!)

B: "你的意思是你讨厌吃鱼生?" (you meant you hate eating Sashimi?)

It can't be you hate living fish, right?

  "你的意思是XXX?" can be replaced with  "你是指XXX" (are you referring to XXX?)


TL;DR:

You need a bigger vocabulary to increase reading proficiency. Based on your comments, it sounds like you know a lot of vocabulary (perhaps orally), but you have trouble recognizing those characters in writing. So, instead of a bigger vocabulary, you need to increase your character recognition. Point #3 below + Anki will help you do that.
Pronunciation and vocabulary size are correlated, so having good pronunciation and knowing the pronunciation of the words is important.
I wrote a Python script that calculates word frequencies in
a given Chinese text that may be useful in pre-learning the vocabulary for a reading project. YMMV. Or, search online for a Chinese word frequency counter like this one.

Like L Parker mentioned in his comment, there are many reasons why you have difficulty reading a "difficult adult book". Is that adult book fiction or nonfiction? If it's nonfiction, does it contain a lot of jargon from a specific field? How familiar are you with the content?
In general, one popular area of research into reading comprehension is that of lexical coverage and lexical thresholds — i.e. what percentage of the vocabulary of a given text do you need to know in order to be able to comprehend it? Laufer (2013) seems like a relatively recent, short, and decent introduction to this problem:

"Most researchers agree that only when readers possess a critical mass of second language (L2) knowledge (lexical and grammatical) can general reading skills, such as distinguishing between main and peripheral information, ... operate most efficiently ... vocabulary knowledge is a good predictor of reading proficiency, if not the best" (Laufer, 2013, p. 868, emphasis my own).

In other words, vocabulary size is key. Laufer (2013) summarizes research which suggests a lexical threshold of 95% to 98% coverage as optimal, but there are many factors that would determine what threshold you'd need for your own situation.
Since you mention pinyin, here's a side note about pronunciation:
Learners with unstable pronunciation have trouble putting words into working memory (Ellis and Beaton, 1993  (PDF)), and Papagno, Valentine, & Baddeley (1991) showed that verbal working memory and vocabulary size are correlated. So, pronunciation is critical for vocabulary in the long term, and Chinese has the problem of not easily being able to derive pronunciation from the written form.
However, I don't have any citations about pinyin and reading in Chinese, but I imagine that learning the pronunciation of characters in context through ruby pinyin may not be recommended as a learning strategy, because you may find that you associate the sound and meaning more with the pinyin than with the character itself.
As an L2 learner of Chinese myself, I created a Python script to count all the Chinese words (not characters) in a text and sort them according to frequency. It also takes a stop list of words to remove the words you already know. It's not very flexible, but if you know how to run a Python script, it may be helpful to you. It helped me when I decided to read a translation of 1984.
There are probably also user-friendly online solutions you could put your text into, like this one I found with a Duckduckgo search.
Hope that helps!


Your example is just an example of possessive elision in Chinese. Both are acceptable and considered equivalent. None of the two has more emphasis than the other.

One thing to note is there are two different types of emphasis, one being the emphasis of tone/mood, the other being the emphasis of meaning. In your case, it's the former. In English, the first type is often represented with italic and the latter with bold.

There are many ways to bring the reader's attention to a particular phrase in a passage in Chinese.

1) The official method, the underdot, as the name suggests, is placed under the characters that need to be emphasized. Sometimes a small circle is used as well:

  那只笔是他拿的.
         .

2) Another method is to use the squiggly underline (same as the one you see in MSWord when you have a spelling error)

3) Yet another method (but much rarer) is to use the normal underline, but this causes confusion in some cases, as it is also used to indicate proper nouns in Chinese in some older texts.

4) The first two methods are good for hand-written materials, but with the advent of typography, people are increasingly inclined towards using bold font to represent semantic emphasis and italic to represent tone/mood emphasis. This method is openly denounced by language purists due to the fact Chinese characters, unlike Western alphabets, look aesthetically displeasing when boldened or italized in a computer font.

My suggestion for you is to express the emphasis in some other way. For example, you can spell things out: “她是我的太太, 不是你的!” Or if you are quoting someone, then: “她是我的太太.”, 他特别强调了‘我’这个字.


What Chinese language(s) have pronunciation ㄍ丨(romanization: gi)

Yes, 机 is pronounced gi(pin yin) in Hakka. But not all "Ji" pronunciations have the same reflection. e.g. 鸡 is pronounced gie(pin yin) in Hakka, not gi.
Other examples I remember for now: 几，吉，记，季，寄，继，计，贵， etc. Of course, they have different tones.


How do you say "we don't have any common interests"?

"interest" has multiple related meanings and that's why Ghost's answer struggles. OP does provide some context but not enough.

Under the context of personal interest, common interest will be 共同的兴趣爱好 something we both like.

Under the context eg "The common interest between US and China" that will indeed be 共同的利益.

(In a constructed case, "my bank doesn't have common interests with his bank" this can even mean 一样的利息)


Can anyone tell me what this jacket says (Characters identified: 盖世英雄)

read right to left, top to bottom:

盖世：gàishì：unrivalled
英雄: yīngxióng: hero


What is the difference between 元 (圓), 幣, and 金?

元/圓 (dollar) is a unit of money, 澳洲元/圓 = Australian Dollar; 美元/圓 = US Dollar

圓 is the correct character, 元 is a sound-alike shorthand

Japan only use 圓, therefore, 日圓 = Japanese Yen

幣 means 'coin' , referring to currency, 人民幣(People's coin) = China's currency; 新台幣 (New Taiwan coin) = Taiwan's currency

It is correct that choosing 圓 or 幣 mostly based on historical or personal preferences. Historically 圓 is more colloquial, general public would refer foreign coins as 圓; while 幣 is more formal and literary.

Calling 美元 as 美金 is a unique case. No other country's currency is called 金.

Back in the days when US tried to make US dollar the common currency of the world thus enable America to gain control of the world trade, they announced US dollar's value will be hooked with America's gold reserve . It meant America could only issue the amount of currency with equal value of gold in reserve. That effectively made US dollar as trust worthy as gold. American dollar was in effect, American gold. They could do that because at that time they had the largest gold reserve in the world.

Nowadays it is no longer the case, US dollar no longer hooked up with gold's value, it is now based only upon the trust on America's economy

Hong Kong people also use 紙 (as in 銀紙, meaning banknote) colloquially to refer to currency.

加紙, 加圓 and 加幣 all refer to Canadian currency

港紙, 港圓 and 港幣 all refer to Hong Kong's currency


Why is 他从商店出去了 correct but 他出商店去了 incorrect?

出 and 去 are both verbs, you can't use both as separate entities. 出去 on the other hand is a resultative verb, you can't break it up.

从 (from) is here a preposition indicating direction.

A similar expression would be 他到哪儿去了, where 到 (where/to) is the corresponding preposition.


Has 管理 something to do with plumbing? If so then

It's hard to answer all you questions once, just one of them

1. Does a native speaker feels this connotation in 管理?

No, at least I don't.

For 管理, it has nothing to do with 管子/管道 (tube;pipe).

From 新汉英大辞典,

  管理 [guǎn lǐ]
  1. manage; run; administer; supervise; rule; administration; management; regulation:

2. Managing here is taken as a metaphore for guiding the "flow"
in the desired direction.

Of course, broadly speaking, you could say that but literally it doesn't.

Here 's a perspective about the meaning evolution from 管 to 管理.

  “管”的实义动词义，应是由其名词义发展而来的。其语义演变过程大体是：最初指一种乐器，而后代指这种形状的东西，尤指“键”。再有此发展到管钥匙，主管库房的人，再衍生出动词义“掌管、管理”；

[ “管” 's notional verb meaning should be developed from its noun meaning. The meaning evolution is roughly: first indicates a kind of instrument, and then indicates things with this kind of shape, especially key. And then developed to person who is in charge of the key or storehouse, then derived the verb meaning of be in charge of; administer, manage. ]

So 管理 's literal sense should be administer;control;in chare of.


What's the difference between 确实, 的确, and 实在?

Let's first focus on their usages as adverbs. Adjective meanings are different.

A. As adverbs, 的确 and 确实 are the same. They mean 'indeed': without any question

used in response to a statement that is regarded as doubtful or surprising
used when making a statement that adds to or strengthens a previous statement

For example, "A: 你会给朋友推荐这本书吗？B: 没错，我(的确／确实／真的)会给朋友推荐这本书。" （A: Would you recommend this book to your friends? B: Yes, I will indeed recommend this book to my friends.)

B. As an adverb, 实在 means really/very: — used to refer to what is true or intensive (the latter is not in 的确／确实):

without question or doubt
to a great degree

For example, you can say "实在漂亮". It just means really/very beautiful.

In summary, to say 'in fact or indeed', you can use any of 的确, 确实 and 实在. But to mean 'really / very', you can only use 实在.

For example,
After watching the movie, I think it is indeed a good one. 看完电影以后，我觉这(的确／确实／实在)是部不错的电影。

After I won a free movie ticket, I was really really happy. 赢得了免费的电影票，我实在是太高兴了. (but not 的确／确实)

Hope it helps a bit. As adjectives, they are also different but less subtle.


What is the difference between 撒谎 and 说谎?

In my opinion,

说谎 can be used in the case of telling white lies; 撒谎 usually means telling malicious lies just to cheat someone.
说谎 is inclined to telling meticulously prepared lies; 撒谎 in inclined to telling casual lies.
说谎 is more formal; 撒谎 is used in spoken language more.


Question words at the end or beginning? (e.g. "Nide baba shi shei?")

Chinese is one of the group languages in which question words remain exactly in place of the "questioned" word they replace.

那个人是谁 - 那个人是我妈妈

In English and some other European languages question words always move to the head of the utterance.

Who is this person? This person is my mother.

I highly suspect your examples from Memrise (or whatever that app is) are simply a result of an English speaker (not very fluent in Chinese) translating them to Chinese.

One other explanation:

谁是你爸爸 ~ “which one is your dad"

while

你爸爸是谁 ~ “and who [exactly] is your dad?"

So, at the beginner level, stick to placing question words in the same position the answer would occupy.


Yes.
In fact, you can use any word as an exclamation, especially in speech. I'm not aware of any language where this is ungrammatical. Example:

Q: What's your favourite Chinese word?
A: 当然！


Question: Is this sentence wrong? Is 可以 an exception to the rule order? Or is it because it is a compound sentence (with two verbs) and the time word makes reference to the second verb 去?

明天天气好 and 我们可以明天去 are two separate clauses (relative clause and main clause)

(如果)明天天气好 is the relative clause, 我们可以明天去 is the main clause

我们可以明天去 or 明天我们可以去  are both correct


Relative strength of 很笨 and it's variants

You should be upset.

I'd be upset if my employer said I was "很笨".

很笨 pretty much means what you would think it means "very stupid". Teasing on the other hand would be something more along the lines of 傻瓜, etc — and depending on the tone you should be able to tell teasing from non-teasing.


What is the difference between "吗 (mǎ)" and "么 (ma)"?

They are different in tone side, for example when you ask some one if have dinner, you can use 你吃晚饭了吗? or 你吃晚饭了么? Both are OK, because it's not strong sense of doubt, just ask, not a question style.

But you can not use 么 in 你拿得出证据证明他的清白吗? In the sentence "你拿得出证据证明他的清白吗?" has a style of you have to give me the answer, and mostly you can not.

So, mostly, you can use 吗 and 么,but with the strong tone, especially rhetorical question you can just use 吗.


Would a picture of an ordinary axe be inuitively assoicated with the word 鉞 (yuè)

Edit:
After some discussion on the original thread, my conclusion is "one of the graphic meant to be printed on the Swedish version of that toy was mistakenly printed on the English version instead."

My original answer is as below:

Would someone speaking Chinese intuitively associate this picture of an axe with the word 鉞?

The answer is no, we wouldn't

Would it make sense to use this picture to illustrate the letter Y in a series of pictures illustrating pinyin?

They are not pictures that illustrate pinyin; The pictures are there as  visual aid to help children to remember English alphabet more easily.
~
There have to be a mistake somewhere --  Q-Queen, W-worm,  N-Nail pairings make sense, but 'Y' and 'Axe' pair doesn't, because the word Axe doesn't begin with Y.
I think the original design was [X-aXe].
The point of this design was to match an alphabet with an easily remembered common word, thus help children to better remember the English alphabet; since there is no common word begin with the alphabet X, the designer made an exception and paired Axe with X, because the pronunciation of Axe is similar to X.
There are two rules in choosing a word to match an alphabet in this design. 1. the word has to begin with the same alphabet. 2. the word has to be common enough for kids to remember. The designer couldn't follow both rules for the alphabet X and decided rule #2 is more important because this is a design for helping kids to remember alphabets.
Although the word 'axe' doesn't begin with 'X', but 'axe' does contains 'X' and it is the prominent alphabet in the word.
The handle of the axe is supposedly the missing lower left part of the alphabet X, which should be painted green to complete the alphabet.
It was either the designer's idea, thinking people would get the idea that the missing part of X was replaced by the axe's handle. Or it was a production error that painted the axe handle with different color.
I am a retired graphic designer.


给 has a few meanings

The basic meaning of 给 is "to give" e.g. "(给)我錢" = "(give) me money"

It can also mean "for" e.g. "(给)我把風" = "look out (for) me" which can be replaced with "替" as in "(替)我把風"

给 can also function as an 'target object marker'

in "给X拍照" , 'X' is the targeted object of the verb 拍照(take photo)

in "给公司打电话". '公司' is the targeted object of the verb 打电话 (make phone call to)

"给菜单拍照" is acceptable -- '给' marks '菜单' as the targeted object of the verb '拍照'

Since 菜单 is an inanimate object, '给' in "给菜单拍照" cannot mean "take photo for the menu" (menu can't want you to take photo in its stead)

And 拍照 is a verb, therefore '给' in"给菜单拍照" can't mean 'give' neither (first, menu can't accept anything; second, 拍照 is a verb, not an object to give)


論量/论量 ㄌㄨㄣˋ ㄌㄧㄤˊ/ lùn liáng

依《漢語大詞典》，有二義：

評論、計較。
　唐吳兢《貞觀政要‧論任賢》：“至於論量人物，直道而言。”
　金元好問《論詩》詩之三十：“撼樹蚍蜉自覺狂，書生技癢愛論量。”
猶思量。
　元袁桷《睡覺東西書燈猶明喜勉元達兼示瑾子》詩：“師友淵源端有緒，老夫推枕起論量。”

此處“枉論量”是指“沒什麼好談論計較的”。枉, 白費 (useless)；論，談論 (to talk about, to argue)；量，較量 (to compete with)。

根據《康熙字典》：論
《玉篇》力困切，《廣韻》《集韻》《韻會》《正韻》盧困切；同崘，去聲，義同。
所以，古時即有去聲。


In the PRC, the official agency that decides this seems to be the 中国地名委员会 (China Commission on Place Names).

They published a book called 外国地名译名手册 (Reference Book of Translated Foreign Place Names), which according to this Baidupedia entry includes the official translations of 18,000 place names plus general rules for translating place names from several different languages into Chinese.


Why is "纸“ used in "肚纸饿”? 为什么说肚纸饿，不肚子饿?

It is of course not the right way to write it if it meant to say "肚子饿". It could be a fashion trend to use "肚纸饿" to replace "肚子饿" because they sound similar. It is like when English people use french and made it official later on. For example, french people use soudier to mean mercenary and English people used it to create the word soldier. I don't know the fashion trend but that could be a reason.


麗  http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/characters/1152/

  lai6   (jyutping)

  (1) [adj] beautiful; magnificent; elegant

~

  花 http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/characters/32/

  faa1   (jyutping)

  (1) [n] flower; blossom

Your girlfriend's middle name is 麗花 (lai6 faa1 in Cantonese jyutping)

if you want to search Cantonese words, CantoDict is the place to go


Is there a difference between the use of 暖和 and 温暖？

温暖- warm; warmth; to warm
暖和- warm; nice and warm; warm and comfortable

Difference between 暖和 and 温暖
暖和 is strictly an adjective; 温暖 can be a noun, adjective or even verb
Example:

室內很暖和; 室內很温暖 (both are adjective 'warm')

送上一份溫暖 (溫暖 is a noun 'warmth')

用熱水溫暖一下雙手 (溫暖 is a verb 'to warm')

Both 温暖 and 暖和 can refer to physical warmth; but 温暖 can also be used metaphorically for emotion of "warm feeling".
Example:

we say: "從未嚐過家庭温暖" (have never felt warmth of a family) not "從未嚐過家庭暖和"

we say:"內心十分温暖" (feel warm inside one's heart)not "內心十分暖和"

温暖 is more general; 暖和 is more specific, if you say 感到温暖, it can either mean you feel 'physical warmth' or feel 'emotionally touched' , while 感到暖和  can only mean you are actually feeling warmth physically


What is the point of 的 in '你也是大学生？你是什么专业的'?

The hidden noun that Chinese Grammar Wiki refers to is 大學生 (college student). They argue it is short for

你是什麼專業的大學生？

Which is kind of true. 什麼專業的 is adjectival on 大學生, specifying what kind of major the college student is (pursuing).
A better way to look at 是...的 according to its function (emphasis) is to just delete 是 and 的 and see if the rest makes sense on their own:
是...的 omission

(1.1) 你是什麼專業的？
(1.2) 你什麼專業？
(1.3) 我中文專業。

All of the above are grammatical. Sentences (1.1) and (1.2) mean semantically the same, except the former gives emphasis on 什麼專業 and has the nuance of courteousness.
In sentences (1.2) and (1.3), 什麼專業 and 中文專業 become adjectival nouns. They are placed after the noun as a verbless predicate, i.e. in the form of N+Adj., which can sometimes be a stand-alone sentence. Think of 你好嗎[吗], where the speaker greets the listener (literally) if the statement 你好 (lit. you good) is true (by the yes/no question particle 嗎). Adj+N, on the other hand, is the only correct way to position the adjective when we want to create a nominal phrase. So:
N+Adj. vs Adj+N

(2.1) 高個[个]子 tall stature
(2.2) (他)個子高。 lit. (His) stature is tall.
(2.3) 中文專業的我 I, a Chinese major

Only (2.2) is a sentence. (2.1) and (2.3) are only nominal phrases. 的 is required for pronouns (2.3). And now:

(3) 他個子是高的，不是矮的。 lit. His stature is tall, not short.

Sentence (3) emphasises the stature of the person the speaker is referring to. In that case, it would be hard to sensibly add any noun after 的. Perhaps 個子, as in 他個子是高的個子 (lit. his stature is a tall one), but that is very poor style of writing.
Finally,

(4) 他是我的。He is mine.

In certain occasions such as that of sentence (4), reduction into 他我* would not make any sense. Adding a dummy noun 東[东]西 (thing) then suffices, as in 他是我的東西, showing possession. Again that is for understanding, writing it would not be stylistic.
Whichever method (adding a dummy noun or deleting 是的) you choose is fine, as long as it makes sense.


How do I improve Mandarin vocal conversation?

Live in China and use it every day may be the best and quickest way.

Like learning everything, start from the beginning, learn some basic words, pronunciation, and grammar, then gradually increase the level, like Oxford Reading Tree for primary school pupils.

Watching TV, movie, listening music, reading a novel, all can be helpful.


How long have you been practicing? At first it's normal. If you could see my first drawn characters... they didn't look good.

But there are some simple rules to keep in mind to improve them.

Stroke Order: It's unavoidable. You can actually use any stroke order you want, no-one is really going to check (unless that's the exam) but it's certain that writing using the correct stroke order not only helps you to retain the character but it also helps you to write much faster, with more beautiful proportions and in an easier way.

See also Why is stroke order important when writing Chinese characters?
Characters are "square": This is actually a rule I learned while studying Japanese, but the same applies to Chinese, they're almost the same characters after all.

Characters occupy the space of a square. Note: They're not square, but using a square as a reference will help you to correctly balance their proportions. Check the image below:

 Source

Each character must fit inside of the continuous-lined squares. The dotted lines in the middle help you position the elements correctly (so you don't squeeze the character or strech it unnaturally).

Honestly I've seen them being used for Japanese only but that might be just me, they're almost the same characters after all.


Is 不错 used only to mean "good" and never mean "not bad"?

In addition to the other answers:

The exact phrase 不錯 is almost always used to mean "pretty good". But there are variations on the phrase that mean "not wrong", "not mistaken" without having the same positive implication:

沒錯

This one is still somewhat positive, but it's more of an agreement than an endorsement:

  他說得沒錯 - What he said is correct.
  他說得不錯 - He said it well / what he said is good.

不是錯的

Use this phrase if you just want to say "not incorrect" without implying anything else about the quality:

  這個答案很不錯 - This answer is pretty good.
  這個答案不是錯的 - This answer is not wrong.

In response to your general question, most composite words do mean exactly what you'd think from looking up each individual character. But when it comes to this kind of nuance in their usage, you'll have to learn each compound word individually.
Occasionally you'll find a compound word where the meaning is quite far removed from the component characters, but this will normally be apparent from context.


Your title should rather be "Cantonese Pronunciation of Written (Standard) Chinese". What you are talking about is not really Cantonese, rather it's (mostly) Mandarin, that, if you read out loud, will be pronounced with the Cantonese pronunciation of the characters. It's more or less the same as asking a Korean or Japanese to read out a text written in Chinese -- the characters will sound very different to Mandarin, but the reader would still be speaking out a Mandarin text. Hence the 給 vs 俾 example: 給 is Standard Chinese, 俾 is Cantonese.

Cantonese can be (and is) written, with all the "right" characters (係, 唔, 俾, etc) and grammar. You can see many examples of this in ads, in trains and buses for example, especially from the government and local companies, when they want to "talk" to the public.

As for Guangdong people not knowing that 給 is kap1 that's not the case -- there are plenty of words used in Cantonese that have the word 給 is it, including more recent creations like the net slang expression "給力".


好 is more describing the feeling of your heart.

  我做了那麼多，都沒用。我好累。

  I did so much. But nothing is useful. I feel really tired.

很 is just describing you're physically tired.

  我跑了10公里。我很累了。

  I've run for 10km. I'm very tired.

In most cases, 『好』 is more than 『很』. Just like the example above.


Is it fine to use “锻炼” as in "good practice" or not?

If you want to express: I think studying aboard is a good practice, then your Chinese sentence "我觉得留学是一种很好锻炼" doesn't connote the same meaning in my opinion.

"我觉得留学是一种很好锻炼" means "I think studying aboard is a good way to train ourselves." The sentence doesn't specify the areas(willpower, ability to live alone and etc.) on which we can get trained.

Well, "studying aboard is a good practice" is like saying 出国留学是一种很好的实践 in Chinese.

Note that you should add a 的 in your sentence to make it more natural: 我觉得留学是一种很好的锻炼.


Can someone explain what the 其 in 順其自然 means?

其 is referred to 'it' as in your translation. However, 自然 here does not necessarily mean the literal meaning 'nature'. Instead, it refers to the natural tendency of any subject you're talking about. If you see a child growing as he/she prefers to be rather than pushing him/her to be, 其is the child and 自然 means 'without intervention'. If you let something develop without attempting to change its route, 其 is that thing. In old Chinese, 其 as a personal pronoun is only one of its many senses.

What's more, it's a Chinese idiom, not just Cantonese.


How to say "I got disconnected" and "I'm lagging"?

"掉线了“ means "I got disconnected" in Chinese,the pronunciation is "diao xian le", and "掉了” in short.
As for "I'm lagging", you can say "网络很卡“，the pronunciation is "wang luo hen ka". Usually a Chinese guy can also easily get your meaning if you express it in "卡”.


How would you translate the phrase "Concession Speech" in Chinese accurately?

I found these:

How about: 认输演说 or 认输演讲 or 败选演讲

Example of the latter:

麦凯恩在大选之夜的败选演讲中做手势让支持者冷静下来.


"right at that time" == "剛好", "當時"

"Luckily, right at that time Mark heard my voice" => "幸好當時 Mark 聽見我的聲音(呼叫)"


"为" is "as" here. "Subject + 将 + object + verb" is equal to "subject + verb + object".

So  警方将小印度一带规划为受管制区 is equal to 警方规划小印度一带为受管制区


Imagine something sharp cut through a basketball, as a result, the air in that ball was gone and the ball became “瘪”. Also “瘪” can be used to described a person, e.g. “他营养不好，身体干瘪” means "He looks not that healthy and excessively slim".

When saying someone “吃瘪”, it is similar to the usage above. It means someone was frustrated probably because he was treated unfairly and couldn't even defended himself. That person looks like the basketball as we said above. In Chinese, you can not only “吃” food, but also “吃” something else, e.g. “吃亏”、“吃豆腐”

Another Chinese idiom I think is equivalent to “吃瘪” is “哑巴吃黄连，有苦说不出” (Hint: “黄连” is a kind of herb which is bitter).

By the way, here “瘪” is pronounced as "biē" not "biĕ".

EDIT:

I don't know what the context of your sentence is. I guess the reason why Siri make Germans “吃瘪” is her awkward or ridiculous AI response? If I'm correct, I will translate the sentence to "only Siri can make Germans hesitate or be unable to make a response". "Well... seriously?" To my knowledge, I can't find an English word to replace “吃瘪”.


Is this grammatically correct? 我对着红绿灯说着是否一切会好转

It only needs slight modifications. How about 我"問"红绿灯是否一切"都"会好转 它们说「我不知道」, or 我"問"红绿灯是否一切"都"沒問題 它们说「我不知道」.
I think the original is fine grammar-wise, but unlike to be spoken by the native tongue.


Would it be incorrect to not include 儿 here?

儿 is Pekingese (beijing dialect), like "lah" in singlish (singapore english).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beijing_dialect

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singlish#Lah

in general, you don't need to write it; unless you want to impress readers that it's pekingese.


Is  the character 年 (or its etymology) related to the mythical beast in Chinese mythology?

I think it's just a folklore, because every time I read this story, I can't find the source of the floklore cited there. I never treat this stroy seriously.

The oracle form of the character "年" is:(note: one oracle character may have different but similar shapes, because characters were not standardized at all in that times)

The upper part looks like a bundle of grain, and the lower parts look like a man. This shape depicts a man with a bundle of grain on his back. It origninally means "the grains are ripe and human being need it".Because the grain plants were ripe once per year(in ancient times, argricultural tech was very low), the meaning of "year" derived.

Below is the different shapes of "年" in different times,showing its evolution. The picture comes from a great online dictinary "汉典",however, it's only in Chinese. From left to right, the shape was used in "甲骨文(oracle,which is the oldest as far as we know)","金文(popular in 商and 周 dynasty, carved on bronze castings)","小篆(a standardized font, used in 秦 dynasty)",“楷体(the modern Kai font)". You can see that
in 金文, the lower part became "千" and in 小篆, the shape was similar with the original 秊.


When 着 was read zhao2, it means:
 1. 接触，挨上：着边。上不着天，下不着地。//one thing touches the other thing
 2. 感受，受到：着凉。着急。着忙。着风。着迷。 //be affected by something
 3. 使，派，用：别着手摸。 //using(slang)
 4. 燃烧，亦指灯发光：着火。灯着了。 //light up;
 5. 入睡：躺下就着。 //fall asleep
 6. 用在动词后，表示达到目的或有了结果：打着了。没见着。//if used after a  verb: the motion has reached its purpose or has an result
In your sentence, I believe it takes the 6.
So when you say 扎着, it means being pricked.


What is 被 doing in sentence "这种病在三十年前就被根除了"?

被 + verb = passive form

根除 = eradicate

被根除 = be eradicated

Some verbs have active form with passive meaning. 根除 is one of them. So it's fine to remove 被 from this sentence.

(These verbs are very similar to ergative verbs in English but mainstream Chinese grammar doesn't interpret them as ergative verbs.)


you can also use “从前”，“过去”，“曾经” to indicate the past time, but both imply that the current situation is opposite of the previous.

This restaurant used to be popular among foreigners(,but now is not that popular).

这家餐厅从前很受外国人的欢迎（，但现在已经不那么受欢迎了）。
这家餐厅过去很受外国人的欢迎（，但现在已经不那么受欢迎了）。
这家餐厅曾经很受外国人的欢迎（，但现在已经不那么受欢迎了）。

if you want to use "已经" to express "have been", you can say:

This restaurant has been (very) popular among foreigners.

这家餐厅已经很受外国人的欢迎了。


Translation for sentence with important a grammar point: 没有。。。那么

I feel 中文没有人们想那么难 is grammatically incorrect because 想 is a verb, so we need to add a 的 afterwards.  However, 想 is also an imprecise word choice since it has connotations of "wanting" something.
I suggest the following:

中文没有人们想象的那么难。

I changed 想 (to think) to 想象 (to imagine), and you can check online it's commonly used this way.  Here, 人们想象的 refers to something along the lines of "what people imagine".
Related examples "in the wild":

我认为这没有人们想象的那么难。 (source)
I feel this is not as difficult as people imagine.
高校腐败没有人们想象的那么严重。  (source)
Corruption in university and colleges is not as serious as people imagine.
历史上的杜甫，没有人们想象的那么穷苦。  (source)
History's Du Fu [was] not as impoverished as people imagine.
事情远没有人们想象的那么简单。  (source)
[The] matter is rather not as simple as people imagine.


Why is 見 replaced with 见 from simplified to traditional Chinese?

According to the Wikipedia,
来自于行书与草书的楷书化.

[注 1] lists some examples, 许多偏旁如讠[訁]、饣[飠]、纟[糹]、钅[釒]、呙[咼]、见[見]、页[頁]、贝[貝]、车[車]、东[東]、门[門]、马[馬]等来自草书。

Some simplifications were based on popular cursive forms (草书) embodying graphic or phonetic simplifications of the traditional forms. (from the English version of the Wikipedia page)

Therefore, 见 replaces 見 because 见 is the cursive form of 見.


Issues with machine translation from Traditional to Simplified (not vice versa)

You might be interested in the opencc project. Besides trad-to-simp and simp-to-trad conversion, it can also convert different common word usage in different areas. For example, 「程式」 to 「程序」. And it also deals with the small difference between Simplified and Traditional Chinese you've mentioned in your question.


Do the notations ⅃⅃⅃ ___ LLL mean anything?

I found a more clear picture. I think they are not letters or characters. They are only decoration for the "大人国". The reason is the angle of view of your picture.You can see your picture carefully again.


How are individual seconds counted in Chinese?

This Tianya forum post reckons that the same formula can be used in Chinese:

  一千零一，一千零二，一千零三

In the medical field another approach is common:

  001 (零零幺)
  002 (零零二)
  003 (零零三)

If double o seven was translated back into English he might be called seven one-thousand.


What is the translation for "generic brand"?

Here's the translated definition of "generic" in Oxford Advanced Leaner's English-Chinese Dictionary  (7th Edition).

  1 shared by, including or typical of a whole group of things; not
  specific 一般的；普通的；通用的: ·‘Vine fruit’ is the generic term for currants
  and raisins. * vine fruit是有核和无核葡萄干的通称。 2 (of a product, especially a
  drug 产品，尤指药物) not using the name of the company that made it
  无厂家商标的；无商标的: ·The doctor offered me a choice of a branded or a generic
  drug. 医生让我选择用有商标的还是没有商标的药物。

According to the second meaning, maybe "generic brand" can be translated as “无商标的品牌”, but it sounds a little weird.


Yes, it is common for many Asia countries that "lodging" (typically dormitories) is provided by the companies and often these "factories" form cities on their own.

A famous (or maybe better to say notorious) example is Foxconn. From Wikipedia:

  Foxconn's largest factory worldwide is in Longhua, Shenzhen, where
  hundreds of thousands of workers (varying counts include 230,000,
  300,000, and 450,000) are employed at the Longhua Science &
  Technology Park, a walled campus sometimes referred to as "Foxconn
  City" or "iPod City". Covering about 1.16 square miles (3
  square km), it includes 15 factories, worker dormitories, a
  swimming pool, a fire brigade, its own television network
  (Foxconn TV), and a city centre with a grocery store, bank,
  restaurants, bookstore, and hospital. While some workers live in
  surrounding towns and villages, others live and work inside the
  complex; a quarter of the employees live in the dormitories, and
  many of them work up to 12 hours a day for 6 days each week.
  Another of Foxconn's factory "cities" is Zhengzhou Technology Park in
  Zhengzhou, Henan province, where it is reported 120,000 employees
  work.


I disagree with trying to translate English idioms or sentence structures word for word into Chinese. I would suggest that something like this would capture your intended meaning in a more natural way:

这几十年来，中国的经济发展了很多，但却牺牲了自然环境。

This suggests that the environment was collateral damage. If you wanted to put more emphasis on the extent of environmental destruction as the source of growth:

这几十年来，中国牺牲了生态环境，换取经济的快速发展。


What does 倒 mean in 现在也倒没有透露我们到底为哪个峰会准备这个午宴?

倒 is such a tricky word! I don't think(at least from I know) we have an English equivalent for it. The closest translation to English I think is "Well, (that one is different) ..."

Think about this dialogue:

  A: 可以吸烟吗？

  B: 不可以。

  A: 可以喝酒吗？

  B: 不可以

  A: 那吃东西也不行了？

  B: 这个倒没有限制。(Well, that might be ok.)

As you can see, 倒没有 is usually used, when a serial of questions has been asked/talked about, and at some point the questioner asks the very question which he would expect the same kind of answer but the replier knows it would be a bit surprise(to the questioner) because his answer would be reverse(倒) from those answers he had given previously.

For this case,

  现在我们也倒没有透露我们到底为哪个峰会准备这个午宴。

There could be some other things that have been discussed in the previous context. After they have confirmed (or answered yes to) those things, and when comes to this one, they reversed the tone(倒没有) because they want to give a heads-up that this answer would be different from those previous ones.

So, I would think 倒 in this context is expressing the idea "heads-up! the tone/answer is reversed". Or compared with the previous answers, this one is reversed(倒过来了).

The more tricky part is 也 in the sentence, implying there could be another previous question which has a reversed answer already. So, this one is the second one and that's why 也 is being used.

Updates after thinking a bit deeper(which I think this question deserves):

This word 倒 is used when the speaker feel it's necessary to reverse the tone. This could be because of following reasons:

the tone is consistent for the preceding questions and at some point it changes. This is like the virtual example above.
the speaker feels his answer would be the exact reversed from what his listeners expect. The OP's example could fall into this reason. 现在也倒没有透露我们到底为哪个峰会准备这个午宴。It implies that the speakers feel that normally people would think they've already revealed 我们到底为哪个峰会准备这个午宴, but reversely they have not. This reason could just be the speaker's assumption(Maybe, it doesn't matter if it's true).
It could be a matter of idiolect. Some would use it casually without thinking that deep of the usage, especially in spoken.


I don't really have much experience in this area myself but a similar question has been asked on 百度知道 before, which was answered as follows:

  香港的粤语不是最正宗的粤语. 毫无疑问,岭南文
  化中心在广州,最正宗的粤语还是在广州! 香港的
  粤语有点英语腔.

  香港居民说的是粤语,不过里面很多词都掺到很多
  英文.

  反正哪里都一样,基本也没多少差别.

  回答楼主,香港的粤语和广东话是一样的,只是前
  者略带英腔而己,而且话中多多少少有些英语相掺.

  香港本地居民说的就是粤语.

Which says: basically HK-Cantonese isn't much different from Guangdong Cantonese apart from sounding slightly like British accented Cantonese and using lots of English words.

So the changes are more accental and in loan words (or direct usage of English over Chinese) rather than appeasing the British.


只得, [be obliged to;have to;have no alternative but to] 别无选择，不得不

我们只得照要求的做了。
Source: http://baike.baidu.com/view/4174590.htm

只好 [be forced to;have to;the only alternative is to] 只有;只能. It is a little less formal than 只得.
河上没有桥,我们只好涉水过去

Source: http://baike.baidu.com/view/163453.htm

只有: only. 邮局离这儿只有几步路。

only when (when followed by 才), to indicate a necessary condition.
只有依靠群众,才能做好普查工作.
Source: http://baike.baidu.com/view/199454.htm


Did Mandarin Pinyin `chiang` used to exist?

The 反切 in 廣韻 use Middle Chinese pronunciation, so one cannot take the modern readings of the 反切 上下字 as a guide to how a word might be pronounced.

In this case, you are looking at words in the 江 rhyme category. These words have developed a -j- medial in Mandarin (when there is a velar initial) that was not present in Middle Chinese. Other dialects have not. Compare, for instance, the Cantonese pronunciation of 江 "gong".

Although  is not a "living" character, words which are in the same initial and rhyme categories are still around, such as 撞 zhuang. This is the regular development.

Mandarin has never had retroflex initials followed by medial -j-; in fact, this would seem to be a very unlikely combination in any language.


Firstly, I will note that it's not quite correct that the 时量补语 must be placed before the "last verb" of the sentence. Rather, in those scenarios, the 时量补语 is placed before the last iteration of the verb it applies to in the clause. For instance:

今年我返乡下只返过一次，因为我太忙了。
(This year I only went back to my hometown once, because I was too busy.)

Moreover, I don't think it's always necessary to repeat the verb twice.1 For example:

为了准备在法国读大学，我学了法文三年。
(To prepare for studying at a French university, I studied French for three years.）

In fact, in some cases (such as that of my first example), it sounds more natural for the verb to only appear once. However, if you indeed repeat the verb, the 时量补语 must indeed be placed before the second appearance, not the first one.

That done, I will move onto the specific sentences you asked about:

她学汉语要学一年

Notice that the 要 is part of 要学一年: this indicates that it's necessary to learn the subject in question for a year. Thus, this sentence does not mean "she is going to learn Chinese for a year", since this English sentence doesn't convey obligation; rather, absent any other context, it means something like "she will have to learn Chinese for a year."

我看电影只看了十分钟

This means "I only watched the television for ten minutes."2 This works because 只 (only) is attached to 看了十分钟.

她学汉语能学一年

Judging from dictionary examples of usage of 能 (e.g. 我能照顾好自己), it is fine to use 能 alone. This phrasing sounds odd to me---I would instead write something like 她能学一年汉语---but I am inclined to assume that this is merely a result of my own preferences.

I am a native Cantonese speaker and have a very intuitive understanding of Chinese grammar in general. It's possible that I am missing something, or that my vocabulary isn't completely standard. I have tried to double-check the key uncertainties I had.

I am not sure what sense of "just" you are using. If you mean that I finished watching the television for ten minutes just now, your translation isn't correct. If you are using "just" in the sense of "only", your translation is fine.


What are the most common mistakes when pronouncing Pinyin?

For people from south China, the following may be confused:

z / zh
c / ch
s / sh
n / l
l / r

Many Pinyin input methods include "fuzzy pronunciations", a feature that automatically matches these confusable pronunciations. For example, if you input zui, the results will also include all characters of zhui.
The Google Pinyin input method uses the following list:

z / zh
c / ch
s / sh
an / ang
en / eng
in / ing
l / n
f / h
r / l
k / g
ian / iang
uan / uang


How can I type 吗 in Pinyin keyboard setup?

As you are using the "Pinyin - Traditional" input method, maybe what you can see will only be the traditional character "嗎". To convert it into simplified Chinese, try this tool by pasting it into the blank and click the second button.

By the way, sometimes we also use "麼" (or "么" in simplified form) at the end of a question. And the corresponding Pinyin should be "me", although most Chinese may pronounce it as "mo".


Why most cursive forms of two Chinese characters, "不" and "正", have a different shape that violates the stroke order?

There might be a bit of misunderstanding about where cursive script comes from. Many cursive characters do not actually come from regular script, but are derived from Warring States era brush calligraphy and seal script shapes.

This here

cannot approximate the shape or follow the stroke order of
秦簡23.1睡虎地秦簡東漢隸嵩山太室闕
as the left part isn't as emphasised as this:

This here

cannot approximate the shape or follow the stroke order of
篆正部說文解字西漢隸孫臏37
銀雀山漢簡
nearly as well as this:


If using 西施, (as a general / traditional indication of physical beauty), is not comfortable to you, then you can say, 情人眼里出美人 or 美在情人眼.
BTW, 旁觀者 means "bystander", i.e., someone who is an "objective observer", whereas "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" denotes a "subjective assessment / opinion" by an involved beholder.
So, 美在旁觀者的眼睛, (which is unnecessarily verbose and awkward) could be "idiomized" to 美在情人眼.
However, if you are looking for a "generic" phrase that applies to both persons and objects of interest, then perhaps 美在各眼中？which takes away the narrower application to 情人 only.


不屈：不屈服(于强大的对手) – unyielding, unbending

When you don't surrender to a strong enemy/opponent, you are 不屈的. This word is often used to describe heroes/heroines in wars and battles.


there's an earlier usage of "完美" in 唐 dynasty. in 漢文大藏經﹒毗尼作持續釋﹒卷五:

釋　若犯妄語。譬如大石破為二分終不可還合者。謂石大　完美　。四覩奇觀。比丘戒淨。人天欽仰。若犯妄語波羅夷法。不得還成比丘梵行。布薩羯磨不共眾僧。如石兩分。破壞本質。失眾敬瞻。棄置不盻故。

http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/mobile/index.php?index=X41n0730_005

so, i would suggest the etymology of "完美" is derived from "完整" + "美好"


this is my first answer on this website.

他爱怎么想就怎么想,我才不在乎呢  = whatever he thinks/would like to think, I don't care.
In this sentence, 爱 is generally can be understanded as "would like".
I prefer to say 我爱吃辣(I love eating spicy food) insted of 我爱辣
If you just only say 我爱辣, people may get confused when they hear this.

爱 can be used for things/hobbies etc, but a verb often followed by 爱。Examples: I love sports = 我爱运动。 I love playing basketball =我爱打篮球。 I love playing games = 我爱玩游戏。

Sometimes, you can use 爱 for pets and animals. However, I prefer to say 喜欢. Examples: 我喜欢动物。我喜欢小狗。 我喜欢小猫。


Confusion when describing the location of something using A在B的location pattern?

in terms of grammar, both sentences are ok. but the two sentences emphasize different points.
i'll put these two sentences in dialogues of English so that you can get a better understanding.

For 图书馆在宿舍的前面:
-Where's the library?
-The library is in front of the dorm.
(This is probably what you want in your case, emphasizes the location of the library-WHERE)

For 宿舍的前面是图书馆:
-What's in front of the dorm?
-The library (is in front of the dorm).
(Emphasizes it is the library that lies in front of the dorm-WHAT)

-native speaker here, hope this help :)


What does 春德东更 mean and in what language?

I'm Chinese, this phrase does not mean anything to me.


It is actually written as "初生牛犊不怕虎”，it is sometimes used to describe a person not afraid of an strong enemy because he/she is a novice or beginner. Not very often, but is is commonly used.


How to ask Chinese tourists keep their voice down?

What is the best sentence to let them know that they are making very loud noise?

Before I give out example sentences for asking people to lower their voice, I have to warn you-- Telling strangers that their behavior is unacceptable in public might lead to verbal confrontation or worse.

Some people might think talking loud is their personal right, telling them otherwise is an intrusion.  No words of yours can change their behavior.
Some people might not notice they are being loud. They can be reasoned with, but you have to be extremely polite. You are pointing out something they do wrong after all. No one like to be criticized.

Now there are some example sentences you could use.

Start with "對不起" /duìbùqǐ/ (excuse me/ sorry).
Then beg them "能請你們" /Néng qǐng nǐmen/(would you please).
Tell them what you want, "降低聲量嗎?"/Jiàngdī shēngliàng ma/ (lower your voice?).
(optional) Make them think you are with them "外国人爱挑剔别人大声说话" /Wàiguó rén ài Tiāotì biérén dàshēng shuōhuà/ (Foreigners love to pick on people who use loud voice).
Thank them for cooperating "谢谢合作" /Xièxiè hézuò/. After being thanked, most reasonable people would not be able to get too angry with you.


What are the six characters on this seal? (Characters identified: 漢高皇帝後裔)

edited, according to info provided by droooze.

the recognised character in sequence:

５３１
６４２

character ５：後 (u+5f8c)

http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/search.php?word=後

character ６：裔 (u+88d4)

http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/search.php?word=%E8%A3%94

character ３：皇 (u+7687)

http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/search.php?word=皇

character ４：帝 (u+5e1d)

http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/search.php?word=帝

character １, the left component is 水 (u+6c34), the left one, wait :)

edited. with help from droooze, this one should be 漢 (u+6f22)

http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/search.php?word=漢

character ２, this one would be 亙 (u+4e99)

http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/search.php?word=亙

so, it would be read as "漢亙皇帝後裔", roughly "the descendent of emperor '漢亙帝'"

have fun :)


The consonant sound written with j- in Pinyin does not exist in English, so using English words to approximate it will always be wrong to some extent.
Pinyin j consists of two sounds, a stop and a fricative. Let's start with the fricative, written [ɕ] in IPA (the International Phonetic Alphabet) and x in Pinyin.
To produce this sound, place the tip of your tongue against your lower teeth ridge (that's the "shelf" you can feel behind your lower teeth), then try to say "sh" as in English "she", without moving the tongue tip. This will result in thicker-sounding s, produced with the blade of the tongue (further back than the tip, which is involved when you say a normal s).
To get to j-, simply add a small stop in front of the fricative we just learnt. That means briefly stopping the airflow, then letting it out while producing the [ɕ] sound. That results in [t͡ɕ], which is how j is written using IPA.
Note that if you release the air forcefully, you get aspiration, which is used to distinguish phonemes in Mandarin, so instead of j-, you'd be pronouncing q- instead. The aspiration is written with a superscript "h", so qi is [t͡ɕʰ] in IPA. j- should not be aspirated. It should not be voiced either.
The -i bit shouldn't cause too much trouble. It's pronounced [i], which is the same sound as in English "free", although a bit further forward and more closed. The difference is not very big.
鸡/雞, jī, "chicken", IPA: [t͡ɕi], with a high, flat tone.
If forced to choose between the alternatives you gave, then "dj" is probably closer because it also combines a stop with a fricative (called an affricate). Note that both the stop itself and the fricative are the wrong ones, though. "dj" in English is voiced, whereas Pinyin j- is not. However, note that initial consonants in English are often not voiced either (or not clearly so at least), so in practice, the pronunciation is rather close); see commend by John Frazer below. The tongue position is also different, as explained above.


How to say "a bit more" in "Verb + Something + a bit more"

I want to watch TV = 我想看電視

  I want to watch TV (a bit more) = 我想 (多) 看 (一點) 電視

~

  I want to eat spicy noodles = 我想吃辣面

  I want to eat spicy noodles (a bit more) = 我想(多)吃(一點)辣面

~

I want to have a walk on the beach = 我想在沙滩上散步

I want to have a (longer) walk on the beach = 我想在沙滩上散(長一點的)步

~

  I plan on listening to music = 我打算听音乐

  I plan on listening to (more) music = 我打算听(更多的)音乐

  I plan on listening to (a bit more) music = 我打算(多)听(一點)音乐

~

  Can you speak slower ?  = 你能说慢一点吗？

  Can you speak (a bit) slower ? = 你能(稍微)说慢一点吗？


'一三一四五二零' I need someone to confirm the meaning of this number sentence

一三一四五二零 yì sān yí sì wǔ èr líng

in Mandarin sounds close to

一生一世我愛你 yì shēng yí shì wǒ ài nǐ

which means 'I love you for the whole of my life'.


I don't understand why 老外 and 洋人 mean what they mean

老 (old) is a common word for making nicknames (indicates casualness, familiarity, or fondness). For example, you met someone and called him 李先生 (Mr. Lee) which is a formal address. Later you two became familiar with each other and you might start calling him 老李 instead, (similar to 'John' became 'Johny'  in English)
外 (outside) 國 (country) 人 (people) people
外國人 = foreigner
老外 is a nickname for the formal term 外國人 (foreigner). It can be people of any race and from any country
洋人 short for 西洋人 (西 = west, 洋 = ocean 人 = people ; 西洋人 = westerner)
When the Europeans came to China, they came from the west by sea and the Chinese called them 西洋人. It could be shortened to 西人 or 洋人. We no longer use the term 洋人 nowadays in day to day speech, but the term 西人 is still in use for 'westerner' (white people from the western world) among Cantonese speakers (Canton is a major entry point to China by sea)


How would you say "X, the Y" in Chinese?

Domestic animals like dog, cat, horse, cow, pig, goat, chicken and duck are often described with a single syllable word in Chinese:

狗，猫，马，牛，猪，羊，鸡，鸭

There are few exceptions, For example, snake is not a domestic animal, but it is still being called with the single syllable word 蛇

For other animals, it is customary to use two syllables words to refer them.

For example:

Tiger (虎), is always called 老虎

Elephant (象) is always called 大象

Monkey (猴) is always called 猴子

Frog (蛙) is always called 青蛙

In the case of moth(蛾), it is always called 飛蛾

So, your should refer your pet moth as  '飛蛾'

Calling someone by a single syllable name is rare because it sounded blunt. Most of the time we would add title or a name prefix (indicates a noun is a name) to make it a two syllable name.

For example:

The name '七' would be '小七, 阿七 or 七仔' in day-to-day conversation

In your case, "my pet-- Seven the moth" should be translated as '我的宠物--  飛蛾小七 (or '阿七)'

Or you can say: " 小七, 我养的飛蛾" (little Seven, the pet moth I keep)

Edit: one more suggestion:

Since you called Chinese character as kanji, here is another suggestion-- 'Seven' in Japanese is なな (nana). You could call it '娜娜(Nana), which is a common female pet name.


Could you please explain me a difference

The difference is due to 在 and 呢.

在 here is an adverb.
It means "in the process of doing something".

呢 is a modal particle.
Since you use period instead of the question mark, they are declarative sentences.
呢 indicates the notion that an action is in progress.
呢 also expresses the confirmation or emphasis on the facts.

他在吃饭呢。 What he is doing is eating meal.
This sentence indicates that the action of eating is in progress, and emphasizes the action.
他在吃饭。 He is eating meal.
This sentence simply shows that the action of eating is in progress.
It does not emphasize the action.
他吃饭呢。 He eats meal.
This sentence emphasizes the action of eating.
It does not indicate that the action is in progress.


Mandarin dialect pronouncing sizzling consonants differently

MDBG

  翹舌音

  翘舌音[翹舌音]

  qiàoshéyīn

  retroflex sound (e.g. in Mandarin zh, ch, sh, r)

It could be accent, it could be dialect it could be 大舌头 (a big tongue).

翘舌音 is almost nonexistent in Taiwan, although it should be, so I'd say that's down to accent.
Many topolects, like Sichuanese, don't carry retroflex sounds, and that's dialectical.
Some people do have speech impediments or just a big tongue, as some like to put it.

You can call it lack of retroflex or 没有翘舌音.

The guy in the scene from Silicon Valley seems to be channeling a Taiwanese accent.


“道“ & “郡” were administrative division name.

in 秦 dynasty, the country is divided into 36 “郡“, each one is roughly the size of a province nowadays.

in 唐 dynasty, the country is divided into 15 “道“, each one is about the size of a province today.

county is an acceptable translation; however, i prefer “province”, or “state”.


How do non-native speakers get to perceive tones in Chinese?

Here are some different things that I have seen that has helped people pick up tones:

Starting out

Most books use graphs which show how each of the tones rise, fall, flatten etc (example here). It helps some people to see the difference visually and the graphs show how great an extent the tones differ.
The tones also have names (not official) e.g. rising, falling. Show the learner the graphs and ask them how they would describe each of the tones. Then ask them to pronounce tone X based on their descriptor.
Almost everyone I've seen starting with tones have started with the exercise: mā, má, mǎ, mà.
This is a bad habit, but it helps some people: using your head or your hand to move in the right direction of the tone while saying it. May help with beginners, but not recommended to keep this habit for long.

Stepping up

Try using pairs of words, I suggest using names of places because the speaker will have something they are familiar with e.g. běijīng， táiwān， shànghǎi
Counting 1 to 10 is a good exercise because it covers all four tones and as per above the speaker is familiar with the concept so they can concentrate on learning.
Family members is another good one (bàba, māmā) that uses a variety of tones.

Becoming competent

A good exercise for learning tones is practicing basic songs. I prefer to use children's songs than pop music as people tend to get distracted by the meaning of pop songs rather than concentrating on learning.
Learn to recite simple poems (again, don't concentrate on meaning, just on exercising your tongue and mouth)
There is a concept which has spread across children's Mandarin classes in the West. I will check with my wife what it is called. It involves getting children to read and recite very old writing where the meaning is completely obscured. The purpose as with the examples above is to make the learner concentrate more on how they are speaking and getting the tones precise than understanding what they are saying.
Practice reading out loud, even to yourself, as often as possible. This helps to train the mouth. Once you become more fluent start singing along to your favourite pop songs.

In my personal experience learning tones is one of the hardest skills and it took me at least 5 years before I started getting over 90% correct in conversation. My 5 year old son, who had the benefit of learning as a baby from his mother and grandparents, still corrects me daily when I slip up.


Correct translation of "I need some help with my homework."

There are many ways to translate this sentence. The important element of translation is not translating word by word. As long as you can deliver correct message, you should be fine. One example for translating "I need some help with my homework." is 我需要人帮帮我的作业。