How to learn to read Chinese calligraphic paintings (and Chinese handwriting)?

It really boils down to the very point: your knowledge of characters and especially how familiar you are with them. I have a hard time reading a lot of things handwritten in Chinese, while at other times I notice that I can just spell out all the characters, even if I have never seen a single character from that person.

Some people have easy to read handwriting, some don't. Obviously that's something subjective, but you cannot do anything about it. What you can do is to practice handwriting a lot yourself and notice how your handwriting shifts from the school kids' stroke-by-stroke pattern to a more sophisticated, mature handwriting, where things start to become more fluid and less accurate. Probably you have a nice handwriting in your own language, whether it be Latin or any other script. And probably your handwriting has matured from a school kids letters to a more elegant and fluent script. This process has subconsciously helped you not only to read your own handwriting but to have a grasp of other people's handwriting, too.

There are three things you can do to make progress:

Write Chinese by hand. Write a lot. Try to write faster and faster and observe how your handwriting evolves into something more sophisticated and "calligraphic". It will not necessarily look "talented" at first, but that doesn't matter. What really matters that you see how your strokes change and become more fluid, until they eventually get "simplified" and even merge.

Install some calligraphic looking Chinese fonts on your computer and play around with them. Fire up MS Word or any word processor, set the font size to something larger than 36pts, set the typeface to the installed font and type something. This way you will know what you are typing, since you type it, but you will also see how the characters actually look like in that specific font, sometimes you will feel like "what-the-hecko", at other times you will immediately recognized the strokes of that specific character. Here is a site to look for some fonts: font.chinaz.com (although I think most fonts here are copyrighted protected but uploaded by anyway, be sure to only use fonts for study, you should be on the safe side)

Improve and expand your vocabulary. Many multi-character words have at least one character that is easier to recognize and your vocabulary will help you to make a guess, what the other character(s) could be. Also, the more characters you know, the more likely that you will recognize parts of characters, since character components pretty much repeat all the time.

EDIT: the characters on the package are 降脂茶. If you don't recognize a character, try to recognize at least a part of it. E.g. in the second character it is obvious that the left side is 月 (肉) while the bottom-right part of it 日. You can assume that any part of it you can recognize could be the radical, with which you should be familiar, of course. Now try to give an estimate for the unrecognizable part, how many strokes that could be. Add or take one stroke and you can look it up in a character dictionary, it takes a while but it's not that hard.

As for 降 the tricky parts here are probably the left side and the top-right part, eventually to me it is a recognition process based on the characters and character parts I already now. If you have seen 夅 as a right-side component of any other character (e.g. 逄）then you should be able to recognize it just by observing its shape or if you are advanced by the composing strokes.


What is 侧面 doing in ...侧面反映了金融市场在入世以后逐渐与国际接轨?

In this sentence, 侧面 is not noun but adverb, 侧面反映 = indirectly reflected.


Through which processes became words in classical Chinese that tautological?

Synonyms arise when two different topolects or languages are mixed, perhaps as a result of warfare or a political union, but also because of technical innovation, cultural exchange and so on. This happens constantly in all languages.

As for pronouns in classical Chinese, they correspond to a highly hierarchical social order. You would often need to refer to yourself in third person to show respect and to be in line with the Confucian ideal of humility. Even the emperor could refer to himself as 寡人, third person for one of a few select.

Then again, if the emperor calls himself 朕 (I), then everyone below him would have to refer to the self using a lesser term, in hierchical order. 在下 is the one beneath the emperor, 我 is the worthless body, 奴才 is the slave, etc.


Question about how to say "sounds like" "looks like" "tastes like" "smells like" "feels like (referring to touch)"?

Some of the direct translation:

"it sounds like your work is very interesting!"
听起来你的工作非常有意思!
"he looks like he is very tired"
他看起来非常累。
"this book looks like a hard read"
这书想必是很难读的。
"this vase looks really heavy"
这花瓶看起来很重。
"this soup tastes like it took a lot of work"
这汤尝着感觉下了很大功夫。
"this flower smells like it should cost 1,000 dollars"
这些花闻起来像是它们值1000美元。
"this blanket feels like it has never been used"
这条毯子感觉从来没用过。

Above are the so called direct answers, however as you said you want the characteristics, it is a bit harder.

A verb representing a feel can be in front of "着" or "起来", like “看着”，“看起来”，“听着”，“听起来”... and your actual feel, some adjective words can be after that, to express your idea on such thing through an action or interact or motion, like “听起来很悦耳(sounds very melodious) ”，“闻起来很香(smells good)”.

But to make this more beautiful, that's literature. An idea would be punch in enormous adjective words and imagination, or quote old literature, etc.


What is the difference between 安排 and 布置

安排is more often used with people to assign them to a position or prepare them for something.
布置is more often used on things like concrete items like a room. May be used on events such as create a scene in a movie set.

That doesn't mean we can't interchange them in sentences to get the same meanings， yeah, you could almost say they are the same.

Here are examples where 布置 and 安排 are different：

布置一个房间（Furnishing a room)

安排一个房间(Assign a room( to someone))

布置餐桌 (Arrange a dinning table)

安排餐桌(Assign a dinning table(To someone))

天子离乡， 布置坐御床(Prince is leaving, so decorate the bed while he is gone)

天子离乡， 安排坐御床(Prince is leaving, so prepare the bed to carry him)

Here are examples where they could be interchange to create the same sentences:

教授给我们布置啦一周的作业（The professor assigned a week of homeworks).

教授给我们安排啦一周的作业（Same as before）

布置这陷阱的人实在做的天衣无缝（Whoever set this trap did it flawlessly)
安排这陷阱的人实在做的天衣无缝（same， although we could replace set with initiate）.

So you see, 安排 could mean something that hasn't happen yet(AS it sometimes mean prepare) whereas 布置 most often mean something that has been done already.


Baidu Baike defines 舔狗 as:

  “舔狗”，作为网络语的该词，其含义是指代那些无脑去奉承他人的人。通常有两种用法，一种是形容在感情生活中明知道对方不喜欢自己，还一再无底线的讨好对方。另外一种是形容毫无原则去阿谀奉承的人。

As for a translation words like:

kiss-ass
brown-noser

should work.


Mandarin: tongue placement when pronouncing ü words like 學 and 去 that begin with q, x, j?

Use this guidance, it is entirely correct. This guy (John Pasden) has been the resident "foreign learner" on ChinesePod podcasts nearly from the beginning, for many years, before opening his own company.

Or on his other site, even with tongue placement pictures.


How do you address someone with their name in Chinese?

Same as English

By titles

李先生 = Mr. Lee

李太太 = Mrs. Lee

李小姐 = Miss Lee

李女仕 = Ms. Lee

李醫生 = Dr. Lee

李老師 = Mister Lee ( teacher)

李主席 = Chairman Lee

李教練 = Coach Lee

李爵士 = Sir Lee

李公爵 = Duke Lee

By age and gender  ( not blood-related)

李叔叔 = Uncle Lee

李姨姨 / 李阿姨 = Aunt Lee

(李)兄 ( less formal than "Mr. / Mister".   For men slightly older than you )

Others:

(李)師傅 = Master Lee ( a polite address for master of any field or  any accomplished craftsmen)

*There are too many to list. But basically, you can't go wrong with the first four on the list. (Mr./ Mrs. /Miss /MS.)


Every good dictionary has the definitions of the words and its classes. The class of the word comes before the definition of thereof. That way you might know what is its definition as used in a specific class before you even read its definition. By classes I mean: nouns, verbs, pronouns, suffixs, etc. For exemple, the word 么 as a suffix has a different meaning when compared when used as a "auxiliary"


What are the translations of these IT-related terms: app, service, consulting?

What are the right translations of these IT-related terms into (simplified) Chinese:

app --> 应用
service --> 服务
consulting --> 咨询

Is there a reliable dictionary that includes such specialized contemporary terminology?

The CKJ Dictionary
Dict.cn -- an online Chinese/English dictionary
[Others]


How to set normal Chinese font in MS Power Point 2016?

Calibri does not contain Chinese characters. When you set your font to Calibri, Microsoft Office automatically choose a Chinese font for Chinese you’ve entered.

In your case, it seems that Excel automatically chose Microsoft Yahei (微软雅黑), while Powerpoint automatically chose STXinwei (华文新魏).

They are both correct behaviors. In Excel, people expect to see more general fonts in sheets, while, in PowerPoint, people expect to see more stylish fonts in presentations.

Though what PowerPoint did is correct, if you do want to change the font in PowerPoint, you have to keep in mind that Calibri does not contain Chinese characters. Therefore, you have to choose another Chinese font for it so that the appearance would change.

I personally recommend Microsoft Yahei (the font Excel uses) and STZhongsong (a very bold serif font suitable for presentation titles).


痞 means bad, eg, 痞子 is like the English word "rogue". I have seldom seen the phrase "痞痞的", but i think it would mean somebody is naughty, like a scamp maybe.


I think (洒)狗血 is from Taiwan originally. 狗血 could be short for 洒狗血.

洒狗血 could be interpreted in Chinese as 瞎搞 or 乱搞. In English, it could be something illogical, trying to be funny in a silly way, utter nonsense and etc.

So, 剧情狗血 could be the plot of the drama is ridiculous, utter nonsense, stupid and something like that.

撒狗粮 means a couple try to show how they love each other in front of a single person.

单身狗 means one who is single. So, you could say 在单身狗面前撒狗粮.

远光狗 refers to those always turning on the high headlight beams while driving, which dazzles vehicles from the opposite direction.

I don't usually hear 远光狗, 单身狗, 撒狗粮. I hear 剧情狗血 and 洒狗血 occasionally.

远光狗 is considered to be an insult, while 单身狗 and 撒狗粮 take some humorous effect I think.


Is there a meassure word missing in 在这河里游泳危险

If you break down "在这河里游泳危险" you can see a verb is missing.

"Swimming in this river (is) dangerous"
It should be either "在这河里游泳(有)危险" or "在这河里游泳(很)危险"

The classifier 条 is optional. when we are not counting the number of river. 这 (this) already indicated it is only one particular river

"这河/ 这条河"  = "this river" - You can omit the classifier 条 because there is no counting word

"这一条河" = "this one river" - You cannot omit the classifier 条 and write "这一河" because there is a counting word 一 here

"这三条河" = "these three rivers" - You cannot omit the classifier 条 and write "这三河" because there is a counting word 三 here


Generalize consecutive third tones change rule

The rule about the 3rd tone sandhi is:

When word with the 3rd tone is used alone, or used at the end of the expression, it's pronounced as the original tone, i.e. the 3rd tone. e.g. 雪, 滑雪.
When two words with the 3rd tone are used together, the 1st one is pronounced as the 2nd tone. e.g. 老虎, 海岛.
When word with the 3rd tone is used before other words with the 1st/2nd/4th tone, it's pronounced as the 半三声 (only the first half of the 3rd tone, without the rising tone part). e.g. 卡车, 草莓.
When three words with the 3rd tone are used together;

If the first two words are closely linked, i.e. 2+1 construction, then the first two words are pronounced as the 2nd tone. e.g. 草稿纸, 古典美.
If the last two words are closely linked, i.e. 1+2 construction, then the 1st word is pronounced as 半三声, the 2nd word is pronounced as the 2nd tone. e.g. 米老鼠, 老领导.

井井有条 matches the rule 4.1 and 3, so it should be pronounced as 2-2-(半三声)-2.

  Is the rule that if we have N third consecutive tones, then the first N-1 change to second tones?

It depends on how you seperate the words, to determine which rule should be applied.

Reference:
第三声变调教学教学
第三声（上声）的变调
现代汉语中三个三声连在一起,该怎么变调?


Is there a Chinese variant of the expression "and the list goes on and on“

There might be many expressions in different cases. The most common one should be:
等 or 等等： etc.; and so on
那里有很多气球，红色、橙色、绿色、蓝色、白色等等，各种颜色。


About the last non-repeated sentence in 爱人是行船人

Cross-posted on Quora this morning, and the answer came in soon. I was told "ui" means "prick" (the verb, not the noun), so I turned that into Mandarin 刺, and my reference gave me 揻, with precisely that sentence as an example: 心肝像針揻。Sim-kuann tshiūnn tsiam ui. (心像被針刺一樣。); (other example: 揻一空　ui tst khang(戳一個洞)). So that's it.

Literal translation: My heart feels like pierced by a needle.
Singable translation: A needle's piercing my heart.


Intonation works, but particles and certain rhetorical phrases can also reveal mood:

哎，那部电影岂能没有意思呢。

果然 is often used sarcastically, to indicate an unexpected outcome:

在淘宝上订购了一条USB电缆，果然收到了指甲油为礼物。

Often the context is self-evident, just like in other languages:

对啦，真真想吃下那四天前做的谄媚的面条。


Specially formatted Xiehouyu: What are they? What others are there?

It's called "缩脚语".

There are 2 different definitions of xiehouyu:

《辞海》：歇后语是熟语的一种。多为群众熟识的诙谐而形象的语句，运用时可以隐去后文，以前文示意，如只说“围棋盘里下象棋”，以示不对路子；也可以前后文并列，如“芝麻开花－－节节高”。

《中国语言文字大百科全书》
歇后语：指说话的时候把一段常用词语故意少说一个字或半句而构成的带有幽默性的话语。通常有两种。1.原始意义的歇后语，指把一句成语的末一个字省去不说，也叫“缩脚语”。如《金瓶梅》里来旺媳妇说“你家第五的‘秋胡戏’”，就是用来影射“妻”，因为“秋胡戏妻”是有名的故事、剧目。也有利用同音字的。如称“岳父”为“龙头拐”，影射“杖”字，这里代替“丈”。2.扩大意义的歇后语，在北京叫俏皮话，是指可以把一句话的后面一半省去不说。如“马尾拴豆腐”省去的是“提不起了”。有时候也利用同音字。如“外甥打灯笼－－照旧（舅）”。

The first definition of xiehouyu (like what you see in wikipedia) doesn't include "缩脚语".
The second one is broader and recognizes "缩脚语" as one type of xiehouyu（"原始意义的歇后语"）.Actually I'm not familiar with "缩脚语" because the first definition is widely acknowledged by common people. But by searching the Internet I found that "缩脚语" has a long history and not only exists in 四川方言, it can be found in many other dialects like 上海方言、吴越方言、山东方言、粤语. I'm a mandarin speaker so I don't know whether they are still in use today.

I found many examples on the Internet. Some examples I found are too long or complicated so I didn't paste them here. You can search "缩脚语" and look for them yourself.
古文：

“拿那雌雄宝（剑）插在我杨柳细（腰）边”（元-施惠《幽闺记》第九出）“君子之交淡如（水）”、“醉翁之意不在（酒）”（明-冯梦龙《古今谭概》）。“你权做个撮合山主亲的月下老（人），俺两个衔环……”（明-无名氏《女真观》第三折）“七大八（小）、七青八（黄）、七孔八（窍）、七张八（嘴）”（隐指“小黄窍嘴”，清-褚人获《坚瓠集》）。“一帖发丧药下去，这汗还止得住哩？不由的十生九（死）了。” （古人有时讳说“死”，西周生《醒世姻缘传》第二回）“号啕痛（哭）”（《醒世姻缘传》第二回、《金瓶梅》七十六回）“下马威（风）”（《醒世姻缘传》第二回）“踢天笼（井）”（"笼"谐音"弄"，即踢天弄井，《聊斋俚曲集·俊夜叉》。

粤语：

广东有一种著名饮料：茅根竹蔗水。而广东人又俗称“钱”为“水”，于是，当有人说“茅根竹”时，大家便意会这是“借水”（借钱也，因“蔗”与“借”同音）。

上海方言：

广东人骂别人呆笨时，会称人家做“猪头丙”，这“猪头丙”一词，是改自上海俗语“猪头三”的。上海俗语“猪头三”，也是一句缩脚语，全句是“猪头三牲”，即指被骂的人，是“牲”（畜生）也。（而“三牲”，本是敬神祭品的三色，即猪头、雄鸡和青鱼，统称为“猪头三牲”。）上海缩脚语还有如“七勿搭（八）”，“金卫陶（姜）”（谐音僵）、“敲钉转（脚）”、“天官赐（福）”、“坑三姑（娘）”、“么二三（四）”（谐音屎）、“甲乙丙（丁）”（谐音盯，意为盯梢尾随）

吴越方言：

苏州话“格（搿）块猪肉浪子丑寅弗少”，“子丑寅”隐指“毛”（“卯”的谐音。谑称。）最有意思的是南部吴语区温州的俗语雅说，他们把司空见惯的“水”，叫做“青山绿”；把“轻”（用于指责有人轻佻――轻薄、不庄重时）说成“云淡风”。


Does 屁股 refer to the womens' bottoms in 几个包着头巾的女人正将棉秆拔出来，她们不时抖动着屁股摔去根须上的泥巴?

摔去根须上的泥巴 means to swing cotton stalks 棉秆 and hit ground heavily in order to remove the mud attached on the root. In order to make sure the root can hit the ground, they have to squat or bend their knees. By repeating the motion several times, the mud can be removed thoroughly. So, looking behind, their butts shake up and down.


"Are you still married to Mary?" How to translate this?

I can see you've tried at least one or two things, and it's a tricky question so I'll give it a shot.  Remember, courtesy is everything in a forum like this one.

The problem is that 'to be married' is an adjectival form in English, and there is no corresponding adjectival form in Chinese. That means you can't get a word for word translation. Instead, you will have to rephrase the sentence, perhaps drastically, in order to get the information you want,

Rephrasing takes practice. It's not always easy to find other ways to say what you want to. One way to do this is to treat the process as an English exercise. Look up all the words in a regular bi-lingual dictionary.

For example, in the Oxford Advanced Learner's English Chinese Dictionary, I look up married. The definition gives 結婚的, 己婚的, then lists phrases that use this sense:

a married man   己婚男子
a married woman 己婚女子
a married couple 一對夫婦

The last one is the solution you want, since your sentence can be rephrased in just this way:

Are you and Mary still a married couple?
你跟瑪麗兩個人還是夫婦嗎?

Not 100% the same syntactically as 'Are you still married to Mary', but the sense is almost identical I think. Asking this in Chinese I'm sure will get the information you want, without any strange semantic or social mismatches.


The 4 elements of this kanji are well known (claw/plectrum; net; north-east; short measurement)

Unfortunately, this way of interpreting Chinese character components is not correct. As part of other characters, for the vast majority of the time, character components represent either meaning or sound of the word they originally were created for.

「爪・爫」and「寸」are both pictures of hands (see https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/65190/what-is-the-meaning-of-the-radical-%e6%89%8b-as-a-part-of-character);

「罒」only means net when it is an abbreviation of「网」(and since you haven't established that「爵」has had the same character components and structure since its inception, you can't make any assumptions about the character components);

「艮」doesn't mean north-east; in this case it is an abbreviation of「皀」which is a picture of a food basket and forms the bottom part of「食」(to eat); see https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/65804/what-is-the-etymology-of-the-kanji-%e9%a3%9f. The abbreviation of「皀」into「艮」has a different origin to「艮」itself.

Not that any of this matters for this particular character, because every component you've listed (apart from arguably「寸」) is a result of graphical corruption.

商甲乙4508合集22067商甲前5.5.2合集3409西周金爵父癸卣蓋集成4988
「爵」was originally a picture of an alcohol vessel. As seen in the top two illustrations, the vessel was of various shapes, sometimes with three legs, sometimes with a few columns near the top, and sometimes with a long handle. This is reflected in the character shape variations.
西周金伯公父勺集成9935秦簡秦律雜抄37睡虎地秦簡今楷
Keeping the columns and the handle,

The body and legs of the character were later semantically corrupted into or replaced with「鬯」, then corrupted into「皀」and finally abbreviated into「艮」.
The handle was later replaced with「又」, then「寸」.
The columns near the top were corrupted into「爪・爫」.
The area near the mouth of the vessel was corrupted into「罒」.

「鬯」depicts another kind of wine vessel.
商甲京都1264合集23127西周金夨令方彝集成9901篆鬯部說文解字今楷

The meaning to do with feudal title of an official ("baron") is either a phonetic loan or semantic extension (wine ceremonies were usually conducted by people who can afford them, most commonly officials).

References:

季旭昇《說文新證》
小學堂
國學大師

郭沫若《甲骨文合集》
中國社會科學院考古研究所《殷周金文集成》

中國哲學書電子化計劃

宋・徐鉉等奉敕校定　漢・許慎《說文解字》


adding some thoughts here as a native speaker:

You can say 前几天爸妈去出差了。There's no semantic difference to me in this case.
Under the hood, the syntax are different. In 去出差, 去 indeed means "to go", and the phrase's nothing more complicated than the literal translation you've mentioned: "go on a business trip".
But in 出差去, it's the 出差 that's the verb. 去 following verbs, just adds the feeling of "already gone". For example, 他吃晚饭了 means he's had dinner, while 他吃晚饭去了 means he's left for dinner.
出差 business trip itself already carries the meaning of gone/left. Therefore in this case, it actually doesn't make a big difference with or without 去 in the end.
Just like "go" in English, 去 sometimes can be tricky in terms of pragmatics. In user3306356's example 咱们看电影去。 看电影去 has a more cheerful, friendly tone compared to 咱们去看电影。In fact, the 去 + verb sounds so decisive that I rarely hear people use it without adding a 吧 in the end to soften the tone, when proposing an idea in daily communication.


Is there any difference between 相濡以沫 and 以沫相濡?

Also, is this kind of Chengyu (the first and last two characters are flipped) common?

No, it's not common.

相濡以沫 is the most people would use. 以沫相濡 is not that common, though we can understand it.

We don't usually flip the character order in idioms.


如何了解「喜欢你，我也是」里写这个替代“秒怂”的词？

I know you're not going to be happy with this, but I'm going to write up an answer in English. First, at least.

First about digitization:
Amazon has the same problem you do. They don't know how to render the character. I haven't looked into it very deeply but it looks like they have issues with CJKV extensions. (Perhaps CJK Ext. A is more doable, but I'm not sure about B-G.)
 (⿸尸从) is a CJK Ext. C character.
CJK Ext. characters usually need special font support and that clearly hasn't been implemented into Amazon or Kindle products.

 can be found in Mandarin dictionaries:
Pleco

weak and incompetent

Oxford

weak by nature

CC-CEDICT

weak and incompetent

Perhaps the most well known word with this character is: 包.

For the sake of understanding you can consider 秒 two "words," instead of one single word.
MDBG

秒
(coll.) instantly

"秒 + verb" has become a trend in neologisms. There are quite a few of these combinations, think: 秒懂，秒回，秒赞，秒睡，秒删, etc. 秒 is a combination of "instant" + "cower."


No they don't mean the same thing.

你觉得呢？

This translates to "What do you think? (about the topic we just talked about)"

你觉得啥？

This does not sound natural. It can mean "What did you just say (about your opinion / feeling)?" but its not common usage.

你觉得怎么样?

This is almost the same as 你觉得呢？, but is slightly more polite. They are equally appropriate for spoken, written, and texting.

Or, in certain context, this can mean "Are you Ok? do you feel sick?".


确定 means 'be sure' or 'comfirm'/'be confirmed'. 我确定他会回来的.(I'm sure he will be back.)

决定 (v) means 'decide to do'. 我决定做...(I decide to do something...)

决定 (n) means 'decision'. 我终于做出了决定.(Finally, I made my decision.)


What is 異 doing in the Cantonese translation of the movie title “Us”?

異 here short for '靈異' (supernatural) or 異形 (alien)

《我們·異》 means "Us - Supernatural" or "Us -Alien" ('alien' here might refer to alien from outer space, but it can also refer to the concept of 'non-native'. In the context of this movies, it implies "unearthly or supernatural being")


What do these wooden sticks mean? (Characters identified: 天然香樟木 防虫，防蛀，防臭)

Since OCR is probably not an option due to the cursive font, I'll give you some guidance. All strips show the same characters. It says:

line 1: 天然香樟木 natural camphor
line 2: 防虫，防蛀，防臭 anti-insect, anti-moth, deodorant

You now can also copy-paste the characters elsewhere to find out more.


How do I say "The story has to have a moral"?

You can translate 'moral' as 寓意 and thus 'have a moral' as '有寓意' (故事要有寓意). Alternatively, you could say 故事要有教育意义 (the story has to be educational).


不得不: have to, there are factors/reasons that force someone to (do something)

  由于过热，我不得不关闭机器
  I have to turn off the machine due to overheating.
  I have no choice but to turn off the machine due to overheating.

不免/难免: would naturally; cannot help but.1 (It sounds more like reasonable than inevitable. See example below)

  工作量大，不免会有失误。
  It'd be normal to make mistakes due to the high workload.
  (The mistakes can be avoided if careful enough. But due to the workload it is very reasonable to make mistakes. You can use 必然 here)

必然: inevitable, certain. (At least the speaker believes so. There may be reasons, or there may be none)

  宇宙中必然有其他生命存在。
  There must be other forms of life in the universe.
  (The speaker believes so, but he doesn't necessarily prove it. There may be no reason given for the statement)


Are 根 (gēn) and 条 (tiáo) both measure words for 油条 (yóutiáo)?

I think the main reason is that 油条 already includes the character 条, so to avoid double use, we say 一根油条.

This is the same as we say 一根面条，一根薯条，一根木条，...


出世 has more use scenarios than 出生. When used for people, it's same as 出生 (出生 is used more commonly for this case); but it could be also used for things which come into being.

  (1) [vouchsafe;come into being;be born]∶人的出生

  (2) [come out;be published]∶问世;产生

  (3) [be above worldly considerations;be not involved in the material
  world]∶超脱超脱人世束缚。佛教用语,佛教徒以人世为俗世,故称脱离人世束缚为出世

  (4) [rise above this world]∶高出人世


Yes, definitely.

Disclaimer
I am not nearly as proficient in classical Chinese, so my answer is limited to modern Chinese.

IMHO, 未 is more commonly seen in formal context and is often used with 曾 or 從, as in 未曾 or 從未.

For example,

  單純的你，未曾憂鬱過。

You're such a simple person; you've never been depressed.

  人生自古以來，從未順利。

Since the ancient times, life (of a human) has never been smooth.

Note that the adjectives act similarly to a verb, as suggested by WangYudong above. I don't think 長 and 短 are verbs per se.

EDIT:
FYI, as FortCpp explained below, adjectives in such construct may actually be verbs.


is not a Chinese radical. None of the two-strokes radical looks like it

You can see it as the combination of two strokes/ radicals

Radical #1 一
Radical #6 亅

You can see it as the character 寸 (also the radical #41 itself) missing a dot 丶 (丶 is also the radical #3)

Notice: It is not the character 丁 (the radical of 丁 is 一 )
Side note: If it is offered as a riddle, my answer would be 一寸少一点 (one inch minus a dot) = slightly less than an inch; 一点 (a dot) can also mean 'a little'


Why do we have 好 in translation of "You're beautiful"?

It's rare to use "noun + adj" as a whole sentence in daily life. Usually, people will add "adv" before adj to make the sentence sound more comfortable and normal.
For example, in your example, people usually say:

你好漂亮

你真漂亮

"好" and "真" means "very" here, but the speaker doesn't intentionally want to express this meaning. These words are used here just because this is a common structure "noun + adv + adj" to say in daily life.

Another example:

今天天气真好 What a good weather today
Without 真, it becomes 今天天气好, which sounds strange because of its core structure "noun + adj" as a whole sentence.


"十里不同音，百里不同俗"

Means different dialect every ten li / culture every hundred li

Basically the same methodology to describe how things are varies in such small geologic differences.  Also I believe "天" in "五里不同天" refers to the weather / climate (weather and climate are 2 different thing but I can't tell which one fits better here)


A tentative hypothesis:

It seems like there is a 挖 vs 蛙 split, which the dictionary has tried to notate. There is some kind of difference between the /w/ of 挖 and /ʋ/ of 蛙.

The fortition of /w/ to [ʋ] is attested across all of northern Mandarin, and is particularly prevalent in Beijing and the Northeast. This dictionary seems to suggest that this process is incomplete.

I think that the pinyin orthography used by the book has "w" representing /ʋ/, and the "o" representing /w/ instead.

My evidence for this is 娃儿 being transcribed as "wáer (连读)" whilst still having 轧 as "ōā (连读)" in the dictionary.


What is the difference between using 叫　and 叫做　？

叫= to call / be called

我叫彼得 could mean:

'I call Peter (e.g. I make a phone call to Peter) '
'I am called Peter (my name is Peter)'

  叫做 = be called as

我叫做彼得 = I am called as Peter (my name is Peter) - no ambiguity here

  称= [1] [v] call; name; term; address as
  [2] [v] say; state; express; claim

人称(为) = people call (him/ her/ it) as
自称(为) = call oneself as / self proclaim as
称为 = be called as

Abe Shudug wrote:

  Could you please also clarify how it becomes him/her/it with 人称为 ? Maybe an example sentence..do you mean 他　她　它　　ｎｅｅｄ　ｔｏ　ｂｅ　ａｄｄｅｄ?　　Ｏｒ　为　serves that function ??

Some examples:

(他/她)被人稱為天下無敵 = (他/她)人稱天下無敵

被人稱為 is often shortened to 人稱

(他/她)自稱為天下無敵 = (他/她)自稱天下無敵

自稱為 if often shortened to 自稱

[他/她/它] is the object, which is needed in a complete sentence.

为 acts as the conjunction 'as'(without antecedent) in the degree, manner

  称为 is more literal;  叫做 is more colloquial


the usage is classical and shows up at least as far back as mencius: 吾豈好辨哉？吾不得已也。Here the meaning is quite literally "I cannot (不) achieve/obtain (得) an end (已)" to my argumentativeness. In other words, i have no choice but to argue. You might compare it with the much more colloquial 不得不.

By the way be careful about the whole multi-character words thing. Some (not I) would insist that they are mere syllables, the characters accidental byproducts of the spoken language. Better comparison would be with a language composed entirely of words like "counterproductive".


How to type PinYin on Windows without the actual letters being typed out as you construct a word?

That is the problem of TyperRacer, not the IME or you. I suggest you using platforms created by Chinese speaking people, which could be optimized for Chinese practice.
For example https://dazi.kukuw.com/keyboard.html


What is the difference between 吃不消 and 受不了 to mean "I cannot bear"?

吃不消 literally means "too much to digest," so I'd use it for heavy workload, frequent annoyances, etc.
受不了 literally means "unbearable," so I'd use it for unsociable people, hostile environments, etc.
But that's just my preference; in practice they are quite interchangeable.


同事 is the most common, plain one. it simply means people you work with or people in the same company as you do. It could be used no matter it is a everyday conversation, a quite formal business meeting or a HR policy notice.

同儕（同侪） means peers or fellows. Strictly it should be used to refer people in the same generation of you, i.e. siblings or cousins. Nowadays, it is often used in the workplace or other contexts when a sense of fraternity is preferable.

同僚 also means colleague. But it's more often used in politic settings in the old times. Nowadays, it can be used in the workplace in general but I feel such usage is more common in Taiwan or Hong Kong than the mainland. Personally, it feels it's more appropriate for two managers call each other that than two interns do. Or you can say this one is more fancy than 同事.

Additionally, there is another word 同仁 which equals to 同人 also means colleague.  They mean to refer the people who share something in common with you professionally. E.g. works in the same company or occupation. And it is a respectful term with a sense of fraternity. But it more often to be used as a collective term for a group of people rather than a specific person. So 一个同仁 is not very common.


When writing, do chinese people rotate the page to write more easily?

I wasn't taught this in schools in China! I think in elementary school, the suggested practice is to keep everything square and sit with straight back for the sake of good eyesight and posture.

Turning paper is more of a personal habit I reckon.

Just out of curiousity do you turn your head a bit when you write on turned paper as well?


It seems to be 东北方言 (northeast dialect)

  跳马猴子 - 顽皮淘气的孩子，多指男孩

and

  '跳马猴子'指不老实的人，特别是小孩儿。如'你一天跳马猴子似的疯跑， 也不知道写作业'。

It's usually used for naughty and active boys.


"以后再也不来这里吃饭了，又贵又难吃" is grammatically correct because it does modify an event, and the event is 'from now on not come here for dinner'.
This sentence implies "從今(from now on)以后再也不来这里吃饭了，又贵又难吃"
'從今'(from now on) is omitted because we know '以后'(hereafter) is referring to 'from now, hereafter'
Just like if you wrote "(昨天在这里吃了一餐)以后，再也不會来这里吃饭了，又贵又难吃" 以后 modifies the event "昨天在这里吃了一餐".

2) Would removing the commas for the second example make it grammatically correct

我六点下班以后，我去跟朋友吃饭 is technically correct, but it should be a single sentence: "我六点下班(之后)去跟朋友吃饭"
Use 之后 instead of 以后 because 以后 is usually followed by a unique event
Example to illustrate my point:

清朝灭亡(以后), 中国再没有皇帝了 (correct)
清朝灭亡(之后), 中国再没有皇帝了 (correct)

'The demise of the Qing Dynasty; no more emperor' is a unique event, you cannot have this event again

雨停(以后)才能出外 (incorrect)
雨停(之后)才能出外 (correct)

'after the rain stop; going out' is not a unique event, it will happen again and again
Best way is to simply write: "我六点下班(后)去跟朋友吃饭"


Both of them are correct, they share the same meaning.

拔苗助长 is widely-used nowadays.

  揠苗助长

  基本解释：

  揠：拔。
  把苗拔起，以助其生长。比喻违反事物发展的客观规律，急于求成，反而把事情弄糟。

  词语分开解释：

  揠苗 : 1.见"揠苗助长"。
  助长 : 1.帮助生长;促使增长。

http://xh.5156edu.com/html5/60564.html


Alternative translations of ‘狗长尾巴尖儿’ et al

气的我只要给平儿打报不平儿。

Angered me to the point of desperately wanting to file a grievance on behalf of little Peng.

  忖夺了半日，

Carefully deliberated half a day

  好容易‘狗长尾巴尖儿’的好日子，

It is a long awaited day of celebration for (someone's) birthday,

I didn't read the novel, so I don't know whose birthday it was

  又怕老太太心里不受用，

so I'm afraid the old madam might feel displeased,

  因此没来，究竟气还未平。

therefore I didn't come forward, however, my anger has not been subsided.


Why are measure words sometimes omitted?

Your first two examples are not proper ones, since Chinese grammar do not usually use plural or singular form, 我有房子 could mean "I have a house" or "I have houses" ; 我有孩子 could mean " I have a child" or "I have children".

As for the third example, 我不是坏人, since 坏人 is a description word for the subject, no matter the subject is singular or plural, therefore, classifier is not needed.

The subject can be 我，我們 or 我們三個,

我不是壞人

我們不是壞人

我們三個不是壞人

in all three cases, 壞人 does not require a classifier

if you write 我們三個不是(三個)壞人 , the second qualifier (三個 ) would be redundant, we know it is three from the subject 我們三個
if you write 我不是(一個)壞人, (一個) would also be redundant, we know it is one from the subject 我
if you write 我們不是(兩個/一群)壞人 ,  (兩個/一群 ) would be redundant, we would know the subject is "two people" or "a group of people" from previous context.

Although writing "我不是一个坏人" is not grammatically wrong, keeping your writing as direct and as simple as possible (for example, omitting subject, object whenever possible) is considered good form of writing by most writers.


Let and Make, how to differentiate the two in Chinese

Assuming make = force, then it would look like this:

Let = 让
Make = 逼

Let me sing = 让我唱
Make (force) me (to) sing = 逼我唱

p.s. in case anyone is confused about make = force, OP @MichaelBuen wrote the following in his comments on this page:

  My teacher make me sing my hated song", the kid is complaining to her mama that her teacher is forcing her to sing a song she don't want to sing.

  The word "make" means the same as “"force" or "cause to happen / cause to feel something."


Basically, 的 can always be omitted for a simple adjective.
But for emphasis of the adjective, 的 is added (so omit it if not).
For the omission of 的, check this link, kind of CN quora (if it is fine to read).
The third sentence is an exception of your description. 很多 comes after 人, so it is (人很多)的地方 and 的 cannot be omitted here to avoid ambiguity.


What's the title for addressing an unknown young person the same age as you?

In my opinion, if you are adult and the person who droppd wallet is:

younger than 11, you can call him or her "小朋友";
at the age of 11 to 18, you can call him or her "同学";
at the age of 18 to 24, you can call him "同学", "帅哥(cool man)", and call her "同学", "美女(beautiful girl)";
at the age of 24 to 35, you can call him "帅哥", and call her "美女";
older than 30, it really depend on your age and the person's age. For example, the person is 42, and you are 23, you can call him "叔叔(uncle)", and call her "阿姨(aunt)".

However, you can call the person who dressed very fashionably "帅哥","美女", eventhough he(she) is older than 35.

In addition, I think the person will usually stop walking, if you shout "喂，你的钱包掉了！(Hey, You dropped your wallet.)"


Would 怎麼知道 or 怎麼知 be the right Mandarin equivalent to the Cantonese phrase 點知?

點 in Cantonese can mean 'how'. It is equivalent to 怎 / 怎麼 /如何 in Mandarin

(點)辦 = (怎)辦

噉(點)得 = 這(怎麼)行

(點)算好 = (如何)是好

(點)知 = (怎)知


DEfinitely not "ya" sound, in 江浙话 (we seldon use 吴 Wu any more), "ya ya nong" will be childish way of speaking.  The closest I can think of is more on "Xia Xia Nong" side.  The headache is, like most of the major dialects in China, Wu 江浙话 also varies in pronunciation and accent from area to area, to the degree that Shanghai people do not admit 温州 dialect is part of 江浙话。  "They are villagers."


He/She is right. 执着 is more positive,like "persistent" or "Never give up,never surrender!"
While 固执 stands for "stubborn",you can use it to describe annoying kids who just refuse to eat carrots...something like that.
 However,sometimes (less commonly) 固执 can have positive meaning too. It really depends on the situation.


漢典 就〈副〉(6)

  用在动词前面，表示在某种条件或情况下自然怎么样。
  [without…there can be no]
  如：不斗争，就不能前进。

《现代汉语词典》Page 697 ❼ 副 d)
also shows some examples.

There is not problem about the Chinese explanation above.
就 is an adverb here.
However, I would say, "after...then..." or "because...then..." for the English translation.
After A happened, then B happened.
Because A ..., B then ....

会议之后，许多人都认为班农的策略是在发疯。然后特朗普就赢得了选举。

After 许多人都认为班农的策略是在发疯. And, 特朗普 then 赢得了选举.
After many people thought that the strategy of Bannon was crazy, (and) Trump then won the election.

Because 许多人都认为班农的策略是在发疯, 特朗普 then 赢得了选举.
Because many people thought that the strategy of Bannon was crazy, Trump then won the election.


Taiwanese People Reading Mandarin Audio Files

Go to twitch.tv and find Chinese stream.
Almost all streamers on twitch that speak Chinese are from Taiwan.
Go to youtube, change your location to Taiwan and you will get a lot of Taiwan videos.


well, according to 說文解字, 施(u+65bd)﹒从㫃﹒也聲, it should be "chopped" into 㫃(u+3ac3) & 也(u+4e5f).

㫃 is a main component of oracle bone script.

so, 施 is a 形聲字 (Phono-semantic compound character), to decipher the meaning, i would suggest starting from 㫃, which is 旗在竿上飄游之形 (roughly, a flag flying on a pole).

amongst usages listed, my opinions:

殺而施之, 施 is "exhibit the corpse".

施之為孫, well, this one, do you mean the verse of 禮記﹒學記 "不陵節而施之謂孫".

if yes, 施 is "carry out" teaching, or make it simpler, "teach".

have fun :)

ps: may i ask why & how do you choose these usages of 施?


No. The grammatical pattern is

  在x下

which means "with x as true/under". An example would be:

  在共产党的统治下，中国变强了。

So the sentence means something like (though it's kinda hard to translate this semi-literally without sounding very weird):

  With a green and environmental world as the consensus background for
  society...


從上次我們去那個咖啡店這次是第一次去了: This is the first time at the coffee shop since the last time we went?

There's something wrong with the sentence, it sound very redundant.
If you had visited there before, any time you visit again would be the first time since the last time. The second part of the sentence doesn't add any useful information to the first part.
Let me change the sentence so it sound more natural

"This is the first time we go to that coffee shop since 2003" (now we know it was a long time ago)

Translation:

"這是我們自2003年以來第一次去那家咖啡店"
"這是(this is) 我們 (we) 自2003年以來 (since 2003) 第一次 (the first time) 去(go to) 那家咖啡店 (that coffee shop)"

notice we put 'since 2003 (自2003年以來)' before 'the first time (第一次)', which is reversed in English as: 'the first time since 2003

[自 (XX)以來] = [Since (XX)]

[自 (上次我們去那間咖啡店) 以來] = [Since (last time we went to that coffee shop)]

Edit:

could you kindly explain why you use 自 instead of 自從 or 從？i thought 從 was the abbreviation for 自從, not 自

Both 自 and 從 can be used as abbreviation for 自從

自 = since/ from/ begin at

從 = since/ from/ following

自從 (begin at and following) = since

When you want to use 自 or 從 to express the meaning of "since"
you have to add 以來, 至 or 到 like below:
[自~ 以來]  e.g. 自古以來 (since ancient time)
[自~ 到]  e.g. 自古到今 (since/from ancient time to today)
[自~ 至] e.g. 自古至今 (since/from ancient time to today)
[從~ 以來] e.g. 從古以來 (since ancient time)
[從~ 到] e.g. 從古到今 (since/from ancient time to today)
[從~ 至] e.g. 從古至今 (since/from ancient time to today)
All are correct, (自 ~ 至) is more literary, (從 ~ 到) is more colloquial)

also would it be equally correct to say 以後 or 之後 instead of 以來

"自2003年以來" emphasize the date we start counting (from 2003 to today)
"自2003年以後" emphasize 'what following that date' (after 2003)
You can use either


Why one-to-many mapping between IPA and Pinyin?

You can find the explanation in page for Pinyin on wikipedia:

Note on y and w
y and w are equivalent to the semivowel medials i, u, and ü (see below). They are spelled differently when there is no initial consonant in order to mark a new syllable: fanguan is fan-guan, while fangwan is fang-wan (and equivalent to fang-uan). With this convention, an apostrophe only needs to be used to mark an initial a, e, or o: Xi'an (two syllables: [ɕi.an]) vs. xian (one syllable: [ɕi̯ɛn]). In addition, y and w are added to fully vocalic i, u, and ü when these occur without an initial consonant, so that they are written yi, wu, and yu. Some Mandarin speakers do pronounce a [j] or [w] sound at the beginning of such words—that is, yi [i] or [ji], wu [u] or [wu], yu [y] or [ɥy],—so this is an intuitive convention. See below for a few finals which are abbreviated after a consonant plus w/u or y/i medial: wen → C+un, wei → C+ui, weng → C+ong, and you → C+iu.

Well, this note is so detailed, I really feel it difficult to add something… maybe it can be concluded as this:
When [i] and [u] sounds appear at the beginning of a Chinese character, they're written as y and w, in other cases they're written as i and u.


Chinese names for different types of radicals?

部首: Radical, used for indexing dictionaries (Shuowen radicals, Kangxi radicals, radicals in modern dictionaries, etc.).
聲符1: Phonetic component. Also called 音符, but 音符 may also mean ‘musical note’.
意符: Semantic component. The famous paleographer Qiu Xigui 裘锡圭2 divides 意符 into two subcategories3:

義符: meaning component (it is the meaning of the component that is relevant),
形符: pictographic component, form component (it is what the component depicts that is relevant).

偏旁: This term is quite vague, but probably the most frequent of them all, especially in informal speech. It may mean 部首 (especially a standing one, on the left- or right-hand side of a character), but it also may refer to any component or a part of a character, semantic or phonetic.
筆畫: Calligraphic stroke.

1. Instead of 聲符、義符、形符 you can also write/say 聲旁、義旁、形旁.

2. 裘锡圭《文字学概要》, English version: Qiu Xigui, Chinese Writing, translated by Gilbert L. Mattos and Jerry Norman

3. The distinction (or lack thereof) between 意符, 義符 and 形符 is quite subtle and depends on the theory you subscribe to. This video contains a nice English explanation of the difference between meaning components and form components.


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Contains: Character, Pinyin, Translation, Example Sentence (all with audio pronunciation, slow and fast)


The expression of “同性恋” in Chinese, I think, is too formal and is hardly used in Chinese spoken language. In Chinese slang, some may use "同志"（which originally means comrade or like-minded or congenial people in China）to euphemistically refer to homosexual persons. In reality, influenced by English, we youngsters in China directly use gay or lesbian more frequently, rather than a Chinese word.


We never answer “我好” when asked “你好吗?”. Indeed, these days it's not very common for people to greet others with “你好吗？” face to face, but simply “你好” will do just fine. When greeted with “你好”, we can acknowledge it with the same “你好”. 我很好 sometimes means I am ok (so don't worry about me). Imagine two lovers just broke up but still treat each other as friends. In their letters later on, one may write 我很好，不用担心我. This is the scenario that popped into my head when I first saw this quesiton.


Sentence with demonstrative without explicit subject - de required?

这个很好吃。

一般语气，可以不加'的'。
若要加强语气，加'的'，而且念重一点。

  这是黒的。
  这猫是黒色的。

通常要加'的'。

  这本书很好。

和第一例一様，平常可省略；加强语气时，加'的'。


Writing critique request: Zhou Ziwang loses weight, just like everyone else nowadays

那之后因为不再不停地吃巧克力，我开始变瘦了。并不是某天起床后我发现自己魔法般瘦了下来，而是月来日往，我的身体逐渐改变，从一开始的胖女孩，变成了小美女。我当时并不是很懂，所以这种减肥药即便是朋友也没有告诉过，又因为我去看过好几次医生，所以对那一次也没有多想。现在我了解社会对胖子的态度，人们对他们有时候不友好，甚至有些残忍。但现在几乎谁都能像我一样减肥，所以除了最穷的人外，我们差不多消灭了胖子。

Comments：

题主自言本习作语言运用更大胆，自然错漏不通之处也更频繁可见了。

从此前的故事来看，这里讲的是注射药物后的事情，最好用之后，由此应该用不再而不是没有。

客观上不吃巧克力才能让我变瘦，而主观上不渴望与其因果关系更远。

我开始减肥表达的是“我开始采取行动去控制体重”这件事，而事实上体重减轻应该用变瘦。

如魔法般的已经表达了像的含义，所以不应该以并不像发语，而是并不是。

虽然都是转折关系，但是反而指与上文意思相反，或是指出乎意料的转折，此处否一是二的意图应该用“不是……而是……”的关联词。

虽然都表示时间的流逝，但久而久之侧重时间流逝后事物变化的结果，而日来月往这样的词，侧重随着时间的流逝，事物变化的过程。此处显然想要表达“随着时间推移我的身体渐渐改变”这件事。

并不是很懂这个说法比较自然。

对于一词引入了语病，句子的宾语丢掉了，所以要去掉。

因果关系。因为我看过好几次医生了，所以对于特定的那次没有什么特别的注意。

他们对他们不友好？同一个句子同样的指示代词不宜二指。

矛盾。既然谁都能像我一样减肥，为何又说除了最穷的人呢？要加几乎二字。

要表达你的那重意思，消灭是更贴切的说法，其与时事相合，用这个词大家一听就知道什么意思。


Why are the new law students being welcomed with 允公允能 日新月异 (yǔngōngyǔnnéng rìxīnyuèyì)?

First of all, the welcoming sentence is 允公允能 日新月異instead of 日薪日異.
This sentence is their school motto.

允公 means that one should make himself/ herself capable of (允) thinking about the whole welfare of people (公,) and to avoid being selfish.
允能 means that one should apply (允) what he/she learns to what he/she do (能.) 能 usually means capability.

日新月異 is a Chinese proverb meaning that to learn something more everyday and to keep up with the times.

In general, the motto is to encourage their students to keep learning, and use what they have learnt to help the society become a better place.


串 vs 丳: which one is used more often for "skewer"?

Judging by the image results on Google [串, 丳],  and Baidu [串, 丳], 串 is more commonly used as skewer.


Previous answer for ref:
https://chinese.stackexchange.com/a/18061/13501

If you look at my previous answer, I explained:

For the first and second, both mentioned that 了 is used to denote the completion of an action.

For the fourth one, I mentioned that 了 is used only to soften the tone.

In the example above,

(1)突然父亲嘘了一口气

(2)突然父亲嘘一口气

The first sentence is denoting the completion of the action "exhale", because indeed you are talking about things in the past and father has done and ended exhaling.

However, most Chinese native speakers use it, not to express this meaning, but the fourth meaning actually, which is, only to soften the tone.

Despite the fact mentioned, please note that you cannot use 了 after any verb if the ACTION is NOT completed.

One more point to notice:
The first and second meaning of 了 are only applicable to action verbs. For position verbs(有，坐，死...), they should follow the adjective rule, which is, when confronting these verbs, th meaning should be "become (verb status)".
Example: 我有了。 or  他死了。


Haha, funny question. "特朗普" is the official transliteration, used most commonly in official media of China, such as CCTV（新闻联播）and People's Daily(人民日报), while "川普" is more often used in social media or among people's casual talking.

"川普" is transliterated based on the pronunciation of "Trump", which is reasonable. However, "特朗普" has been used as the transliteration for "Trump" for a long time. According to 《英语姓名翻译手册》（新华通讯社译名室，商务印书馆，2004年）, which is an authentic book for transliterating English name, Donald Trump should be transliterated as 唐纳德。特朗普. In mainland China, the official medias usually follow that rule, so they usually use "特朗普". Other media, such as VOA or Taiwanese media does not necessarily follow this rule. So, the use of "川普" is also correct.


From this article
国家税务总局近日召开全国视频会议，部署贯彻落实国务院6项减税新政策，要求各级税务机关采取切实有效措施，确保减税政策落地见效。

Policies are decided at the top (by the law makers in the central government).

'落地' means 'to land' or 'to touch down'

'政策落地' means a Central government decided policy is passed down to the ground level (responsible agencies and local governments) for implementation

政策落地见效 means a policy is immediately effective upon implementation

And is it the same as 落地签证?

No, they are not the same
落地签证 means 'visa on arrival '; '落地' means 'arrival' here

落地签证是指申请人不直接从所在国家取得前往其他国家的签证，而是持护照和该国有关机关发给的入境许可证明等抵达该国口岸后，再签发签证，落地签证通常是单边的。


Why does the Chinese name for Poland mean "abandoned honour"?

It's all joking lah!

The translation of a nation name is often chosen according to its sound, but Chinese characters have their own meanings as well, so you can indeed explain it somehow that way, which has nothing to do with the characteristics of that nation.

英国 Britain：英勇之国 the nation of bravery

法国 France：律法之国 the nation of law

德国 Germany：美德之国 the nation of virtue

捷克 Czech：捷速攻克 who quickly conquered

匈牙利 Hungary：匈＞胡＞白人+牙利
=white with sharp teeth

etc.


A place's name ended with 门 (gate/door) is usually an entry point of a city, providence or region.

The first part of the name may not even necessary be the providence's name. For example, 鲤鱼门 (Lei Yue Mun) is the east gate of Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong, but it isn't called Victoria Harbour Gate, because  the name Victoria Harbour didn't exist 200 years ago.

As for why it is called 鲤鱼门 (Lei Yue Mun), no one know for sure. May be it came from the legend of 鯉躍龍門 (A carp that can jump over the top of Dragon Gate Fall would turn into a dragon), maybe it's because the terrain there looked like a 鲤鱼 (carp), or may be it was famous for carp fishing.


还是付了吧，要不忘了。了 is ...?

I think both denote the completion as defined in this dictionary:

  放在动词或形容词后，表示动作或变化已经完成：写完～。

付了: get it paid; 忘了: forgotten it.

  还是付了吧，要不忘了:

  Better get it paid (now), or you/I would/might have forgotten (to pay it).
  Better get it paid (now), in case you/I would/might have forgotten (to pay it).


Well, there are plenty of "casual" translations.

In a military setting,

"Yes, Sir."
"Roger that."
"Copy that."
"Affirmative."

*Note that the later three have the same implication as that of 遵命 but is more accurately translated to 收到

In a even less serious setting,

"Will do."
"Sure."

I will edit when I have thought of more.


而家 = 現在
做嘢 = 做事/工作
做成 = 做成/做得
點 = 怎樣
"而家做嘢做成點?" (how is work going?) in Mandarin is "現在工作做得怎樣?"

做嘢 or 做事 in Cantonese can mean either 'doing things' or "working a job".

'做嘢' in '去做嘢' (go do things)  refers to "do things / work on things"

'做嘢' in '而家做嘢做成點' (how's work going now?)  mostly refers to "work in job"

'去做嘢' in Mandarin is '去做事' or '去幹活'


As you can see '零一天' means 'and a day' is because there is a '一年' before it.

一年零一天 = one year and a day

二千零一年 = two thousand and one years

二零零一年 = the year 2001

'零一年' is shot for '二零零一年' (the year 2001),
You cannot reduce '二千零一年'  to '零一年', but you can reduce '二零零一年' to '零一年'. Just like we can shorten 1997 (the year) to 97, but can't shorten 1,997 (the number) to 97


Where can I find a dataset for Chinese characters to back an app I want to write?

Here are some free databases that may be useful to you:

CC-CEDICT: high quality user-created  dictionary released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License
SUBTLEX-CH: Chinese word and character frequencies based on film and television show subtitles
Wikimedia Commons Chinese character decomposition database


Where to look for history and etymology of Chinese characters? For example 工

http://www.chineseetymology.org/CharacterEtymology.aspx?characterInput=%E8%BB%8A&submitButton1=Etymology

This website gives origins for many characters, as well as pictures of some earlier forms (e.g., from Oracle bones). Keep in mind that the structure of most characters is a phonetic and a semantic component put together (形声字). Most characters aren't pictograms (象形字), ideograms (指事字), or semantic combinations of other characters (会意字); although these types of characters have most captured the western imagination.

Also, etymology is a bit of a misnomer, as that would be for morphemes and words, not their graphical representation. It is, however, commonly called this.


[活] and [话] are completely different word and cannot be used interchangeably. "他活说得好快" is not a correct sentence.

I think the reason you thought these 2 word can interchange is because of some common typos.


"Each person" here means "每个人", such as,

每个人的房租月租金是650元。

BTW: Your translation is understandable except for 六五十钱 which can't be understood correctly.


For 實, what semantic notions underlie wealth and fullness of heart, with trueness?

The character 實 depicts "money in a house", originally meant 'rich'
Now imagine two houses, One is a rich house full of valuable items and the other is a poor house that has nothing, is empty.
Now replace the two houses with two wine bottles. One is filled with wine, and the other is empty. The one with wine is honest, trustworthy because it has content, the empty bottle on the other hand, is simply empty.
Now imagine two person's words. One's words are filled with substance and the other's words are empty --  The one that is filled with substance is considered honest, and the empty one is considered the opposite
That's how 實 acquired the meaning of veracity -- there are contents inside


Words related to several 成语 (via 《AB》 → 《-A-B》)

Are there any resources about such "potent" words? Is there a term in Chinese for such words?
One could in theory extract a list of potent words from any list of two-character words together with a chengyu dictionary. Which HSK 1, 2, … 6 words are potent?

It is very common for Chinese to combine two compound words and rearrange the order to create idiomatic phrase. It would make the speech more classical and literary.  Most of them are not actual proverb or idiom.
The examples you listed are not idioms; 五颜六色 and 和颜悦色 are common phrases, but the rest are not
Another way to create idiomatic phrase is just break up a compound word and apply separate adjective or adverb to them. Too many words have this potential, I am afraid it is impossible to list all the combinations.
Some dictionary might provide examples of idiomatic phrases  but it is not a standard feature.
Examples of combine two compound words and rearrange the order to create idiomatic phrase:
人馬 (men and horses = fighting force)
強壯 (strong)
人馬 + 強壯 = 人馬強壯 -->人強馬壯 (the fighting force is strong)
~
窮極 (extremely)
兇惡 (fierce)
窮極 + 兇惡 = 窮極兇惡 --> 窮兇極惡  (extremely fierce)
~
Examples of breaking up common compound words and apply separate adjective or adverb to them:
清楚 (clear) --> 一清二楚 (completely clear), 不清不楚 (not clear at all)
乾淨 (clean) --> 一乾二淨 (completely clean), 不乾不淨 (not clean at all)
成就 (achievement) --> 東成西就 (having achievement everywhere)

At the moment I can't think of any interesting examples AB where there are "A-B-" -related

天地: (AB) → (A~B~): 天崩地裂，天旋地轉，天昏地暗 (天地崩裂，天地旋轉，天地昏暗)

天地: (AB) → (~A~B): 烏天黑地，驚天動地 (天地烏黑，驚動天地)


What to use instead of em-dash (U+2014), etc

I guess by "in print", you mean in (normal) computers, as you also mentioned Unicode code point.

We use 破折号 for this. And in computers, it is not one Unicode character, but two.

The symbol used is still U+2014, as I tested with my IME in Word. Two consecutive U+2014 form one 破折号 in Chinese. When Chinese fonts are applied, there usually no gap between the two U+2014 symbols, and it is two times longer than a normal character. (However, you might see a gap in between if non-Chinese fonts are used).

When Chinese fonts are used: To distinguish with 一 (one, U+4E00), double U+2014 is two times longer. And there is almost always a gap between two U+4E00 characters.

It might be a different story if specialized printing systems (computers), character sets, fonts, ... are used.


Can this be used for people hold onto broken items/trash?

Yes. This is the most common usage and safe to use.

Can this be used for getting over failed relationships?

Yes but don't use it if there is still chance for the relationship to be fixed or if the other party is also your friend. Because 旧的 (old thing) is more or less derogatory.

Can this be used for social changes like the acceptance of homosexuality?

Yes it can be used for social changes, in this case not a as consolation but a neutral sentiment. Please note the literal meaning of the phrase must meet i.e. there has to be an old thing being abolished and a new one being made. The emergence of new thing alone, gay marriage for example, is not enough to apply the phrase.

Are there any particular uses that it implies first and foremost?

As mentioned above, the first implication and most common usage is to console someone who can't get over broken things. Sometimes people use it on failed relationship or even dead pet, which is not always appropriate due to the derogatory sense of 旧的 (especially when put aside with 新的). To be safe, use this phrase only when you're certain the old thing is not worth holding onto and the new thing is better than the old.

There is a related but generalized usage, that is on new year's eve people say 旧的不去，新的不来 as a wishing message. In this usage 旧的 refers to all misfortunes and unnecessary concerns occurred in the past year and 新的 refers to all good things to come.

Another usage is to express a neutral comment as an observer of a change like in the social change example above. It carries little to none personal opinion, mostly a statement of the fact. This usage can be sometimes found in news or social chitchat but not really common in daily conversation or serious discussion. As a matter of fact when someone's asking your opinion about some change, you can use this phrase as hand-waving - it sounds like an opinion but it's just a recap of the fact.


Are all these ways of saying 1.59 in Chinese currency correct?

元、角 are formal and 块、毛 are their colloquial counterparts respectively. Mix and match is much less common but not unheard of.

Omitting the last unit word is also an informal usage.

一块五十九分 is extremely uncommon if not wrong at all, but understandable. 一块五十九 is not understandable to Chinese ears without clarification.

Therefore,

  Formal:
  一元五角九分

  Colloquial:
  一块五毛九分
  一块五毛九

  Colloquial mixed with formal fragments, less common:
  一元五角九
  一块五角九分
  一块五角九
  一元五毛九分
  一元五毛九

  Unnatural but can be understood:
  一块五十九分
  一元五十九分

  Ungrammatical and cannot be understood without clarification:
  一块五十九
  一元五十九


Why use 的 at the end of a sentence such as 我一定會去看他的?

"的" in this case means "certainly", "really", "I am sure that..." as the conclusion says in your question.

For me, such sentences are the same.

  我会去看他的。
  我一定会去看他。

You can say "我一定会去看他的". The mood sounds stronger (I think it's not much stronger), but I can't tell you how strong it is (this is a natural language, not math). I would use this when I want to express that "please don't remind me of it any more. I am sure to do that. I won't forget it". For example:

  Mom: 别忘了早点回家过年。— Don't forget to come back home early for the Spring Festival holidays.
  You: 知道了，妈妈。— I will, mom.
  Mom: 一定要早点啊。— make sure [you will come back] early!
  You: 我会的。— I am sure I will (mom, you don't need to repeat that. I will. I am sure.)

Also, you don't need to treat "的" seriously. It's used very common.


Speed and efficiency is prized in Cantonese (particularly Hong Kong’s) culture.
If someone tells you he has got 滾水, it literally means that he needs you to make way for him, unless you wish to get scalded while he crashes into you.
This term is commonly used by waiters in Hong Kong eateries, who serve hot food to cramped dining areas.
Nonetheless, it can be used figuratively, even when people aren’t transporting scalding hot items around.
If there are workers pushing boxes of goods across a shopping mall, they might probably shout “滚水!”, so that the crowds can immediately recognise their presence and get out of the way.


It should be 放我一马. 马 here refers to the rider rather than the horse itself. It's from 三国演义.

  出自三国演义。赤壁之战，曹操大败，欲从华容道逃走，被关羽逮个正着，立马堵住去路。关羽念及往日旧恩，让开马位，使曹操得以逃脱。“放你一马”，比喻手下留情。即出于此。

Source: http://zhidao.baidu.com/question/2156078.html

English version of the story (wikipedia)


I am not commenting on your whole translation here, just the parts relating to 与.

As for the first passage, in the first case 与 is used to show that the link/connection is between the two items connected by 与 (literally it would read like: the A and B connection, i.e. the connection involving both A and B, which we say as between A and B).  As for the second case, we can analyze it as follows: [公关公司职员]通过[[与媒体编辑或记者]的联系和沟通]，[将[客户的需求]]软性地传递给[目标客户群] -> [the PR company's staff] through [[with media editors or reporters]'s relations and connections], [OBJ: [client's demands] gently convey to the target demographic] -> Through connecting with the media, the the PR company's staff gently conveys the client's demands to the target client base[?] (perhaps target demographic? I'm not 100% sure with business jargon).

在与客户的接洽方面 can be dissected as 在[与客户的接洽]方面 -> regarding/on/concerning discussions with customers.  As with the first passage, 与 is bringing together two items that are connected (in this case the two parties involved in the talks), only in this case the first item is omitted.  The next 与 is the same as described for the first passage (the interface between ... and ...)

as for 具象品质, the definition I found for 具象 has it as the opposite of 抽象, so perhaps: practical/effective product quality


What is the semantic relationship between the verbal phrases of a serial verb construction?

Is the temporal relationship the only one?

Most, but not all.

"我看水果"，"我切水果" and "我愉快地吃水果" are three separate SVO sentences. When we consolidate them into a single sentence, the temporal relationship between each verb phrase is there because these verb phrase must follow a logical timeline.

  我看(到)水果(就)切开它们(然后)愉快地吃 - Once I saw the fruit, I cut it and then happily ate it ,

I must see the fruit first, before I can cut it, and I must cut it first, before I can eat it.

Similarly:

  我大喝一聲, 我揮拳, 我打中他小腹 - I shout, I punch, I hit his lower abdomen

  我大喝一聲(便)揮拳打中他小腹 - I shouted and immediately punch and hit his lower abdomen

I shouted first, then I punch, and finally hit his abdomen

However, not all multiple verb phrase has a temporal relationship like the examples above. They can happen concurrently.

Example:

  我吃飯，我看電視，我大聲笑

  I have dinner, I watch TV., I laugh loudly

  我吃飯(的同時)(邊)看電視(邊)大聲笑

  I laugh loudly while I am watching TV. and having dinner.

I have dinner, watch TV and laugh loudly at the same time.


Placement of 了: difference between 吃飯了 and 吃了飯

From my answer to this question:

  Example cases with 了

  了: aspect marker, indicating completed action.
  了: final particle, indicating change of situation.
  了: final particle, indicating sentence has ended; emphasize sentence; soften tone

我吃了早飯:

了 is an aspect marker indicating completed action when it is following a verb but not at the end of a phrase, therefore, 我吃了早飯 can only mean "I've eaten breakfast" (the verb 吃 is completed)

我吃早飯了 :

If 了 is treated as a aspect marker, the sentence would mean "I have eaten breakfast" (the verb phrase 吃早飯 is completed)
If 了 is treated as a final particle (indicating change of situation), the sentence would mean "I (now) eat breakfast (from previously not eating breakfast to now eating breakfast)
or  more likely, 了 indicates 1. the sentence has ended,  2. adding emphasis or soften the tone of the sentence

"我吃早飯" sounds blunt and make the sentence sound incomplete

In "我吃了早飯了", the first 了 indicates the verb 吃 is a completed action and the second 了 indicates the sentence is finished (also emphasize the sentence / soften the tone)


How can I say "Available in Chinese" about a product

In your case, 支持中文 (literally "supports Chinese) is the most idiomatic way afaik. (I read Chinese game websites every day.)  有中文 (literally "has Chinese) is another casual way. Unlike the other answer states, you need to use a verb here in Chinese. (Actually it is English that does not use a verb here: English uses the adjective "available")
中文版本, or 中文版, means "Chinese version". If you have a link that points to the Chinese version, you can use the phrase as the link text.


The Chinese character is 愣 (lèng). Usually characters with the 心-radical (on the left) are related to emotions.
From Oxford Dictionaries:
adjective

distracted
blank

verb

stare blankly
look distracted

Common collocations include 愣住 (～住 roughly means 'to a halt') and 發[发]愣 (發～ suggests initiation; see 發瘋 'to go mad'). Sometimes 愣乎乎, but this is more colloquial than the rest. A synonym of 愣 is 呆; you may say 發呆 as well, occasionally 呆住.
Examples:

他原地愣住了 'He stood still, flabbergasted'
別老站那兒發愣了 'Don't just stand there staring blankly (at nothing)'


How are Chinese words created (both spelling and sound)?

But can I instead do a direct translation so the sound is the same in both languages? That is, "Ga" in Chinese (pinyin) directly? How, then, do I create a character or word corresponding to the Pinyin sound?

No, you cannot. Words and characters can be invented, but it will take time for people to broadly use them and include them into their vocabulary. And only then are they absorbed into the language. If no one accept your invention, then it's meaningless.
Now consider:

Say we have some new words in Germany that have never been translated.
Ga = To walk upside down
Ba = Half unicorn half flamingo
Ti = To fly underneath a bridge
How would we go about translating these into English? I can, of course, find the corresponding terms in English and string them together. Like [WALK][DOWN] or [UNICORN][FLAMINGO], etc. But can I instead do a direct translation so the sound is the same in both languages? That is, "Gah" in English directly? How, then, do I create a word?

I think it's quite obvious now. You didn't translate it, you just invented a new thing somehow following the rules in that language. But it means nothing, no one, except those who have read your works, will understand it. Of course, if you just intend to get it across merely to your target readers (Even in this case you should explain its meaning for once), you are fine to go. Or if your masterpiece is so popular and famous that everyone feels shame if he hasn't read it, for example, 鲁迅 just coined a character 猹 (it is non-exiatent before) referring to a kind of animals local to his hometown, and it's nothing other than pronounced as what the villagers call that animal. But today everyone knows it and accepts it as part of our language, so it's included in unicode encoding. That is a great example to your question.


耳光
ABC

N.
box on the ears; slap on the face

巴掌

N.
palm of the hand

While they are inherently different, 打…巴掌 and 打…耳光 are roughly the same.
Consider these two example sentences from A Chinese-English Dictionary

打他一巴掌
dǎ tā yī bāzhang
give him a slap

打耳光
dǎ ěrguāng
slap sb.'s face; box sb.'s ears

The only difference might be is that 耳光 could alude to a specific hit/slap/punch to the ears.


baike.com describes it as "swiftly" or "swish"... I believe it is indeed onomatopoeia.

唰 <形> - Adverb

形容迅速的样子 【swiftly】。如:唰地一下跳上墙;唰溜溜(形容极其迅速);唰啦(形容迅疾)

Describes "swiftly" or "quickly" doing something. Like to "swiftly" jump on the wall.

唰 <象> - Adjective for sound

形容迅速擦过去的声音 【swish】。如:唰唰;唰喇喇

Or describes a sound, to "swish" by something.


The tricky prepositions. . . "in my garden"

在我花园里有很多果树 is the most accurate.

上 means on, on top of. If you use 上 people will think your garden has a roof, and those fruit trees are planted on the roof.

Source: http://baike.baidu.com/view/256231.htm

站 invokes the image of standing on one's feet in a stiff, rigid, upright manner. unless you want to emphasize the upright, honest and steadfast manner of some pine or poplar trees, most garden trees are everything but stiff.

Source : http://baike.baidu.com/view/259393.htm


Chih-Hao Tsai has published a bunch of useful resources like this. I've used the character frequency and phrase frequency lists.


Meaning of this word (Character identified: 緣)

缘 is a kind of destiny for meeting someone or something.


Word in Mandarin that is often used that sounds like "jigga"?

The word that sounds like "jigga" would be:

  这个
  zhège

and it means:

  this / this one

It is sometimes also pronounced

  zhèige

Which would account for any variations in pronunciation that you might hear.


The verb 吃(eat) has the extended meaning of 受(take) and the object has to be a physical contact or impact

Example:

吃一發子彈 (eat a bullet) = (take a bullet/ take a gun shot)

吃一拳 (eat a punch) = 受一拳 (take a punch)

吃一記耳光 (eat a slap on the face) =  (take a slap on the face)

吃这一声 is not grammatical. because a sound doesn't make physical contact with the subject. The phrase should be written as  聽了这一声 (heard this sound)


b) is not necessarily better than a). They represent different things.

a), 對聼音樂感興趣, means that you have an interest in listening to music.

b), 對音樂感興趣, means that you have an interest in music generally. It could be composing music, playing a musical instrument, or singing.

In this case, it depends on what you are trying to say. If you like listening to music, a) is correct. If you like music generally, b) is correct. None of them is grammatically better than the other.

Again, g) and h) are both correct, depending on what you say.

g), 對學漢語感興趣, means that you have an interest in learning Chinese.

h), 對漢語感興趣, just means that you have an interest in Chinese generally.

There's a totally different case for your last example involving answers d), e), and f).

d), 對游泳感興趣, is correct. You have an interest in swimming.

e) and f), 對游/泳感興趣, do not make sense at all. 游 and 泳 must be used together to form a term. If you use only one word (in this case), it wouldn't make sense. If you were saying "I threw a snowball", you wouldn't say "I threw a snow" or "I threw a ball".


Can someone explain the differences between these sentences?

Example 1， in winter one says:能穿多少穿多少

Here the 多少 is one word and is the question word normally use to ask "how much". In Chinese you can also use these question to denote a certain undefined amount of something.

Some examples:

你想吃什么就吃什么 Here the 什么 does mean what, but something (an undefined amount of something). So 你想吃什么 becomes "you want to eat something" and "你想吃什么" "then eat something". If you bring both together it becomes: "eat what you want". In these grammar patters the question word is repeated and the second occurrence refers to the first occurrence, it refers to the unspecified amount mentioned in the first part.
你哪儿都去过: 哪儿 refers to a certain not specified place, and the 都 after it means all of these. So the sentence means "you have been everywhere". This grammar pattern is also explain on these pages: Expressing "all" with "shenme dou" and Expressing "everyone" with "shei"

In 能穿多少穿多少 we don't have 都 or 也 after 多少, so it is not "everything", but some amount of. The grammar pattern is similar to the 你想吃什么就吃什么 example.
So the sentence has 2 parts: 能穿多少 which means "the amount of cloths you can wear" and the 穿多少 means: "wear that amount of cloths". So together it means: "wear as many cloths your can".

Example 1， in summer one says:能穿多少穿多少

Although we have the same characters, we actually have different words. Here the 多 and the 少 refer to 2 different words. While pronouncing you really have to emphasize the 少.

Again there are two parts: 能穿多少 and 穿多少. You see 穿多少 as 穿多    少. The 穿多 means: "wear more cloths" and 少 means less, but refers to the complete part before it. So it means "less of wearing more". So the complete sentence becomes: "if you can avoid wearing less cloths, then wear less cloths".

Example2: GF telephone her BF:我到了,你快往地铁站走。如果你到了,我还没到,你就等着吧。如果我到了,你还没到,你就等着吧！

The first part of this sentence is pretty easy. For completeness I will translate it:
我到了,你快往地铁站走。如果你到了,我还没到,你就等着吧。： I (just) arrived, quickly come to the metro station. If I'm not there yet when you get there, just wait for me.

The second part 如果我到了,你还没到,你就等着吧！ is read with a different tone. The sentense is not complete and it is implied that that something will come if the person is not there. In English we would normally add ellipsis (…) after the 你就等着吧.
The implied meaning of 你就等着吧 is: "you are in for it, I'm going to kick your ass, you're going to be dead, ...", just wait for it and see). So the girl is giving a warning not to be late.


What does 勾过来 (gōu guòlái) mean in 你就直接勾过来，我觉得欠妥?

勾过来 is colloquial. It can be considered as the short version of 勾引过来.  勾引 means entice, seduce, or tempt. 过来 here is a  complement.

Your interpretation come over with the intention of hooking up for 勾 is fine too.


Why is 丢的东西 placed in the middle of 孩子们丢的东西都找到了?

孩子们丢的东西都找到了

The object is "东西"
东西都(被)找到了 - things have all been found (被 omitted)
孩子们丢的 is an adjective phrase that describes the object

"things? what things?"

"Things that was lost by the kids" (孩子们丢的)

you can use 的 to turn any sentence into an adjective phrase

Example:

美国进口 - American import

美国进口的 - that is American imported

美国进口的牛肉 - beef that is American imported


Is the character 攜 still used in modern Chinese?

That is a standard character, simplified 携, meaning carry, take along, hold in hand. A common word is 携带 (carry).


Does this translation of a sentence accurately capture the information and grammar of the original sentence?

My translation is "Undergraduate Chinese Student Organization's and the Beijing Students Studying Abroad Friendship Club's courses about car knowledge are coming. These courses are free to all freshmen and current students. Do not miss it."

即将 means will happen very soon. So you can use "is coming" or "is on the way".

old means 年龄上的“老”. It is better to say "current students".

"take advantage of" means 利用. It is not positive here. It is better to use "value" which means 珍惜.

Hopefully, it can help.


Is swapping words within an idiom often done in chinese language? (example: "万绿丛中一点红" to "万红丛中一点绿")

Idioms are mostly elegant, memorable and meaningful phrases. Each character in an idiom has a part to play in depicting a vivid image or retold a historical story.

It is difficult to swap any character in an idiom without making it sound forced. The phrase "萬綠叢中一點紅" depicts an image of a single eye- catching red flower among a field of green grass, that seem natural enough.  On the other hand, the image of "萬紅叢中一點綠" just does not seem natural.

  Is swapping words within an idiom often done in chinese language?

The answer to your question is-- "rarely"

I can only come up with one decent example:

"鋤強扶弱" (beat down the powerful to support the helpless) is an idiom describes 'just and heroic deeds'. Quite a romantic notion. But this kind of hero in real life is very hard to find. In fact, you would see people bully the helpless to support the powerful more often. "鋤弱扶強" describe this behavior perfectly.

Edit: Another one that would work

直言不諱- speak honestly, not avoiding taboo subjects

諱不直言- avoid taboo subjects, not speaking honestly


If someone drinks wildly and helps friends out without hesitation, he/she could be called 豪爽, you can take it as the opposite of petty, sissy and selfish. The most famous examples would be general Guan Yu/关羽 in the the Three Kingdoms period/三国时期, and Li Bai/李白 the poet in the Tang Dynasty/唐朝.


I suggest you pronounce it like the "r" sound in "brrrrrrrr I'm cold" or "grrrrrrrr I'm angry".

So for Japan you could do it like "rrrrrrr ben".

Don't roll this "r" sound. This will get you about 80% accuracy. To get the rest you need to make the same voiced palato-alveolar sibilant, then you will be there.

Just want to add the palato-alveolar sibilant in the French "j" is made in a different part of the mouth to the Chinese "r". The "r" sound should be at the roof of the mouth.

Here is a great video on youtube to help: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_D6G0aqjtso


Resources for Cantonese speakers learning Mandarin?

Pleco is selling two unique dictionaries that could help you:

  Guangzhouhua Fangyan Cidian

  $9.99 (version 3 only)
  Chinese-Chinese dictionary of Cantonese-specific vocabulary with approximately 8000 entries, from Commercial Press.

and

  Guangzhouhua-Putonghua Cidian

  $9.99 (version 3 only)
  Cantonese-to-Mandarin (focused on diffs between them), 10k entries

A problem you might find in Cantonese is that, while there is a measure of standardization, overall standardization is lacking.

Take 剩翻 for instance.

If you search it by character in Pleco you will only get one result:

剩翻

  剩翻 zing6 faan1 {shèng fān}

  this is what's left

That might work for you if you're looking for English results and even if so maybe not because of the poor quality of the English.

But if we use Jyutping:

we can see all the results with the sound we're looking for and may even find out that 剩翻 is written 剩番 in most dictionaries.

Pleco also has a number of Cantonese to English or English to Cantonese based products as well.

  ABC Cantonese Dictionary
  $29.99 (version 3 only)
  Brand new (published in 2017) Cantonese-to-English dictionary, the first new one in several decades; featuring 16,000 Cantonese-specific vocabulary entries and a whopping 15,000 Cantonese example sentences (all with Jyutping/Yale pronunciation). Edited by Robert S. Bauer and produced by Wenlin Institute.

  The Right Word in Cantonese
  $9.99 (version 3 only)
  English-to-Cantonese dictionary focused on idiomatic translations; 6500 entries

  CC-Canto Cantonese-English Dictionary
  Free
  Pleco's first self-published dictionary project, an open-source Cantonese-to-English dictionary with about 25,000 entries, designed as a Cantonese extension to the open-source Mandarin dictionary CC-CEDICT that's built into Pleco. (basically, we only define words when they don't, or when their definition differs from the Cantonese one).

  Also available online at our website cantonese.org - much more information on the project is available at http://cantonese.org/about.html


What is the difference between 涉及 and 涉及到

Yes and yes. They are pretty much interchangable. Your second example contains 涉及了, marking a completed action, while 到 in 涉及到 is a preposition (to): relating to. You could say 涉及到了 as well, given completion.


Yes, you are correct that "来" means 'we are going to' in this scenario. To be honest, as a native Chineses speaker, I cannot tell the difference between "来” and ”要" here.


Three-digit year in date on Chinese document

By now you have figured out, why the years are represented as YYY, but just to make this post not look like many of those stubs on this site, here's a more detailed answer to anyone stumbling upon this page in the future.

Taiwan (officially styled the Republic of China) still uses the Republican calendar (or Minguo calendar), alongside the international calendar system of Western origin. This is known as 民國紀元 (民国纪元 in simplified Chinese, though not used in Mainland China). It follows the dynastic/feudal time keeping of numbering years consecutively after the ascension to throne of the current emperor, with the exception that there is no sort of emperor or king in the Republican era (although, Yuan Shi-kai made a faint attempt, and resigned from his throne almost exactly 100 years ago). A similar system is still in place in Japan, used parallel to the Western calendar, and probably even more extensively used, with era names, etc. than the Republican calendar in modern day Taiwan.

The practical way to work with it is not that difficult. Here's the formula:

Republican calendar Year = Western calendar Year - 1911

So this year is 105年. For those who can work with Tradional characters, here's a sophisticated online calculator. Here's the output for this month:

(The bold face digits are the days according to the Western calendar, the smaller digits show the month/day in the Chinese calendar, in this case the lunar calendar is used, which is the basis of observing Chinese New Year, etc.)

This elaborate system of Chinese time keeping and age reckoning have their many intricacies, but the above is probably enough for you  to get the gist.


I believe 慢工出细货 is good enough.

Although it doesn't mention about care explicitly, it is strongly implied as much care have to be given to produce a delicate product (as 细 means 细緻 here),

and it takes time to breed that work (慢工).


Translate a calligraphic painting to identify the artist and when it was painted

not too sure but my guess is:

路轉影峯環
林泉溪畔
湖山繞翠色
遠大前程
千里盡秋之月
寫於海外草屋
成森


雷 vs 雷聲 vs 雷鳴 for "thunder", which is most common?

打雷 is the best for describing action.
現在外面正在打雷 There's thunder outside right now

雷聲 is also good for describing what you hear
我剛被雷聲嚇到 I was surprised (shocked) by the sound of the thunder

雷 by itself means thunder, and used a little less often
but it also means bomb as in 地雷.
這家店有雷. This store is a bomb. (When joking to friends that this food store sucks and is like stepping on a bomb/mine)

You could say, 外面有雷 There is thunder outside
But it would sound awkward, the common phrase would be, 外面正在打雷


How would one write the following officially?

see e.g. LINE dictionary examples:utilities:水电费都包括吗？ 租金含水电费吗, gas: 我去缴纳 煤气费 every month 每月首日支付租金 settled at end: 每年年底结帐 final settlement date 到期日 suggestion as follows:

每月支付煤气水电费２００美元（？）以年底到期日结帐  (to be settled at end of year settlement date)

added 6/3/19: another term for "gas" 燃气费


Oral Tradition: Chinese Folktales, Sayings, Ballads, Songs, Chants, Etc

You touched a sore spot, because there really isn't anything in Chinese that's comparable with Homer's work.
The reason, I think, is that in ancient China, history logging is a monopoly business. It's always in the hands of the royal families and their ministers. There might be great story tellers among the common folks, but the literate class just didn't bother to record them down. Or simply, maybe we just didn't have the luck, so no such great artist was born.
But obviously we did have an active oral tradition. Besides 诗经, 木兰辞 is one, 孔雀东南飞 is another, but there is nothing epic about them.
《山海经》 for example, recorded myths that trace back to prehistory. These are, however, just short stories.
《聊斋》 is literally folk stories told by men on the street, but again, they are just short stories, and nothing historically important.
《格萨尔王传》 is something.. oops, it doesn't belong to the Sinosphere. Similar are some some other epics produced by the minority cultural groups. Anyway, we conquered and ruled them, so they belong to us now. I've even read Korean folk tales when I was young.
Regarding to the oral tradition of the Han ethnicity, we have 评书, 快板, 大鼓, etc. These things are probably very ancient. Many of them are still pretty much alive. They all tell great poetic stories about the past. 三国演义 and 水浒 are probably of such origins, they are pretty epic to my standards, but not ancient enough to compare with Homer.
I have a deceased elder relative who was in the business of 说书. I used to follow him when I was little. Like Homer he was blind. His instrument was 三弦 and 惊堂木. When he visited a town or village, people would gather at small theaters or open places to hear him talk and sing about the past. Oh the good old days....

Update:
中国为什么没有史诗 by 朱光潜
Also from this interesting discussion:

Gilgamesh: I hunted monsters.
Rama: I killed the demon king to save my wife.
Gesar: Me too.
Achilles: I battled Troy and killed their general with a spear.
Beowulf: I killed dragons.
Siegfried: Me too!
后稷: I cultivated rice and beans....

Ignore those who say "Because Chinese culture is superior!". They are stupid.


说你胖 你还喘上了 来劲儿了 how does this translate in english in this context?

I think it's some sarcastic answer to make him notice how he's full of himself

Yes, that's basically what it means.

“说你胖 你还喘上了” literally means, "you start (pretending) to breathe heavily soon as you're said to be fat", it is an expression/slang used metaphorically to say someone's pretending to be (more of) something he/she is said to be (usually out of courtesy).

I personally found it as hilarious and offensive at the same time. An example,
A: "You know what, a friend of mine just said you look cute."
B: "Yeah, I actually hear that a lot."
A: "说你胖 你就喘"

Someone "来劲儿了" means someone is pumped. In the given context, I understand it as that B took A's words as an acknowledgement and got pumped.


Isn't it confusing to have Japanese words just next to Chinese words?

The person who designed the website must assumed that the majority of the Douban users are Chinese. As native speakers, we can identify Chinese letters without any effort, and this design doesn’t bother us at all (although I think its a bad design).


What is the order of different prepositional phrases?

Someone may guide you to a comprehensive source, but if you want to do prepositioning or left branching, all you need to care about is to make them appear in a logical sense. This basic sense is the same for most languages.

You put time first, then the location

  A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away....

You put more prominent attributes first

  There's a big bad wolf. (big is more obvious than bad)

You put what you want to emphasize first

  If you give them a quick, short, sharp, shock, they won't do it again...

You prioritize common noun phrases and stick them close

  Python is a good object-oriented programming language.

I'm not giving you Chinese examples because in Chinese they are exactly the same. There may be situations I'm missing out. Anyway, you do what you feel right.

However there are several situations where "right" is different in English and Chinese.

Addresses

  我来自中国上海。(I'm not, but you don't know any other city names do you?)

In English you say I'm from New York, New York.

Date and time

  牛顿生于1643年1月4日。

In English you mess up. Is it 1-4-1643 or 4-1-1643?


It can be a general term, i.e. not a proper name, but it is/was often used to refer to a certain historic person called Xiang Yu. So 霸王 will not translate as "King Ba".

Chinese Wikipedia:

  霸王是指比一般王还强盛的君王，时常是文人雅士对项羽的尊称。

More references:

Baidu Baike:  霸王（汉语词语）

  霸王，古时指霸和王，也用来尊称霸主，特指西楚霸王项羽，或者比喻非常蛮横的人。

In addition Baidu Baike lists 12 entries in total for this word.


Are there web-site with description of visual meaning of symbols?

this is an online dictionary you can search for certain words.
http://www.vividict.com/

And I hope this includes symbols you want to know..


Why in some contexts does 走 mean "walk", but in others "go"?

There are really three words you need to figure out here: 走，去，離開。  去 usually means to go 'toward' a particular place, which is not my current location, or not the location of the topic of the sentence. This is NOT the same as English.

As an example of the difference, in English, we say 'Go away' when we want someone to leave our immediate vicinity. In Chinese we cannot use 去 (unless you say 去你的, which is very rude, close to **** off); instead we must use 走(開). 離開 is more like 'depart', but has some overlap with 'leave' as well. It means to remove oneself from a specific place.  This sometimes overlaps with 走, but never with 去 (I think).

走 means 'walk' in the sense that one's movement is on foot.  In sharp contrast with 去, there is no destination, so when one says 他走過市場, it means he walked by or through the market; what is his his destination? unknown; perhaps there is none.

On the other hand if you say 他去過市場, it is quite different: "He once went to the market" Notice that 過 here is the aspectual particle, not the locative word 'through'.  This means 'He has been to (gone to) the market' His destination was the market, and this often has the sense that his purpose was to visit it; it is not unusual to see '去' translated as 'visit' because it means you went to a place for a purpose, perhaps just of being there.

走's overlap with 離開 and 'go' is often quite confusing.  For example, 他離開了 simply means 'he left some place', but 他走了, in addition to leaving some place, can also mean "He died."  In English, of course, we would say, "He's gone."  Yikes!


Is Wade-Giles "Shih" pronounced the same as Pinyin "Shi"?

If you are considering the phonemes only and not taking into account tone, then the answer is yes. But if you want to get the most accurate answer about whether or not they correspond to the same sound in Chinese, then you should include a tone.

Shí and shih2 (the 2 should be superscripted) are both romanizations of the character 石 in the Chinese name 蔣介石.


I believe the grammatical structure of 我真是这个意思 is:

Subj: 我 - I
Adverb: 真 - really
Verb: 是 - to be
Object (Pronoun + Measure Word + Noun): 这个意思 - this idea

Which literally means I really am this idea. However, this use of the verb to be indeed sounds strange: the person I is not an idea!? But, we can understand it considering the 'illogical' sentences of the copula verb 是, in which 是 has a metaphorical meaning understood from the context. For more details see the answer I referenced, but we can understand the main idea with an example:

我是炒饭.

Which does not mean I am a fried rice (literal), but implies (e.g. in a restaurant) I am the one having the fried rice (metaphorical). The same occurs in the common expression:

这是什么意思?

Which does not mean This is what meaning? (literal), but implies What does this mean? (metaphorical). So coming back to our example:

我真是这个意思.

Which does not mean I really am this idea (literal), but implies I really mean this idea (metaphorical).


日子 vs 日期 - what is the difference between the two?

日期 = "date", whereas 日子 = "day".  Although in Chinese (as in English) they are sometimes interchangeable.

Ordinarily you'd expect a 日期 to have a numerical form:

  今天是什么日期？  今天是2020年4月15号。
  What is the date today?  Today is the 15-th April, 2020.

However, a 日子 isn't necessarily numerical:

  今天是什么日子？  今天是我的生日。
  What day is it today?  Today is my birthday.

We typically think of changing the 日期 ("date") rather than the 日子 ("day").

  你好，真不好意思，我要改一下日期，可以吗?
  Hello, I'm very sorry, I have to change my dates. Is that all right?
  ChinesePod

We also typically think of having a good 日子 ("day"), rather than a good 日期 ("date").

  今天是个好日子。
  Today is a good day.


藏 has two meanings:

as a verb (cáng), it can mean to hide, to conceal, etc.
as a noun (zàng), it can mean depository, such as 宝藏 (bǎozàng).

Of course the two meanings are related.

To get an impression what this word means, search for 宝藏 on Google Image search or Baidu Image search.


Generally speaking, is it not possible to indicate 'was' or 'were' on '是‘？

Think about it like this. Let's say we recap this conversation in English, but omit any tenses:

L: Yingzi, be not you working for a company?
Y: Yes, I be. 5 years ago, I be a sectary blah blah. Then I quit.

You would have no problem inferring the tense of these sentences, right?

Chinese language is just like that. It doesn't depend on using different forms of verbs to indicate tense. You just have to infer that information from the context. And put enough information in your sentences for others to grasp your idea.

You may have seen something like 爱过, 爱了 in Chinese but they are not equivalents of "loved" in English. They are just 爱(love) with additional information 过 or 了 to indicate the action of love happened in the past or have been completed. There's no such a thing as past tense (or any tense) of a verb in Chinese.

This ambiguity makes Chinese language more versatile (and more difficult to learn).


What does 中 (zhōng) mean in 我哥哥是我认识的人中最沉着的一个?

"中" is a shorter form of "之中" (within; among)

  "我哥哥是我认识的人(中)最沉着的一个" = "我哥哥是我认识的人(之中)最沉着的一个"

我哥哥 = my brother

是 = is

我认识的人(之中) = (among) the people I know

最沉着的一个 = the calmest one


Difference between 洞 and 口 for holes in things

In my opinion, this is a "口":

This is a "洞":

口/口子 means "(人体或物体的表层)破损的地方[the place where it is damaged(on the surface of a human body or an object)]", 洞 means "物体中间的穿通的或凹入较深的部分(The penetrating or deep recessed part of the object)". You can say "我的手破了一道口子", but absolutely cannot say "我的手破了一个洞"! Or I can't imagine how panic the person who hears it will be.
Some other examples:

日子久了，水滴竟在石头上滴出一个洞来。(水滴石穿)

他的手被小刀划了一道口子。


Does 出太阳时候不能吃饭 (chū tàiyáng shíhòu bùnéng chīfàn) express "I can't eat when the sun is out" appropriately?

Question: Does 出太阳时候不能吃饭 express "I can't eat when the sun is out" appropriately?

Not completely, because '出太阳' (sun is out) can refer to 'sun coming out after the storm' That implies you can still eat as long as you don't see the sun (when it rain or the sky is cloudy)

The correct way to explain it is:

太阳仍在天空时不能進食 (can't eat when the sun is still in the sky)

or

太阳下山前不能進食 (can't eat before the sun had gone down)

or

天黑前不能進食 (can't eat before the sky is dark -meaning the sun has completely set)

or

日落前不能進食 (can't eat before sundown)

Replaced 吃饭(to have meal) with 進食 (to eat), because  不吃饭(not having meal) doesn't cover having something for a snack.

user6065 wrote:

  从日出到日落不进食、 (不喝)水，不吸烟

' Not eat, drink or smoke from sun rise to sun set' is the more detailed explanation of fasting.

Mindless wrote:

  出太阳时候 = daylight? Can't you just say 白天不能进食, can't eat during daylight？

白天 refers to 'daylight time' (after the sun has completely risen and the sky is totally bright, or before the sun started to sink below the horizon and the sky is still bright). The term 白天 does not including the twilight time of dawn and dust, therefore it is not suitable for describing the fasting hours


In practice, I doubt if anyone really says 明天他要回来了 although there seems to be no grammar mistakes in the sentence. 明天他就要回来了 or 明天他就回来了 is more likely to be used colloquially.

I think it probably because the way Chinese expresses this is different from English.  If we want just to express "he will be back tomorrow", we   would say 他明天回来.


If a response to a question was "我很喜欢看法国电影," would the question be "你很喜欢不很喜欢看法国电影？" or "你喜欢不喜欢看法国电影?"

I understand your train of thought and it is reasonable: you wish to make the distinction between asking 'whether the person likes French movies a lot', and 'whether the person likes French movies (at all)'.

Chinese allows such a distinction by asking: 你很喜歡看法國電影嗎？ and 你喜（歡）不喜歡看法國電影？ respectively.

Rather, I would say it is the requirement of your test that bounds your options, not Chinese. That is because the form V+不+V rarely (dare I say never) permits a verb that is prefixed with an adverb of extent (e.g., 很); the asker is only interested in receiving a yes-or-no answer (think of that as asking, do you V? Or do you 不+V?). Of course, it is at the answerer's discretion that they add an adverb of extent for the sake of emphasis (i.e., 'Yes, I like French movies, and I tell you additionally that I like them a lot.'). In short, you ask a question strictly in 'yes-no', but you answer it with much liberty.

Moreover, the construction V+不+V is a succinct one, which makes 很喜歡不很喜歡 unideal and odd to the native ear. In fact, one is allowed to only repeat the first character of the verb, as in 喜不喜歡, 討不討厭.

The principle of succinctness is further demonstrated in compound verbs. One repeats only the first verb in the compound and not the rest: e.g., with 喜歡吃 (to like eating), we say 喜不喜歡吃, not 喜歡吃不喜歡吃.

The difference between 是不是+V and V+不+V

Curiosity's answer is perfectly valid in this context, but that does not suggest 你喜不喜歡看 is interchangeable with 你是不是喜歡看.

是不是+V is used primarily for confirmation, and in that there is assumption. 你是不是喜歡看法國電影？ contains the asker's assumption that the other person likes French movies. In fact, 你是不是不喜歡看法國電影？ assumes the opposite, e.g., when the other person is showing signs of disgust. V+不+V does not work in the negative sense, nor does it contain any assumption.

We can use a verb in the past tense with 是不是, whereas V+不+V is relatively tenseless. E.g., 他是不是殺了人？ means 'Did he kill someone?' Whereas 他殺不殺了人？ is ungrammatical. 他殺不殺人？ is grammatical and may mean 'Does he kill people?', as if the asker suspects he may be a killer, an instance where 'to kill' is habitual.


What would be the shortest translation for 'Home Delivery' on a restaurant flyer?

If you are working for a eatery, "外卖" is more native because you need to get out of the building to bring your customers food.

"送餐" usually appears in hotels or somewhere else like that. It's a bit formal because the food is prepared by advanced chefs and they are finely laid out but they are just sent to your room.

"送饭" is the worst, I suppose.


I can't find the equivalent for 撞衫, could you help?

撞衫 often used to describe movie stars, celebrity's who just happen to wear the same outfit

'撞' in '撞衫' is the same one in '撞期' (scheduling conflict).

'撞期'(date clash) means two events scheduled at the same date, creating a scheduling conflict between them. It is "(two scheduled events) dates run into each other" in English.
'撞衫' (dress clash) means two people wearing identical outfits at the same event, creating a fashion faux pas for both. It is "(two people) dress the same" in English.

I suggest simply translate 撞衫 as "dress the same" or "identically dress"
For example:

"安和瑪麗在頒獎典禮上撞了衫" (Ann and Mary dressed the same at the award show);

"穿成衣可能導致與某人撞衫" (wear ready-to-wear dress many resulted in dressing the same with someone)


What does 了mean in 衣服也落在了房间内, and is it pronounce le or liao?

衣服也落在房间内*了*。

Here 了 is used to indicate the completion of the action of 落在房间内.

衣服也落在*了*房间内。

Here 了 is moved forward and positioned after 在, and that makes 房间内 become the focus point of this setence.

Other examples:
一阵大风吹来，我的帽子飞到*了*天上。

他开车撞到*了*树上。

他把狗锁在*了*屋内。

她一挥手碰翻*了*水杯。


All of them are suitable for the sentence, the difference is very subtle.

“用一下” is kinda formal, you can use this word in almost any occasion, having conversation with your friends, your boss, it's all fine.

"用用" and “用一用” is a little bit casual than "用一下".

But just like I said, the difference is so subtle that most people won't really care about it, especially if you're a foreigner.


色生，生故計是我，非不生。

This statement comes for a Buddhist Sutra, Saṃyukta Āgama (雜阿含經). It is not easy to understand if one has no training in Buddhism.

As these words contains lots of logic in Buddhism translated from Pāḷi language, it is pretty obscure to most people. But it is required to distinguish everything in the logic of Buddhism.

You can view 非不生 this way. These is 不生 and one negates it to 非不生. It is like English, "impossible" and "not impossible".

Those double negatives are quite common in Buddhist writing. If you know 心經, there is a phrase 無無明，亦無無明盡，乃至無老死，亦無老死盡。無無明 is the negation of 無明.