"That's so like you!" or "That's typical of you" in chinese

"That's so like you!" or "That's typical of you"
literal translation: "這還真像是你" , "真是典型的你"

To translate English expressions word by word might not sound natural in native Chinese's ears, because Chinese don't phrase words the same as English
The typical Chinese phrase in this context would be more detailed:

"這還真像是你(會做的事)" - "this is so like something you would do"
"真是典型的你(會做的事)" - "It is something the typical you would do"

or you can use interpretation:

"還真是老樣子的你" - "it is the same old (typical) you"


Chinese does not have a exact translation of そのままで (其の儘で) which is as flexible as the situation that you've described. The literal translations are

照原樣
依舊

which both mean something like in accord with its original nature/form, but we would not use those terms to decline a shopping bag. Instead, you may say something similar to the following in casual vernacular:

不用了 (No need)
這樣就行了 (It'll be fine like this)

(2) matches そのままで fairly well in meaning in this case.


Were the choice of characters in compound words based on their intrinsic meaning, or are their meaning derived from their use in compound words?

Most compound words in Chinese appeared later on in the history of the language. In ancient Chinese, just about every single character had it's own meaning. Later on when the language started becoming more modern, many words became compound words to simplify the language by making it easier to differentiate homonyms and to make the language sound more fluid when spoken. I've had a teacher explain that Chinese people feel that characters sound more natural in pairs.

I don't know the exact history in how the compound words were created, but having studied some ancient Chinese, I can say that the individual characters came first :) .


In what kind of contexts should you use 处于/处在?

The different between 「处于」and 「处在」is answered well in @dan, and I prefer to explain why Pleco use "be".
Actually the mean of the two word can be explained to "be in", and it's used to in a condition or situation.That means it's usually used as 「处于/处在...... 中」，but it is not in this form absolutely. We can also use like this:

  「我们必须和一切爱好和平自由的国家和人民团结在一起……使我们的保障人民革命胜利成果和反对内外敌人复辟阴谋的斗争不致处于孤立地位。」 ————毛泽东 《中国人民站起来了》

And if you want more further explanation，you can visit http://www.hydcd.com/zidian/hz/10444.htm


There’s a common idiom that expresses not judging people by their appearances:

人不可貌相

Oxford defines this as:

  don't judge by appearances

and gives the full phrase as its example sentence:

  人不可貌相, 海水不可斗量。
  As the sea cannot be measured with a bushel, so people cannot be judged by their appearances.

——

The sentence you gave: 看事情不要看表面 is a good sentence and it concisely expresses what you want to say. 现象 can also mean appearance, for example ABC gives the sample sentence:

  光凭现象做判断
  guāng píng xiànxiàng zuò pànduàn
  judge according to appearance only

but phenomenon is still the most common usage.

——

Another word you might want to know is: 长相, which explicitly refers to one’s physical appearance, looks and features.


追行: 跟踪寻找
叙功: 评定功劳等级次序
追行叙功奖励 means 跟踪寻找, 评定功劳，并给予奖励.


How do you say 'serving' in Chinese as it relates to nutrition?

If it is restaurant food or fast food, you can use either '份' or the corresponding count word (量词). For example, 每份套餐, 每份薯条, 每个汉堡, 每份红烧肉, etc.

If it is a snack or drink, we directly use the mass or volume for 'serving'. For example: 每 100 mL 可乐 (cola)，每 100 g 薯片, etc.

Below is an empty nutrition label (used as the standard format) published by Ministry of Health of P.R.C. (中国卫生部). See http://www.gov.cn/gzdt/2008-01/11/content_856260.htm. What you want is the title of the second column.


Beneficiary is translated as 受益人 and 获益者 in Google Translate

In life insurance lingo, '受益人' is the standard legal term for 'the beneficiary'. When the 受保人 (the insured) dies, the 保險賠償 (insurance claim) goes to the  受益人 (beneficiary)

~

受益者, 获益者, 获利者  all mean "people who are benefited" in general sense
Example: '美國今次減稅的受益者衹有大企業及億萬富豪' (the only beneficiaries to the US tax cuts this time are the big companies and billionaires)
you can replace 受益者 with 获益者 or 获利者 in this sentence

~

获得者 literally means "the one who obtain or receive.

Example:'奖金获得者' 或 '奖牌获得者' 都可以简称为 '获奖者' ('people who received a cash prize' or 'people who received a medal' can both be simply called 'winner' )


What is the Mandarin term for great godparents?

To most people in English "great godparents" means simply godparents who are very very good at it.  In general, "godparent" means different things to different people.  People especially differ as the the religious connotations.  For many Christians, a godparent has promised to assure that the godchild will grow up properly schooled in the faith, if the parents are unable to.

People who want a Chinese term for godparents have used 乾媽 and 乾爹.  But I think in China if you say someone is your 乾媽 or 乾爹 most people will think you mean that person is your foster parent or step parent.  In the west a godparent might become a foster parent, if the parents die, but usually that does not happen.

By far the most common use of  乾媽 on line is to name 老干妈 chili sauce.  And in Taiwan at least one person has used 乾媽 to mean oranges.  See  http://news.ltn.com.tw/news/society/breakingnews/1593333

So I think if you want to express your idea of godparents in Chinese, you should first be clearer about your idea in English.  If you mean, for example the Catholic Church sense of the term, then you could ask Chinese Catholics how they express it.


It is Simplified Chinese, as inferred by the text used on the cover.


Why can't I write the character 台 in my pinyin input method?

I have Ubuntu 17.10, and using the Sunpinyin, it comes up right away as number 1 or 2:

What is your particular Linux version?


I believe it is understood throughout China, but it may sound 'Southern' to Northerners and it wouldn't be their word of choice when they want to express the same meaning.

There are two possible origins:

According to Baidu Baike, 三八 means 三八妇女节 (International Women's Day on March 8th), which is extended to refer to women in a derogatory sense, most commonly used against women who appear crazy or maliciously gossiping or interfering with other's business.

Wikipedia says it's because when China first opened trade with foreigners, the foreigners were permitted into the city on 8th, 18th and 28th of every month, locals call seeing the foreigners 三八 (the three eight's), extending to anyone who's overly interested in fresh things, peeking secrets or gossiping.

I am from Beijing. People around me all share the first explanation, but maybe people from the south find the seconds one more sensible.


[比 (object)，还要 (adjective)] = [ more (adjective), compare to (object)]

比[那刘姥姥进了大观园]，还要[土里土气]
那刘姥姥进了大观园 is  the object phrase
土里土气 is the adjective phrase

The subject is omitted in this sentence, but it is there.

You have to have a subject to compare to an object: "Subject' (omitted) 比 [那刘姥姥进了大观园]，还要 [土里土气]"

The subject can be a noun, or another phrase


How to translate "define , commit , and private beta"?

I agree define is 定義階段 and beta is 測試階段. And commit, I suggest that is translated as 推行階段 which means promote because the commit stage needs someone's promotion by commit.


Well...
Your reference (https://qr.ae/pN9BFQ) is good, but I rarely hear people use "蜻" instead of "蜻蜓". People just don't say like that. When you split a Chinese word, it usually turn into many individual words, but sometimes it's meanless. When people look at a word like "蜻", they won't think about the dragonfly, they will feel like it's a bug because the "虫" part. "蜻" itself may have some legendary magic feelings. If you want to convey that kind of feeling to you brand, you can do it.


In Short
Variant One

柴米油盐
Pinyin : chai2 mi3 you2 yan2

Variant Two

鍋碗瓢盆
Pinyin : guo1 wan3 piao3 pen2
Literally : wok, bowl, ladle and tub

Detailed
In my area, sometimes we just say it that way.
As a Chinese, I don't quite feel like to go that deep into the source behind, nor did I really care about there're some three other characters hacked off.
But now, if you wanna me to say something about it, yes I can.
Four-character phrases, idiom or not, are pretty popular my area, pretty popular all over China too.
In China, people talk faster than foreigners thought, so seven character version is not so effective, it's like a poem. Four character one is welcome, and because we have hundreds of, or maybe thousands of, never count it, informal/formal four-character catch phrases.
For those who utter out this phrase, probably they don't care about literature, that's what used to be the paraphernalia of notable men.
鍋碗瓢盆 are the everyday kitchen utensils, so they match the flavors, seamless.

Update
油鹽醬豉姜椒茶

Pinyin : you2 yan2 jiang4 chi3 jiang1 jiao1 cha2
Literally : oil, salt, sauce, fermented soybeans, ginger, pepper, and tea

參見此處，來源於「湖海新聞夷堅續志」（元代 無名氏著），其影印本見此處 (See here, the source (whose scan can be found here)「湖海新聞夷堅續志」is a collection of mysterious stories, whose author is unknown but believed to be someone living in Yuan Dynasty.)


How to express this idea in a better way?

One possibility would perhaps be:

住在X城但是香港一直在我的心中


Did a king ask for a ball? How did 王 + 求 become 球?

Nope. The radical was simplified from 玉 (jade), originally referring to a polished sphere of jade. 求 is the phonetic component.

For reference, Baxter's Old Chinese reconstruction has 求 *grju, and 球 *grju. In this particular case, 求 has remained a good phonetic for three millennia!

The sense of 'sounding stone made of jade' can be seen in the Kangxi dictionary: http://www.kangxizidian.com/kangxi/0732.gif


Actually, there is no different meaning between 同样的 and 同样 when we use them to connect two sentences.

However, in my experience, 同样的 is used to connect two short sentences, like your first example. Tom swims well, 同样的, John can swim with three styles.

同样 is used start a new sentence. Tom is not rich, but he is really a nice guy. 同样, even John is disabled, but he try his best to take care of himself and help more people.

In speaking Chinese, you can ignore this. Because the pronunciation of 的 in 同样的 can speak like the “d” in yard.


What's the amount of time in 足足有一刻钟，简默的脸上现出了惊喜和迷惑?

足足有一刻钟 here means "a full quarter of an hour".

足足 means fully. The word is usually emotional, implying that that amount is a big deal. E.g. 我在这里足足等了你两个小时. (implying: two hours is really long time. It's a complaining about the fact that you kept me waiting for that long.)

PS. Compare 足足有两小时 and 足有两个小时. They mean the same(a full two hours), but the former puts an emphasis. 足足 sounds like almost exceeding the amount(or perhaps already exceeds a little bit?).


Passive object position in 是...的 structure?

In "是谁打来的电话" , the object is '电话'
[电话]是谁打来的 (places the object before the verb emphasize the object, makes it a more important part in the sentence - The phone call is the topic)

~
In "是妈妈做的晚饭" , the object is '晚饭'

[晚饭] 是妈妈做的 (place the object before the verb emphasize the object, makes it a more important part in the sentence - The dinner is the topic)

[的] marks 是谁打来[的] as an 'adjectival phrase' that describes the object to follow. In this case, it describes the object 电话 (phone call? What phone call? The phone call that was made by who)
[的] marks 是妈妈做[的] as an 'adjectival phrase' that describes the object to follow. In this case, it describes the object 晚饭 (dinner? What dinner? The dinner that was made by mother)
是 = (it) is/ (it) was


What is the difference between using 光 vs using 只?

只 is more limited in grammatical scope: it can only function as an adverb, preceding the verb. 光 has a larger range of related uses, from being a pre-verbal adverb (also called a restrictive adverb) like 只, to a resultative complement used when a verb 'finishes' an associated noun (e.g. in 吃光了), as well its adjectival/adverbial meaning of 'empty' and 'naked'. 光 can also precede nouns and other adverbs (e.g. of time) in the sense of "only" where 只 cannot. However, words that include 只 such as 只要、只是 are used in a greater variety of set constructions (among the most well-known being 只要 X 才 Y).

However, both 只 and 光 can be used as pre-verbal (restrictive) adverbs, as the famous "只/光剩下2毛钱" sentence illustrates. There have been various analyses: 光 being more colloquial and characteristic of the spoken language, while 只 is preferred in the standard written language but is itself neutral with respect to spoken vs written. This is perhaps the most basic distinction in their use as adverbs: see Baidu's explanation. It is also known that 只 adopted its meaning of "only" earlier on (at the latest from the late Han dynasty) whilst 光 in this meaning is not even attested in the Kangxi dictionary (see zdic.net).

There is a claim that a clause with 光 implies a negative clause further on. One further explanation found on that website is that 光 with 有 has a focus on things other than the object of 光有, whilst 只有 shifts the focus onto the object of the clause itself. It uses the example 只/光有口号，是没用的 to make this point.

There is also the idea that 只 with quantitative measures (such as in the 2毛钱) means limited to that quantity, whilst 光 focuses on the object and the fact that it is alone. The modified sentence 口袋里只/光剩下2毛钱 illustrates this potential distinction: 只 may allow the possibilities of other non-money items in the pocket, whilst 光 emphasises that this money is all that exists in the pocket.

For some of these later points, there really aren't many trustworthy sources. It may be an interesting point on which to do some further research! There are also a few other words for "only", such as 单 and 仅 which could be examined.


Does a good equivalent of "pitch" not exist?

Pitch

  3a: to present or advertise especially in a high-pressure way : plug, promote

  3b: to attempt to persuade especially with a sales pitch

  In these cases, 'pitch' means "推銷" E.g. "推銷某主張" (to pitch an idea); "推銷某產品" (to pitch  a product)

~

  3c : to present (a movie or program idea) for consideration (as by a TV producer)

  In this case, 'pitch' means "推薦" or 提議  E.g. "推薦某劇本" / "提議某劇本" (to pitch a script)

推銷 - to promote --> pitch
推薦 - to recommend --> pitch
提議 - to proposal --> pitch

Typically, a pitch is an oral presentation

Pitch = (現場)推銷; (現場)推薦


What is the difference between 蟹 and 螃蟹?

Many individual characters are said to mean something even though they are not (or rarely) used as independent words. I think user6065 pretty much summarizes what is going on.

  although 蟹 can be used by itself, it is also part of many compounds, e.g. 螃蟹 crab， 龙蟹 lobster (for more see 小马词典），螃蟹 would seem to be a more precise unmistakable term for crab

螃蟹 is preferred because it is easily identifiable as meaning "crab", whereas xiè uttered in a different context could mean many things. There is even a famous play on words on 河蟹 illustrating this.

There is a preference in Mandarin for two syllable words where potential amiguity may arise. Standard Chinese (普通话) is a relatively innovative Chinese dialect in that it has lost many distinctions found in other Chinese dialects (for instance, in Cantonese, there are many more possible consonant sounds at the end of syllables; Mandarin only allows n and ng. Additionally, Standard Chinese has less tones than many dialects (once again, c.f. Cantonese). But speakers have more strategies beyond more complicated syllables and more tones to distinguish words. Words may be made longer, for example:

孩子 "child"
茄子 "eggplant"
狮子 "lion"

In the above words, the final character 子 doesn't contribute any meaning but rather serves to differentiate these words from others with the same first syllable.

Additionally, there is a smallish class of Chinese words that were always (as far as we can tell) polysyllabic. The most well-know of these is likely 蝴蝶 "butterfly", where neither the first nor second character are meaninful on their own, but they are now both understood to mean "butterfly" by virtue of mutual association. Perhaps 螃蟹 falls under this class as well.


What is the meaning of 子 in words like 菓子(과자), 帽子(모자), or 獅子(사자)?

「子」originally meant child. By extension, through the following sequence, it was further used:

To emphasise the smallness of an object.
As a diminutive suffix, conveying a sense of intimacy/endearment.
As a nominal suffix, doubling as a way of transforming a monosyllabic noun to disyllabic.

In the diminutive aspect (Chinese: 指小詞, Korean: 指小辭・지소사), its function is very similar to the examples in the answer given by the question posted here.

In 菓子 and 帽子,「子」may play any one or a combination of the three uses above; the answer is not entirely clear, as the uses are related to one-another. In 獅子,  which is obviously not small,「子」is used in sense 3 above and should be seen as the same as —이 in Korean 虎狼이.

Note, non-Mandarin Chinese languages also use diminutives; Cantonese「仔」is cognate to Mandarin「子」.


A simple form of try is 试一试： ‘试一试某事’ = 'give something a whirl/shot'
I often hear:
我不会！ I can't do it!
试一试！ Try!

You can often replace 试一试 with 尝试。

You can also use 试： 我可以试一下这双鞋吗？

try hard (to do sth.) is 努力： 如果你努力就能够做到。

also 尽力： try your hardest (to do sth.): 我们会尽力完成。


哩勒公蝦毀

This sentence refers to the pronunciation of "What did you say?" in Min-Nan

哩(ㄌㄧ): You
勒(ㄌㄟ): an auxiliary verb
公(ㄍㄨㄥ): say
蝦毀(ㄒㄧㄚ ㄏㄨㄟˇ): what

蛤？！

This word equals to "Huh? Could you speak up?". Taiwanese use this word commonly on the Internet because it's the first word choice in Bopomofo input method of "ㄏㄚˊ"


"果子" is a regional name for "糖果糕點" - any sugar, rice or wheat flour-based food that is not a staple food. This broad category includes sweet and savoury items, cakes and candy.

The 果子 in 煎饼果子 refers to the 油条 wrapped inside. Of course, regional varieties of the food can have different fillings.


Etymologically Correct Character For The Sichuanese ‘niang’ Meaning "What"

There is a better link to the article that is quoted above in this post on Sina Blog, which will let you search the whole article in your browser.

The article mentions the use of 合音字 in Qionglai and related Sichuan dialects, i.e. one character writing two syllables. Examples the author gives include “不晓” 写作 “表”，and “那样” 写作 “浪”.  Possibly 娘 is simply a 合音字 for the interrogative form 哪样.


How do I word a polite notice about toilets in Mandarin?

Written pretty well, I would just suggest switching the order...first sentence last, last sentence first


Which IMEs (input method editors) are actually most used in each of PRC, ROC, and Hong Kong?

Many people in Hong Kong use Quick aka 速成 or Simplified Cangjie.
There is a wiki link for this input method:Simplified Cangjie

There is a build-in Quick IME in Windows and Mac. Most of the Quick users use it.

Quick users type Chinese using Quick on smartphone too, as the build-in IME of smartphone that selling in Hong Kong usually support Quick.

However, some people prefer to type using 5-stroke input method(5筆畫輸入法) on phone. There is a wiki link for this input method:Wubihua method. This is a very simple input method. It is based on the stroke order of a Chinese character so as long as you write Chinese, you will know how to type.


外子 an archaic term, parallel to calling one's wife 内子. It was very common in Song dynasty（between 960 and 1279). Regarding its origins, the third volume of 《恒言录》 written by 钱大昕, a famous scholar in Qing dynasty（1636-1912), gives the following origin for 外子: "in Liang dynasty, a country during Southern and Northern Dynasties of China(420 - 589), the poet XuFei wrote a poem called “赠内诗" and his wife wrote a poem called "答外诗," and that's the origin of 外子 and 内子. By the way, 内子 and 外子 can only be used by a couple to refer to each other, meaning that you can call your husband 外子 or your wife 内子, but you never can call another women's husband 外子 or another man's wife 内子.  Lastly, what I want to say is that now we never say 外子 and 内子 in Chinese-speaking countries, including China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore.


When not to use 厕所 when asking for the toilet?

Roughly speaking, 洗手间 = bathroom/restroom and 厕所 = toilet.

洗手 literally means wash hands. It's not feminine, it's just more polite as you mentioned.

You can use either in most cases. You would use 洗手间 while eating or when talking to someone you don't know very well.


Literally, following Chinese syntax: This is give who(m) 的 present.

English: Who is this present for?

So I would say 1 and 2 are correct, but 3 might be better as above.


What is a non-gender specific way to specify a group of people when writing Chinese

他们 - "they" (men / men and women )

她们 - "they" (women )

它们 - "they" (objects)

*The term "它们" is rarely used. Most of the time, people would use "这些" (these)+ object or "那些"(those)+ object when referring a group of objects.


According to the 《國語詞典》，the「香」in「香蕉」came from the sweetness of its fruit （果實香甜）。Chinese etymology does not draw a clean line between the sense of taste and the sense of smell, which is pretty scientific when you think of the close relation between the olfactory and gustatory system. Therefore, the honeydew,「香瓜」, is also known as「甜瓜」. The meaning and etymology of「蕉」is much more complicated. The short answer will be, the term generally denotes plants belonging to the Musaceae family（芭蕉科）, of which the banana is a very well known member.


A few that are used the most in my surroundings:

好吧 (in a helpless tone) = Fine.
随便 = whatever.
都行 = whatever.
无所谓 = I don't care.
你说[X]就[X]吧 = If you say so.


者

  英文翻譯: that which; he who; those who

  《禮記·檀弓上》
  遂命子貢為之主，曰：「為爾哭也來者，拜之。」

  Accordingly he ordered Zi-gong to act as presiding mourner on the occasion, saying to him, 'Bow to those who come because you have a wailing in your house.'

之 in 拜之 is a pronoun which represents 來者.

I think it is usually used in the classical Chinese (文言文).


商店 refers to "store" that sell goods, for example, a book store where books were sold.

店舖 refers to "commercial establishment".  A restaurant, a DVD rental store (younger generation might not had seen one ), and of course, a book store,  are all 店舖


Here are loose translations:

好的 = alright!

好吧 = okay, fine... (Kind of like... going along with it)

好啊 = sure! (As Wendy said... a bit more of an upbeat tone)

好 = Okay.

行 = Sure. I guess that works

恩　= Colloquial form of grunting in agreement... kind of like a verbal nod of approval

可以/可以啊 = I can/Sure!

Or, if you agree with what someone said... You can repeat the verb, or similar verb (in this case replace 去 (go) with 走　(walk)):

A: 我们去公园吧！
B: 走啊！


Is this Chinese and what is the meaning: 阿ㄘㄟˊ

It is Amis／Pangcah (阿美族語), the language of one of the Taiwanese aborigines (台灣原住民).

阿ㄘㄟˊ ( ā céi ) means "ridiculous; crazy; unreasonable; nonsense; goofy; outrageous; nuts".

阿ㄘㄟˊ: You are nuts!

Similar phrases include 瘋了, 笨蛋, 不可理喻, 無理取鬧, 無稽之談, 胡說八道......


You're right about the company. It's full name is 科大讯飞. 科大is short for 中国科学技术大学(University of Science and Technology of China)，my Alma mater!--this company is founded by several alumni in cooperation with the university.

TTS is not difficult for 科大讯飞, and they put their effort more on speech-to-text engine. But they have open source packages for both TTS and STT, and a whole bunch of other cool stuff. Actually, they have been there at least since 2014. You could find them here (all-Chinese site): http://www.xfyun.cn/sdk/dispatcher Their TTS and STT support A LOT of dialects.

Alternatively, there is a Chinese TTS on Github: https://github.com/yantze/vim-tts  It also supports a lot of dialects, including Sichuanese.


1 - Does 着 have exactly the same meaning as 到 as a result complement?

到 as a result complement indicates the verb is accomplished

着 as a result complement also indicates the verb is accomplished

Example:

Both 找到 and 找着 means 'seek' (and found)

~

着 as a verb particle is  mostly used to indicate 'the continuation of an action or a state'

Example: 看到 = 'look '(and saw) ; 看着 = 'looking'

着 here is a verb particle that indicates 'continuous state,

Similarly: 想到 = 'think' (and remember or realize); '想着' = 'thinking'

~

着 as a verb particle can also means 'result in'

Example: 买到 = 'buy' (and bought) ; 买着 = 'buy'(and end up with)

着 here is a verb particle that indicates 'result in/ end up with'. As in '买着次貨' (buy and result in buying inferior goods)

~

  2 - How would I be completely sure if 着 would be read zhe or zháo?

着 read as /zhe5/ only when it is functioning as a verb particle that indicating the continuation of an action or a state

http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/characters/1132/


Which is the correct sentence? Question about birthday

The line without 是 is not a correct sentence because it doesn't have a verb. It's fine in spoken language but should be avoided in formal writing.
In this sentence, it is fine to omit 的 in spoken language, too.
To recap,

你的生日是几月几号？ Grammatical, fine for both formal and informal usages.
你的生日几月几号？Not a complete sentence, only used in spoken language.
你生日是几月几号？Whether it's grammatical is arguable. Regardless, it's common in spoken language.


Sure. The sequence「上帝」can be seen in Shang Dynasty oracle bone inscriptions, e.g. 《甲骨文合集》10166:

Here are some other samples in oracle bone inscriptions.

「上帝」originally meant highest ruler「帝」residing in heaven「上」(above). Other than this meaning,「上帝」doesn't bear much resemblance to the Christian's God, having nothing to do with universe creation or morality.


Why is 的 mandatory in the sentence 坐四十五分钟的二百七路

二百七路 sounds like  a bus route number. That would make it a noun
的 is acting as the preposition 'of' in this context.  It connects the quantity complement "四十五分钟" to the noun 二百七路 (45 minutes of route 207)

[坐] [四十五分钟] [的] [二百七路]
[ride] [45 minutes] [of] [route 207 (bus)]

Example of quantity complement complements verb:

坐 (v) 四十五分钟 (quantity complement)
坐 (v) 二百七路 (n) 四十五分钟 (quantity complement)

坐四十五分钟的公共汽車 can be reduced to 坐四十五分钟公共汽車 by omitting 的. Which mean 坐四十五分钟的二百七路 can also be reduced to 坐四十五分钟二百七路


How do you translate "English first name"?

其名 refers to "their name" in Chinese.
名 also refers to "given name"


Position of 在 电脑上 in "他常练习在电脑上用汉语写东西"

In "他常在电脑上练习用汉语写东西",  the location '电脑上' is placed before the verb '练习'

  他常 (he often)

  在电脑上(on computer) -- location

  练习 practice -- verb

  用汉语写东西 -- relative clause

~

  In "他常练习在电脑上用汉语写东西" ,  the location '电脑上' is placed before the verb phrase '用汉语写东西'

  他常(he often)

  练习 (verb)

  在电脑上用汉语写东西 -- relative clause

~

  在电脑上 location

  用汉语写东西 -- verb phrase (the verb is 写)

Both sentences mean "He often practices writing in Chinese on a computer". The difference is in the first sentence the location '在电脑上' is a relative phrase for the main verb '练习' (在电脑上练习) ; and in the second sentence, the location '在电脑上' is a relative phrase for the verb in the relative clause '用汉语写东西' (在电脑上用汉语写东西)


How do I translate 黄金鸡柳咖喱饭 (huángjīn jīliǔ gālí fàn), which means something like "gold chicken willow curry with rice"?

黄金 (huáng jīn) = golden (refers to the color)

鸡柳  (jī liǔ) = chicken fillet (柳 could mean finger size pieces or a steak of chicken,

牛柳 ='beef fillet'

咖喱 (gālí) = curry

饭 (fàn) = rice

  黄金 鸡柳 咖喱饭

"golden chicken fillet on curry rice" (if the golden color refer to the fried or baked chicken)
"golden curry with chicken fillet on rice" (if the golden color refer to the curry)

I have to see the picture of the dish to decide which it is.

Since there are  different color of curry , e.g. yellow curry and green curry, 'golden curry' is just another word for "黄咖喱" (yellow curry)

To make golden brown colored chicken, the chicken has to be fried/ baked with skin on or breaded)


老氏讀易得間 Help me understand this, not homework

老氏讀易得間

老氏：即老子 Laozi。

讀易：研讀《易經》 to study 《I Jing》，《Book of Changes》

得間： ㄉㄜˊ ㄐㄧㄢˋ , dé jiàn

得：得到 to get, to find, to obtain

間：是「間隙、孔竅」的意思，引申為「竅門、訣竅」。
間 means "the gaps, orifices, openings or holes", and is extended to "the tips, tricks or know-how".

得間：找到訣竅，了解其義。
To discover the tricks and understand the meanings.

老氏讀易得間
When Laozi studied the 《I Jing》, he figured out the knacks.

得間 also means 有隙可乘 or 得到機會, to get a chance.


“one” can be translated as 一个人，but usually that translation is not literary enough I think. You can translate it as “顾客” （client ）in this situation.  If  this word is used in hospital，“病人” is though to be a better translation.  Therefore，the proper translation is related to the situation you are in.


How to use / translate "as well as" in next sentences?

as well as: 和；以及；如同；像...一樣；既...又...；

Depends on the context, you can choose a suitable one.

We go to play football today as well as every sunday morning.
和每周日上午一樣，我們今天也去踢足球。
我們今天和每周日上午一樣去踢足球。
We go to play football today and every sunday morning.
我們今天和每個星期天早上都去踢足球。

I can see the road every bit as well as you can.
我可以像你一樣看清楚路上的一切。

The moon as well as the stars were shining down on them.
月亮和星星一樣照著他們。
The moon and the stars were shining down on them.
月亮和星星都照著他們。

As well as I recollect, he was about six feet tall.
根據（如同）我的記憶，他身高約六英尺。
如同我記的一樣，他約六英尺高。
依我的記憶，他約六英尺高。
據我回憶，他約六英尺高。


How to say "fail" in Mandarin? (as in "epic fail" in internet memes)

Direct translation of fail would be 失败

However, in internet context, I think 糗(qiǔ) is more suitable.

糗 means embarrassing, usually as a result of you failed something...

When used as verb, you would say 出糗, means you did something embarrassing. For example:

  我出糗了


What is the Chinese lady in this 5-second video clip saying?

"We weren't able to buy the firework and firecracker"

我们没有买到那个firework and firecracker


敢吗？= Dare you? = gǎn ma?
干嘛? = What's up? What are you doing? = gàn má?


Hope I didn't make too many mistakes! Makes a change from my text book!

首次在天空中被人目击不到两年之后，

For the first time in the air in 2 years,

中国新型“空警”-500预警机已经加入现役。

China's new type of 'sky patrol' early warning aircraft has joined active service.

“空警”-500预警机可以同时对470公里范围内的60多架飞机进行 跟踪。

This 'sky patrol'-500 early warning aircraft can simultaneously track more than 60 aircraft within a radius of 470 Kilometers.

“空警”-500“空中预警与控制系统”(AWACS)

'Sky patrol'-500 airborne early warning and control system (AWACS)

看起来更像是美国的空中预警机，

resembles the American airborne early warning system

(其上部有圆形雷达穹顶)

(whose upper section is a circular radar dome)

但体积小一些，

however, the dome is somewhat smaller,

由运-9四引擎涡轮 螺旋桨飞机

The aeroplane is powered by 4 Yun-9 turboprop engines

(类似于美国的C-130)搭载。

(similar to the American C-130) transporter aircraft.


How can I translate "notable user" into Chinese?

It seems that 知名用户 sounds natural, but I don't know in what context it is used, and what it really refers to.


i used the hong kong police force as an example:

https://www.police.gov.hk/ppp_tc/01_about_us/os_chart.html

commissioner of police --> 警務處處長

Deputy Commissioner of Police --> 警務處副處長

commissioner is the #1 of the police force, deputy commissioner is the #2;
in chinese, these're 處長 & 副處長.

then, the term "police" is translated to 警務處, that's why there're two 處 in a short title, one is from the department name, the second is from the job title.

now, the trickiest one, there're 5 "departments" (divisions) in the police force, which is also translated to "處":

director of operations a department --> 行動處處長

so, if we put together "director of operations of hong kong police (force)", we could get 香港警務處行動處處長, that 3 "處" in the title.

fortunately, it's acceptable to translate "police force" to "警隊", that the above title is 香港警隊行動處處長.

back to your question, i think he's a project manager, or the head of projects, in particular government department.

have fun :)


Books/websites for learning Chinese business letters

I think you can google '應用文'.
Because '應用文' is a method of writing a letters of Chinese.


Is the traditional form of 复 always used in “翻天復地" and why?

@johan is correct.  翻 and 覆 are the same in traditional and simplified.

What I was seeing is 飜, which is a variant that looks more complicated, so I assumed it was the traditional.

And  I was also looking at the wrong entry for 覆,   here, which shows that 覆 is only used as a variant of 复 or 復 when it means  “to reply to a letter” and not as used in the idiom.

Just a noob making noob mistakes, which I apologize for.  Thanks for taking the time to answer my question :)


Over its long history of usage, the meaning of 息 has evolved.

Yes, 息 has the connotation of message.

  (5) 消息 [message]
  (6) 又如:信息(音信;消息);息耗(消息,信息)

Its original meaning is to breathe;pant.

  (会意兼形声。从心,从自,自亦声。自,鼻子。古人以为气是从心里通过鼻子呼吸的。本义:喘气;呼吸)

And then the meaning was extended,

  人之氣急曰喘。舒曰息。引伸爲休息之偁。又引伸爲生長之偁。引伸之義行而鼻息之義廢矣。

[ Breathing slowly was called 息, and it extended again to mean rest, and extended again to mean grow. ]

And then it became to be used with its antonym 消 (get rid of;eliminate) as 消息 from pre-Qin period (先秦), means 增减;盛衰 (growth and decline), and then extended to mean 变化 (change).

Then 消息 began to be used to mean 情况 (circumstances;situation;condition).

  到了魏晋时期,“消息”的涵义则多为“情况”了.
  任何事物都会有从生长到死灭、从兴盛到衰败的发展变化过程,这种变化过程是一种“情况”.所以“消息”从“消长(生死盛衰)”的涵义演变为“情况”的涵义。

[ By the Northern and Southern Dynasties, 消息's primary meaning was situation. The process of evolution is a kind of situation, so 消息's meaning was extended from changing to situation. ]

  到了南北朝后期,“消息”便又发展出“音信”、“音讯”的涵义,而且从此就成为“消息”最主要的意思.

[ By the later stages of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, 消息's meaning was further extended to mean 音信 (mail;message;news) and 音讯.  And that became its primary meaning.]

Reference:
释息
“消息”的词义演变历程探析
从消息到信息──词义的变迁与汉语教学隅例


起来 in this case is used as an adverb. It is combined with the verb 看 together as a phrase. 看起来 means looks as if. The people who is saying this sentence may not really look inside the volume of that bag, but only guess it would be big enough for carrying things, or fit someone's figure.

You can also make some other phrases in the same way, such as 闻起来 for "smells", 吃起来 for "tastes", etc.

"这道菜闻起来很香". This dish smells delicious(but might not tried yet).
"这道菜吃起来很香". This dish tastes good.

In such cases 起来 has nothing to do with the meaning get up.


Yes, it is acceptable.

For example,

只要有人在说话，就不要插嘴。
As long as someone is talking, do not intervene.

只要下雨，我们就不去了。
As long as it rains, we will not go.

只要客户不满意，我们就不会停止服务。
If customers are not satisfied, we will not stop the service.


What's the best way to phrase "没事是......做什么?" in english?

Do you mean “没事…做什?" If it is the case, then  没事 is short for '没事要做 (without thing that has to be done); or 没事發生(nothing has happened)

  没事 means 'for no reason' or 'with no purpose' in this structure.

For example:

"没事回來做什?" (for no reason, come back for what?/ why come back for no reason?)

"没事去看醫生做什?" (for no reason, go to see the doctor for what?/ why go see the doctor for no reason?)

  It should be' 没事...作什', but '没事...做什?' is also valid because 做 is the modern counterpart of 作 in classical writting for the verb 'to do'


我知道 - I know
大概是怎么回事 - roughly what happened
但是 but
能不能有人 can someone
给我详细解释一下？ detailedly explain it to me?

我知道大概是怎么回事，但是能不能有人给我详细解释一下？

I know roughly what happened, but can someone explain it in detail to me?


What syntax is acceptable for classifier + noun + adjectival phrase

有意思的一本书 is rarely used, either in colloquial language or formal speech.

However, 很有意思的一本书 is popular, as in "这是很有意思的一本书" (interchangeable with "这是一本很有意思的书" and "这本书很有意思"). The sentence literally means "this is a book that's very interesting".

I do not know why adding "很" makes it sound right. The Google results are quite convincing, though: all of them have "很" before "有意思的一本书".

(Is it the same case with "你很漂亮" (correct) and "你漂亮" (incorrect) ?)


Glyph origin or any mnemonic for 況 and 状?

have a look of this page:

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

狀(u+72c0)﹒犬形也(form, appearance of dog)﹒从犬﹒爿聲(爿 is sound component)

爿(u+723f) is a main component of chinese character:

http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/bronzePiece.php?piece=爿

況(u+6cc1)﹒寒水也(cold water)﹒从水﹒兄聲(兄 is sound component)﹒

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

i would think that all your takes is, . . . ,well, try again :)

edited, additional info added.

my brief checking, that the term "狀況" in modern usage; the earliest one is in page 102 of 御製詩四集﹒卷七十九, by emperor 乾隆 of 清 dynasty:

https://archive.org/details/06054264.cn

the last 4 & 3 characters at the bottom of left most column.

in early 20th century, it's frequency in old hk newspaper:

1900s (8)
1910s (20)
1920s (190)
1930s (505)
1940s (217)

have fun :)


⿺走巳 or ⿺走己: Can 起 be written in two different ways?

These two are completely the same, they are just two different writing systems. 起 without a stroke is the simplified Chinese which is used in mainland China and Singapore while the character with a stroke is the traditional Chinese form which is mainly used in Taiwan and Hong Kong.

Above is an image from Baidu, it illustrates the different forms of this character in different countries and regions. From left to right is: China mainland, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and the old form (which appears in 康熙字典, a very comprehensive Chinese dictionary compiled in Qing Dynasty).


Why is stroke order important when writing Chinese characters?

The stroke order is important, yes. The main reason that explains why the stroke order is so important is that the it helps to write the character correctly, with better speed and in an easier way.

Pick a character, and try to write it with the official stroke order, and then with another one: you'll find out that in the second case it will be sometimes harder to write it and mostly it will come out with a different shape, i.e. incorrect shape, and also ugly sometimes. This is because when using the official stroke order, the character will appear with more harmonious proportions and therefore, more beautiful.

Also, I'm not sure the following are "official reasons", but I suppose that:

it helps to memorize the character and retain it too, because your muscles "remember" the movements and so does your brain;
when reading someone else's handwriting, the shape changes a lot and the movement of the pen/brush can help you to read since you know the stroke order.


How to express gratitude as a house guest?

an approach that's formal, more "literary chinese":

對府上之款待﹒先行拜謝

"先行拜謝" is, roughly "thank you in advance"

"府上" is the honourable term of "your home", you may change it to "貴府", "貴寓", or "尊府

http://dict.revised.moe.edu.tw/cgi-bin/cbdic/gsweb.cgi?o=dcbdic&searchid=Z00000038602

"款待" is, roughly "reception"

http://dict.revised.moe.edu.tw/cgi-bin/cbdic/gsweb.cgi?o=dcbdic&searchid=Z00000078380


"占我的便宜" and "吃豆腐" are all disadvantages for usage with nagetive meaning for daily Chinese people.

However, the first set phrase is NOT ONLY used to women but to other things as well. We usually use this phrase to describe a senario that someones (tries to) gain sth at the expense of others, but the expense is very little for the others. And the fixed one is very similar to "揩油"(ShangHai dialect).——This is very similar to you.

Another meaning is that “贪小”（greedy for small gains or profits）

Now let's see some Chinese samples:

不要捡地上随便掉落的元宝、金银器物，不要占便宜，否则你极可能被犯罪分子要挟勒索！

"吃豆腐" is used when a man wanna do something ugh to a woman (especially something that is dirty)：(e.g), A man in the bus is rubbing the woman with the reason that the bus is fully crowded with people.

For more, you can see this sample.


'For use in a '16 Cherokee'

款 referring to the model type/year (2016)

自由光 being the model (Jeep Cherokee)

专用 Exclusive use / Dedicated


Understanding the role of 將 in a sentence

Is the 將 here the written equivalent of 把

Yes, and it's more formal than 把. According to the context, especially "屏退拉車手", "親自將姜尚請回都城" indicates that "周文王" pulled the cart by himself; while "周文王親自請姜子牙與他回都城" doesn't have such intent strongly. With the usage of "將" (or "把"), the object of the action, "姜尚" (and then the action, "親自拉車") gets emphasized.


How to say "What was your favourite subject" and "tell me something interesting about you"

Here are causal ways:

What was your favorite subject?

你上学的时候最喜欢什么课？

你上学的时候：time indicator
什么课："subject" 科目 would be the same as "course" 课 for a student. "课" is more casual than "科目"

Tell me something interesting about you.

你有没有什么有意思的特点？说来听听。

有意思：causal version of 有趣
特点：characteristic of a person
说来听听：causal way to say "tell me"
This question is rarely asked by Chinese, as far as I know. We usually don't advertise ourselves by attaching interesting things and features to ourselves. Instead, we usually ask/talk about experiences, like "tell me an interesting experience of you." 你有没有什么有趣的经历？说来听听。


What is the difference between 人民 and 民族？

人民 is translated as "(the) people". You can find it in popular expressions like:

  人民共和国 = People's Republic; as Huang said in the comments, if we include China it becomes "中华人民共和国"
  人民币 = Renminbi (the Chinese currency. 币 means "money, coins, currency".)
  人民日报 = "People's Daily" (a newspaper)

民族 means "ethnic group, nationality", for example:

  中央民族大学 Central University for Nationalities

All of the examples have been taken from the CEDICT dictionary.


听说只有三个(考生)得了满分 -- I heard that only three (examinees) got full marks

听说只有三个得了满分的(考生)--  I heard that there are only three (examinees) who got full marks

The object 考生 was omitted

考生 = examinee

得了满分的考生 = examinee who got full mark

'得了满分的' is an adjectival phrase that describes '考生'


What is the role of 曾经 in this sentence?

'曾经' means 'once' here. This word is used when you talk about some situation that has occurred or has been experience before. I don't find this case weird at all.

'宣布过' is similar to '曾经宣布', actually '曾经宣布过' is also good here.

'了' is different. It stresses on the fact that some action or behavior has been finished.

By the way, there's no 'tense' in Chinese. You may say that these words are related to the past, so the sentences that have them are usually translated into past tense.


Counterproductive - 起到反作用 - how to parse?

I think you can see it nicely here:
作为回应采取了一些措施，
Some measures adopted in response,
比如限制出口，
such as export restrictions,
起到了强烈的反作用。
led to (a) strong counter-effect. = have been highly counterproductive.
起到： give rise to
反作用： opposite, counter-effect


Any formula for final sentences in 長爪梵志請問經 (Dirghanakha-sutra)?

1) Yes, "皆大歡喜，信受奉行" is one of the common closing sayings in the sutras. For example,

皆大歡喜，信受奉行。《金剛般若波羅蜜經》
皆大歡喜，信受奉行。《大方廣圓覺修多羅了義經》
悉皆歡喜，信受奉行。《占察善惡業報經》
皆大歡憙，信受奉行，禮佛而退。《佛說月光菩薩經》

The other common closing saying is "皆大歡喜，作禮而去". For example,

諸比丘聞經歡喜，為佛作禮而去。《六度集經》
諸比丘聞佛所說，皆大歡喜，為佛作禮。《佛說菩薩本行經》
聞佛所說，歡喜信受，作禮而去。《佛說阿彌陀經》
一切大會，皆大歡喜，受持佛語，作禮而去。《妙法蓮華經》
皆大歡喜，作禮而去。《楞嚴經》
聞佛所說，皆大歡喜，禮佛而退。《佛說觀無量壽佛經》

2)
皆 all (the crowd)
大 very; greatly
歡喜 pleased; glad; joyful; happy; delighted; gleeful

皆大歡喜: "all the [sentient beings] rejoyced greatly"
Yes, the translation is correct.

信 to believe
受 to accept
奉 respectfully
行 to perform; to practice

信受奉行
believe, accept and respectfully perform/practice the teaching.

作禮 to salute
而去 then leave

作禮而去
salute and then leave


Is there an idiomatic way to express 乱说 or 胡说八道 in an elegant way?

Basic

没有根据 unfounded
不合逻辑 illogical
不可信 untrustworthy
没有说服力 unpersuasive

Advanced

信口开河：说话没有根据，不可靠。（嘴巴随意张开。信口：随口。开河：原为开合。）
信口雌黄：不顾事实，随口乱说或妄作评论。（雌黄：Correction fluid used in ancient China）
天方夜谭 (noun)：虚妄荒诞的言论。（《天方夜谭》 is the previous translation of One Thousand and One Nights《一千零一夜》. Used for unfounded speech like a mythology / fairy tale）

Unbiased language
I personally use 乱说 rather than 胡说 or 瞎说.

胡 means foreign, e.g. 胡椒 black pepper (which is not origin in China). Although 胡 has the meaning of 乱 and beard/moustache in dictionary, I still think 胡说 is a stereotype on foreign citizens. Does foreigner's speech imply nonsense?
瞎 means is offensive way to say blind. 失明 and 视觉障碍 are inclusive language. I don't think 瞎说 is appropriate.


In addition to meanings explained by other answers, 傻屌 are much more offensive and vulgar than沙雕.

沙雕 is generally used humourously to describe weird or stupid but funny behaviours or lame jokes, as with a lot of memes. It is still vulgar but I would not call it offensive (unless it is directed to a person as an insult and used to avoid censorship of 傻屌). You will see mainstream websites use 沙雕 (e.g. 沙雕网友) liberally (not in serious news, though).


The person who buys the company shares you are selling is the 接盘

Metaphorically, 接盘侠 is a man, 侠, who 接盘s

A is a loose woman, B and others are her lovers, maybe she gets pregnant, B does not want her, so she looks for C or D or E, seems to love him, asks if he wants to marry her, has sex with him then says, "OMG, I'm pregnant!"

接盘侠 is 喜当爹

喜当爹：a man who is not so interesting, likes a woman, the woman is aloof, but eventually comes back to him, because she is pregnant. She marries him because her socially and otherwise more attractive boyfriend doesn't want her, or can't, for family reasons, have her.


How do I translate these criticisms about Australia by Chinese netizens? E.g., 我实名不满澳大利亚，狗腿子一个！还有脸说没听过。

Well, usually this kind of disputes passes very soon (e.g. Japan-China), and I hope it's the case here. The comments in these contexts can be genuine or simply agitators looking to get likes by exploiting the situation.

实名不满/实名反对/实名举报 is not a typo. It means to express dissatification/opposition or raise complaint "openly with real name". 实名举报 came first as a complaint with real name is considered stronger than an anonymous one; and it can be dangerous, especially under a less transparent/democratic government and government censorship.

It can be used even if you are using a pseudoname online as a generic emphasizer in saying that you are not an astroturf account; this is your real opinion; you are unshamed and unafraid to have this opinion.

狗腿子 is close in meaning to 走狗 running dog.
The well is referring to the tale of a frog in a well (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kupamanduka), meaning a person (the frog) has narrow perspectives since they can only see the world from the opening of the well (as they are at the bottom of the well).

The use of 无懈可击 here is sarcastic, saying the reasoning of the previous sentence (by Australians presumably) is so "strong" (akin to "I can't even argue with this logic!!").

I think the poster was trying to say the logic for "The reason for criticizing China's web as not open is he believes online views are fake" is kind of circular. But I'm having trouble to comprehend the sentence (I can understand the semantics but not the logic).
It is a reference to Jiang Zemin (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toad_worship, not an ideal article, but good enough for overview; most English articles on Chinese online subcultures are too ideologically driven, it's better to just participate in Chinese online communities and learn by immersion):

  In the first video, Jiang lashed out at Hong Kong journalist Sharon Cheung in Zhongnanhai when he met with Chee-hwa Tung, Chief Executive of Hong Kong at that time. Ms. Cheung asked if Jiang supported Tung's campaign for Chief Executive, which Jiang affirmed. Cheung then asked if it meant the Chinese government had already decided internally to re-appoint Tung. This made Jiang very upset, and criticized her for twisting his words to "make big news." Jiang then continued to criticize the Hong Kong media on the whole, claiming that they need to learn to ask more meaningful questions, even stating that "Mike Wallace of the US is at a much higher level than you are."

Here is the Chinese Wikipedia article on the incident. The original quote from Jiang was:

  你们啊，不要想……喜欢……这…欸弄个大新闻，说现在已经钦定了，再把我批判一番。
  You guys...Don't...[You guys] Like to make a big news, saying [the choice of Chief Executive] is already decided [by the Central government], and then [you will again] criticize me.

The poster is criticizing the Australian journalists are trying to "make a big news (out of nothing)". I think [并不简单] is an emoji transcription (?) not meaningful without the actual emoticon. (After all,  is sometimes just transcribed as "joy", which doesn't capture the full meaning)
"Robots" as in astroturfing accounts. Consider the fictionary (but based on a thread I actually read) following exchange on Twitter:

  A: I support Bernie Sanders, don't vote for Joe Biden!!
  B: You are a Russian bot!!!
  A: Sure I am a Russian bot, no Amercian ever likes universal public healthcare.

This is what the poster was trying to do here. I'm not sure what this kind of "arguing" technique is called.
I think your translation works, or just "[I] have never seen such a shameless journalist."


What's the difference between 让, 令 and 使?

让 is frequently used in speech, usually translated with "to make somebody do something" or "to let". Your other examples illustrate it nicely.

让我想一想 (= let me think a bit)

The most fundamental difference between 让 and 使 is that 使 means basically "cause to", therefore it's used mostly when it refers to inanimate entities or when there is no intention.

山火使空气严重污染 (= wildfires cause the air to become heavily polluted)
中国经济增长使新西兰获益 (= China's economic growth causes New Zealand to profit)

You can of course translate that more liberally, but the basic meaning remains.
Note that 让 can some times be used with inanimate subjects too. I see that as a colloquialism.
令 is more formal, but used in speech as well, mostly in constructions like 令人X where X is some phrase denoting feelings. Your understanding is correct.

令人吃惊
令人愤怒
令人印象深刻


Stative verbs in Chinese: only for adjectives?

As a native speaker, I have noticed such a phenomenon for many years, but I have never thought of the logic or reasons behind it. Perhaps we should not (or even could not) go too far on this topic.

This topic is academic, I believe. You would find many papers on this topic when you search on the internet (I use the key word: "汉语 形容词 谓语"). After reading some papers and thinking of how I would say in different cases, I think we'd better say "some adjectives could be used as the predicate in Chinese" and there are some fixed patterns where an adjective is used in this case. I would like to elaborate on this topic from several points.

1. Types of the Adjective
As Claw pointed out, there are two types of adjectives in Chinese (though, in academic world, there are some disputes on this. Someone holds that the adjectives (the term used now) in Chinese should be classified into two different parts of speech): "attributive" and "predicative". The difference between the two types is: "Can this adjective be modified with 很 (very)?"

2. Patterns for Attributive Adjectives
You could use the construction "[subject]是[attributive adj]的". In English, the verb "be (是 in Chinese)" is indispensable and it's called "Link Verb". In this case, the use of the adjective is similar with that in English.

3. Patterns for Predicative Adjectives
The problem becomes a little complicated now. I can come up with some patterns.

1. degree adverb (很,非常,十分,有些,有点,不) + adj.
This is the pattern your examples use. In this case, I agree that the meaning of "很" weakens a lot. It seems that "很" works like a "marker". Of course, you may use "非常" or "十分" to express "very" if you really want to.

In general, it sounds very wierd "我好" ("你好" is another story, since it has been a usage or one interjection word, I think), "他高" in Chinese, but I think in some cases they are acceptable.
a. In a question and in the reply to that question.

  Q: 他帅吗？ Is he handsome?
  A: 他帅。He is handsome

b. Used in two clauses to express parallel, comparsion or condition.

  他胖，我不胖。 He is fat, (while) I am not fat.
  你高兴，我就高兴。 (If) you are happy, I am happy.
  这篇小说精彩，那篇也精彩。 This novel is excellent and that one is excellent too.

c. 又+adj+又+adj,既+adj+且+adj
Such patterns is used to connect two parallel words.

  这个苹果又大又圆。 This apple is big and round.
  敌人既凶残且愚蠢。 THe enemies are cruel and stupid.

2. Main subject (abbr: MS) + Subject's Property or Part (abbr: SP) + adj
This pattern is used to decribe the property of something.
Note: English translations in the parentheses are more formal, I think.

  他形容*憔悴。 His appearance is emaciated. (He looks emaciated)

Here, MS=他,SP=形容 and 憔悴 is the adj.
*形容 is a noun here, which means "the appearance of, the look of [a man]". Dont' be confused with "形容 (to describe)" as in "形容词 (adjective)".

  他工作能力强。 His work ability is strong. (He is capable of doing the work)

Here, MS=他,SP=工作能力 and 强 is the adj.

  我浑身无力。 My all body is feeble (I am feeble all over, from head to foot)

Here, MS=我, SP=浑身 and 强 is the adj.

3.Subject+Adjective+"了"
This pattern is used to express that the subject has been "adj" or has become (turned) "adj".

  树叶红了 The leaves has turned red.
  她漂亮了 She has become beautiful (Implies: she was not beautiful in the past but she is beautiful now)

4. Why do we need "很" here?<
fefe thinks that this is related to the length of syllables, but I don't think so. Because even with a two-character adjective, we still could not use the consctruction "Subject+Adj" to form a sentence (except for the cases I listed above). You won't say "她漂亮", though "漂亮" has two characters. Instead, you would say

  她很漂亮 or 她非常漂亮 (note 非常 has two characters)

In classic Chinese, ”是" was seldom used as "to be" and an adjective could be used as a verb or predicate directly. I really don't know why "很" or such adverbs are needed, but that just happens in Chinese.

  春风又绿江南岸  from the poem of 《泊船瓜洲》 by 王安石
  绿: [adj]green. Here: to make something green

  亲贤臣，远小人，此先汉之所以兴隆也。 from 《出师表》 by 诸葛亮
  远:[adj] remote, far. Here: to keep oneself from, to be far away from

I just read 《史记·淮阴侯列传》 (the biography of 韩信) and I found some good examples with adjectives in classic Chinese.

  信亦知其意，怒，竟绝去。 In modern Chinese, I would say,

  韩信也知道她的用意，很生气，最终离开。 Hanxin also understood her intention, so he became angry [at her] and left at last.

  信数(shù)与萧何语，何奇之。

  韩信与萧何交谈几次后，萧何[对他的军事才能]感到惊奇 After several talks with Hanxin, Xiaohe got suprised [with Hanxin's military talent]

  见信死，且喜且怜之。

  [刘邦]看见韩信已死，又高兴又同情。 [Liubang] found Hanxin was dead; [he was] happy and sympathized


原 (original/ first)

配 (match)

"原配" is short for "原配夫人" (first legal wife)

In olden time China, it was very common for rich men to have multiple legal wives. And the first wife is called  "原配夫人" or simply "原配".
Nowadays, it simply means a man's wife

手 = hands

撕 = tear

The term 手撕 is most commonly seen in "手撕鸡" (hand shredded chicken)

"小三" is nickname for  "mistress" (a man's out of wedlock lover)
"(原配)(手撕小三)"  means "(wife) (tears mistress apart with her own hands)"

"原配手撕小三" describes "a man's wife attacks that man's mistress and humiliates her"
In other words: "妻子狠狠羞辱情婦"(Wife humiliates mistress severely)

"Attack" here mostly refers to verbal abuse like names calling and yelling. The term 手撕 implies some physical contact is involve. (roughed her up)


生气 -> 生我的气 . 的 in a certain grammatical structure

生气 is a verb for "get angry; take offence"

'的' in  生我的气 is an 'adjectival particle' that turns the noun '我'(I) into  '对我的'(toward me)

'生气' (get angry) --> '生(对)我的(怒)气' = ( 生气 *at me**) = (get angry at me)

'生气' is a two characters verb, but '气' in '生我的气', is treated as a noun '怒气'

more example:

'发火' (get mad) -->'发不必要的火' = (发 unnecessary 火) = (get mad unnecessarily )

'发火' is a two characters verb, but '火' in '发不必要的火' is treated as a noun '怒火'

A more telling example:

  问话 [ask word] = questioning

  问你的话 [ask your word] = questioning you

  '话' here is treated as a noun 'words' instead of part of the two characters word 问话 (questioning)


To translate a menu, you may remember:

Each one course is a noun or a phrase, avoid sentence or very long phrase;
Avoid colloquial language, use formal written language.

For example: use "無" instead of "沒". use "開胃菜" but not "起頭菜".

Here are some my translations:

Oxtail in Madeira & horseradish broth & herb dumplings (gluten free without dumplings): 馬德拉（馬嗲利 in Cantonese）燴牛尾(or紅燴牛尾)配辣根素丸(除素丸外無谷蛋白)

mustard mash: 芥末薯蓉

Savoy cabbage: 高麗菜

It's likely that your language environment of Chinese is Cantonese, so I applied traditional Chinese as much as possible, but a few usage may not be the same since I speak Mandarin.


Looking at 我很好 this falls into the "When there are three 3rd tones in a row"

The 我 is one syllable so it falls into this part:

  If the first word is one syllable, and the second word is two
  syllables, the first syllable becomes half-3rd tone (˨˩), the second
  syllable becomes 2nd tone, and the last syllable stays 3rd tone

For this 我也很好 this is logically split like this (我也) and (很好) which would result in two lots of

  the first syllable becomes 2nd tone (˧˥), and the second syllable
  becomes a half-3rd tone (˨˩)

At least that's what the rules say. As per my comment above, don't bother memorizing this. It is more likely an incidental phenomenon as a result of regular use of the language. In other words, you will pick it up by learning to speak it fluently rather than trying to learn it from paper.


In this context

没有兴趣 means "has no interest"  or "not interested" (not something you like to do or care about)
没有意思 means "meaningless", if something is meaningless to you, it is a given that you are not interested in it.

The implied meaning in the sentence "养宠物没有意思" is  "对我來説, 养宠物没有什么意思." (To me, keeping pet is meaningless)

Look at it the other way:

这玩意很有趣 This stuff is very interesting

我对这玩意很有兴趣 I am very interested in this stuff

这玩意很有意思 This stuff is very meaningful (therefore, your are interested in it)

  When to use one over the other?

When you say "没有兴趣" (I am not interested), you are expressing your personal preference about a topic, e.g. 'you may not like fishing, but you are not saying fishing is boring'
When you say "没有意思" (meaningless to me), you are giving your low opinion on the topic, e.g. 'you really think fishing is waste of time'


Why curse the unborn to be without an anus?

生仔冇屎忽 (Cantonese)
粗口之一，用作詛咒一人的後代。
狹義來說，是詛咒一人的兒子生下來會是怪胎；但現在此字眼通常用作詛咒一人，暗示他的行為會為他本人或家人帶來惡果。
現實中，生仔無屎忽的事例的確存在，被稱為閉肛症。古時有此病症者，因嬰孩不能排便，必然導致死亡，因此生仔無屎忽為非常惡毒的咀咒。現今來說，雖可施手術令到有此缺陷嬰孩通便，但因該嬰孩沒有可控制排便的肛門，即使成長，也需攜帶便袋，而渾身也會隱隱發出陣陣便臭。

~

生儿子没屁眼
因为真的发生过。
大概这是中国人能想到的最恶毒的诅咒之一。在所有的身体缺陷中，可能中国人认为这是最悲惨的一种，想想如果没有肛门，那小孩还能活吗？最后肯定憋死，这句话没法追根溯源，我猜有人开始这样骂别人，被别人听到后感觉这话够劲，就纷纷开始模仿，中国人喜欢跟风你也知道，自古就这样。而且只要骂这个，被骂的人没有不怒的，作为挑衅妥妥的管用。但事实上，先天性肛门闭锁是真的在现实里存在的，可以通过手术治疗，再造一个人造肛门就可以了。

~

Anus is considered 'dirty' in most cultures,  mentioning '屎忽 / 屁眼' (asshole)  is common in profanity. For example; 入你屎眼, 屎忽鬼, 食屎疴飯 in Cantonese,  屁股精 in Mandarin

Cursing someone's family is considered more hurtful than cursing that person himself or herself. Chinese believe one's evil deed will cause misfortune to his or her descendants, and son represent someone's future lineage

Cursing someone's child born without an anus is one of the most vicious curse possible. (not only someone's son will die, he will also suffer horribly before he dies )

閉肛症 or 先天性肛门闭锁 is a real birth deformity


Can I split up time phrases and adverbs?

The standard word order is Subject Adverb Verb Object.  Time adverbs are much more fluid in positioning than place adverbs, i.e., can do S time-adverb V O, or time-adv S V O.

The difference is what I call "focus" (I distinguish between "focus" and "emphasis", as there are emphasis words, e.g., 并 to go with 不, emphasizing the negative).

他今天八点要去看电影: sentence starts with 他, so the focus is on 他 (not 我, not 你), i.e., What's he going to do?

今天他八点要去看电影: sentence starts with 今天, so the focus is on 今天 (not yesterday, not tomorrow), i.e., "What's happening today? He is going to see a film at 8 o'clock" (whereas I'm going to do something else, say; implied, not necessarily overt contrast).

Ditto with:
电影六点就开始了: sentence starts with 电影, so focus is on 电影.
六点电影就开始了: sentence starts with 六点, so focus is on 六点.

It's what I call (in my teaching) the linguistic flagging up equivalent of physically holding up 1 of, say, 3 objects.  All eyes will look at the object held up, so when you say, "It is...", they know which of the 3 objects "it" refers to.  So when you start with 今天, they'll focus on 今天, not 昨天 or 明天.  When you start with 他, they'll focus on 他, not 我, not 你.


What does the 3rd symbol on this sword label mean?

my initial guess, the 3rd character is 刻 (u+523b)

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

the seal script in the picture is slightly deviated from standard one.

anyway, i guess your sword is made by 光雲堂, a japanese carving knife manufacturer; maybe you can ask them directly :)

http://kouundou.com/index.html


Differences between "Verb + Adj", "Adj + Verb", "Verb + 得 + Adj" and "Adj + 地 + Verb"?

I will suggest my ideas (probably there are some mistakes, so please point them out). For each case I believe there can be several possibilities.

Verb + Adj :

Adj is an adverb defining or restricting the meaning of the Verb. For example,

一个人会走快很多，但两个人好像更有趣。
Yīgèrén huì zǒu kuài hěnduō, dàn liǎng gè rén hǎoxiàng gèng yǒuqù.
One person walks a lot faster, but two people seem to be more interesting.

Here, 快很多 is an adverb that specifies a relevant characteristic of the verb to walk. The important idea is not to walk but to walk a lot faster.

The ... + Verb is the subject of the adjectival verb Adj. For example:

我们出去好。
Wǒmen chūqù hǎo.
It would be good if we go out.

Here, 我们出去 (we go out) is the subject of the adjectival verb 好 (is good).

The Adj is the direct object of the Verb. For example:

我觉得很惭愧。
Wǒ juédé hěn cánkuì.
I feel very embarassed.

Here, 很惭愧 (very embarassed) is the direct object of the verb 觉得 (to feel).

Adj + Verb:

If the Adj is an adverb of time, it signals the time of the action. Such is the case of 快 which can also mean soon. For example:

他快回来了。
Tā kuài huíláile.
He'll be back soon.

The Adj is actually a verb. For example:

我每天都努力学习.
Wǒ měitiān dū nǔlì xuéxí.
I study hard every day.

努力 is a verb meaning to make a great effort. So here we have Verb + Verb and 学习 is the direct object of the verb 努力: to make a great effort studying.

The Adj is placed in the topic position but the underlying structure is Verb + Adj. For example:

这道题很难解。
Zhè dào tí hěn nán jiě.
This problem is difficult to solve.

Here, 这道题很难 is the object + verb placed in the topic position. We can rearrange the sentence to its "natural" order:

解这道题很难。
Jiě zhè dào tí hěn nán.
It is difficult to solve this problem.

We see that actually 解这道题 (to solve this problem) is the subject of the adjectival verb 很难 (very difficult).

Verb + 得 + Adj: The adjective describes (instead of restricting) the manner or the result of the state of an action. For example:

他走得很慢。
Tā zǒu dé hěn màn.
He walks (in a manner) very slowly.

他教得累了。
Tā jiào de lèile.
He taught so much (to the result) that he is tired.

Adj + 地 + Verb: The Adj + 地 is an adverb that defines or restricts the manner in which the action is carried in a particular situation. Because of this, it can be used for commands. For example:

你快快地跑。
Nǐ kuài kuài dì pǎo.
Run quickly!


What are the most common Chinese terms for travel power adapters between different international socket and plug standards?

「转换插头」 just as printed on the picture you provided.

Or, less commonly, 「插座转换器」「电源插座转换器」, etc.


are there any free bilingual sources of chinese proverb?

the internet archive is your friend. unfortunately, it's blocked in "that area" :(

the first one: a handbook of the chinese language, by james summers, printed in 1863

in page 95 & page 97, there're several proverbs translated in english:

https://archive.org/stream/handbookofchines00summiala#page/95/mode/1up

https://archive.org/stream/handbookofchines00summiala#page/97/mode/1up

on page 393, the original text:

https://archive.org/stream/handbookofchines00summiala#page/n392/mode/1up

sample: 恭敬不如從命　⋯　"to feel reverence is not as good as to give obedience"

the next one: essays on the chinese language, by thomas watters, printed in 1889

page 493 - 496, there're chinese proverbs of Buddhist origin

https://archive.org/stream/essaysonchinesel00wattrich#page/492/mode/2up
https://archive.org/stream/essaysonchinesel00wattrich#page/494/mode/2up
https://archive.org/stream/essaysonchinesel00wattrich#page/496/mode/1up

sample: 與人方便與己方便　⋯　"do good to others and you do good to yourself"

last one is: an english and chinese dictionary, a "revised version" of william lobscheid's dictionary, printed in 1883, in tokio.

the appendix is the gem, from page 1227-1373. which has bilingual texts ranged from trimetrical classic (三字經), wisdom verses, merits, thousands of famous phrases and proverbs; and miscellaneous "common knowledges" of the days of yore. all in literary chinese and english.

samples:

有利必興．有害必除　⋯　"what is profitable must be put into action, what is injurious must be removed"

有緣千里能相會．無緣對面不相逢　⋯　"no distance can separate what heaven unites, or unite what heaven separates"

月明月明不可獨行．寔要獨行手提紅燈　⋯　"bright moon, bright moon, but don't walk alone; if you must walk alone, take a red lantern in your hand"

anyone who want a genuine "chinese proverb", have a read of these books, particularly the last one.

or, anyone who want to "fake" one, study these thoroughly.

do it better, please


To answer your question, we need a little basic phonetics: A vowel has two main attributes -- how open your mouth is when you are making the sound, and whether the sound is made at the front of the mouth or at the back. For example, FLEE vowel is close and front, FLU vowel is close and back. BAN vowel is open (more open than BET, which is more open than FLEE) and front, START vowel is open and back. The FUN vowel is usually in the mid of the mouth, but not as open as START.

The BAN vowel is more open in some accents in England than in the general American accent. As Stan has found, the vowel in http://www.macmillandictionary.com/pronunciation/british/ban is front and very open, more open than the same vowel in American accent.

Now, regarding your original question what 'more central' means, it means that you open your mouth as wide(open) as the BAN vowel in the audio clip above, but move the tongue position a bit towards the back. As a side note, the standard mandarin accent uses a mid vowel in pinyin ban, while the Taiwanese accent uses a fronter variant (just like the BAN vowel in the audio clip).


Why is 他 put after 出 in 认出他来 in 女大夫很快认出他来?

认 (recognize/identify) is the verb and  出 is its result complement

认 = to recognize

认出 = to recognize (and success)

We cannot insert the object between a verb and its result complement

Examples:

We cannot insert the object between '看见' and say '看(他)见' , we can only say '看见(他)'
we cannot insert the object between '听到' and say '听(声音)到' , we can only say '听到(声音)'
we cannot insert the object between '认出' and say '认(他)出' , we can only say '认出(他)'

I think the confusion come from the presence of '来' at the end

If it was just '女大夫很快(认出他)', we can clearly see '女大夫很快(认他出)' is grammatically incorrect

But in '女大夫很快(认出他来)' '认' would be a single character verb and 出来(out) would be a preposition (away from inside)

[认][他][出来] = [verb] + [object] +[preposition (out)] which would be grammatically correct -- That's why you think '他' should be placed before '出', but the fact is, 他 could only be placed before '出来' , not '出' (see example #3 above)
[认出他][来] = [verb + result complement+ object] + [final particle 来 (indicates an outcome)] which would also be grammatically correct - It is what we see in the sentence in question

More examples of  出来 as a preposition (out):

推(出来) = push (out)

拉(出来) = pull (out)

For the above two examples, you have to insert the object between the verb and 出来, as in "推(他)出来" = "push (him) out" ; "拉(他)出来" = "push (him) out"


What does 着急 mean in 我们不能太着急 in the context of exam-oriented education (应试教育) versus all-round education (素质教育)?

I suggest: "We shouldn't rush the process" since it's a long and painful process you're talking about.


What is 和 used for in 和西方人过圣诞节差不多，这是一个全家团聚的节日?

Here the use of 和 and 差不多 is similar to the phrasing "Like how" in English.

"Like how Westerners celebrate Christmas, this [Chinese New Year] is a holiday when the entire family gets together."


Rules on when to read characters in sequence

There is actually no straightforward way except base on your own experience. And this is one of the biggest problem leads to misleading, especially in ancient Chinese. Taking examples:

Confucius Lun Yu （论语）

民可使由之不可使知之

can be understood by:

民,可使由之;不可使知之 -- (The governor) can make use of the people, but cannot let them know the purpose.

民可，使由之;不可，使知之 -- If people are allowed to do something, let them do it; otherwise, let them know why they are not allowed.

An old funny story in my memory

下雨天留客天留我不留

下雨天留客,天留我不留 -- As a guest, even the god wants you to stay (in my home) because of the rain, I won't let you stay.

下雨天,留客天,留我不?留! -- A rainy day is a day that the guest should stay, should (you) let me stay? Sure!

Even in modern Chinese, the problem still stay:

我们中出了一个叛徒

我们 中 出了 一个 叛徒 -- There is one betrayer in us.

我们 中出了 一个 叛徒 -- We had sexual interaction with a betrayer.


What is the difference: "和小猫一样可爱" and "像小猫一样可爱"

In daily spoken language, these two sentences express the same thing (lovely). But there is some tiny difference. 和…一样 emphasizes the comparison, it's something like the expression as ... in English or tan...como... in Spanish. 像…一样 emphasizes the trope, it says A is similar to B so that A shares the feature "lovely" with B.


I believe in the poem, the (hidden) subject should be the horse instead. It should go like

（馬）惟意所欲適
The horse dashes as it (my mind) wishes

The basic sentence should be 馬適, which means the horse goes, as mentioned by 水巷孑蠻.
The adverbial clause is 惟意所欲, which means 'only that the mind wishes', in other words 'freely'. In a way 惟 is there for emphasis.
As for the second part of your question, 為所欲為 again has an implied subject. If we insert 他 the sentence should go like this:

（他）為（他）所欲為
He does whatever he wishes to do

But the second 他 is omitted because it is already understood from the context. It is omitted out of simplicity, so much so the phrase 為所欲為 has become an idiom and somewhat adjectival.
Edit
I did find uses of 唯所欲為. See

今韓子務尊其尤強硬，最能欺奪之一人，使安坐而出其唯所欲為之令。嚴復《辟韓》

The clause 唯所欲 is adverbial on 為, specifying the extent of liberty one has when he gives his orders. When combined, they mean 'orders belonging to the kind where he only does what he wishes', or more succinctly, 'orders entirely out of his wish'.
Against my intuition, Google returned 14,500,000 for 唯所欲為, 17,400,000 惟所欲為, and only 11,100,000 for 為所欲為. I think in terms of modern usage, they mean almost the same. Only their explanations are different, and I personally use 為所欲為.
In summary: 惟 is for emphasis, and 為 is the verb 'to do'. 所欲 invariably has a hidden subject 其 before it, meaning 'that he wishes'.

Edit #2
I read the question here (p.41).
The first and second choices are wrong because the meaning of 適 is interpreted as 適(かな)ふ, or the Chinese equivalent of 適合. The right interpretation should be 適(ゆ)く.
The third and fifth choices are also wrong because 意 is interpreted as the verb 意(おも)う, where the right part of speech here should be a noun. By process of elimination the fourth choice is no doubt the best answer.
But their interpretation is slightly different from ours. Essentially it treated these five characters (in bold) as an incomplete adverbial phrase altogether (adverbial on the hidden verb 適, italicised). Their complete sentence should be

馬惟吾意之所欲適而適
The horse goes only to the place where my mind desires to go

That is evidenced by the addition of the dummy verb する in にして of the translation. It is equivalent to the italicised 適 here.
Ours, however, treated the same five characters (in bold) as a sentence save the hidden subject.

馬惟吾意之所欲而適
The horse goes only to the place where my mind desires

I believe both renditions are perfectly fine. The key difference lies in the understanding of whether the adjacent verbs 欲 and 適 belong to the same adverbial phrase (as in their case), or not (as in our case).
I added three characters 吾, 之, and 而 for clarity, with the following justifications:

The 意 should be the poet's mind; see 馬雖有四足，遲速在吾心. (I translated it as the horse's own mind before this edit and have now corrected it)
The 所 particle nominalises whatever verb(s) that follow(s) it. In order for two immediately adjacent nouns, i.e. 意 and 所欲(適), to make sense, the structural particle 之 can be inserted to indicate possession.
The 而 particle is there for readability, creating a syntactical pause between the adverbial phrase 惟意所欲(適) and the verb 適.

As for your follow-up question, I believe adding 從 improves readability and does not alter the essential meaning, but it does touch up the syntactical structure within the adverbial phrase. 惟 no longer ornaments the nominal compound 意所欲(適) but the verbal phrase 從意所欲.


Usage of 行 as "walk" in Literary Chinese

行 cannot be used to mean walk to unless it is paired with 走 or 步. For example:

  The Buddha walks to the pagoda.

菩萨行走到佛塔旁。

or

菩萨步行到佛塔旁。

The first translation does not read well although the second also reads a bit awkward. Normally people would just write 菩萨走到佛塔旁。

Normally, 行 is not used alone to mean walk either.

Translating he walks into 他行 will likely confuse people. The most common word for walk is 走, no matter in oral or written Chinese. Therefore, he walks is 他走 in Chinese, although it does not make much sense.

It can be translated differently depending on the scenario, such as 他会走, meaning he can walk, or 他在走, meaning he is walking, 他走了几步, meaning he walks a bit.

A single word 行 can only mean walk when it is used in an idiom or proverb. For example:

  读万卷书，行万里路

which is a Chinese proverb directly translated as read thousands of books and walk thousands of miles. Its implied meaning is you have to read a lot to be knowledgeable and practice more to learn to use your knowledge.

"行" when used alone, is more likely to mean OK, sure, all right, be capable of etc.

  他行的

He is OK for doing something. He is capable of doing something.

  -能帮我去买点东西吗？ - 行！

Can you buy me something? - Sure!

  你行不行啊？

Are you able to do it or not?

  佛行塔

Does not make sense in Chinese, although one may eventually understand the phrase after a deep thinking about the meaning of each individual word.

Similar to English, you usually need to use a preposition between a verb (intransitive) and a noun. When you say Buddha walks to pagoda, to is the preposition. In Chinese, 到 is the preposition equivalent to to.

Thus, 佛走到塔.

This is better, a lot easier to understand, but not good enough.

In English, when you say walk to pagoda, it means keep walking until you are next/close to pagoda. The prepositions in Chinese has to be very specific. 到 only means "arrive at", but you have to explicitly use the preposition to tell the reader whether you arrive at the front of the pagoda or the side of it. Use 前 if it is the front or 旁, 边 or 旁边 if it is the side.

Thus, 佛走到塔前/旁/边/旁边.

Sorry that I've gone a bit far from your original question. I only want to correct your mistake :)


Very interesting question!

嗯 is pronounced as ǹg，ńg，ňg，ǹ，ń，ň.

ńg, ń: means what？, or 什么？It expresses surprise or raise a question.

ǹg，ǹ: means I get it, I know it, or 好，我知道了

ňg，ň: means no, I don't want that, we say 嗯，不是，...

The way to pronounce ǹ，ń，ň is that you put your tongue in the place while you pronounce the phonetic notation /n/ in English and then apply the tones.

To pronounce ǹg，ńg，ňg , put your tongue in the place while you pronounce [ŋ] and then apply the tones.

Of course, ǹg，ńg，ňg，ǹ，ń，ň are unusual pronunciations in Chinese.


This is an interesting question. My first impression is that there isn't such a term known as "央行长". But after doing a quick search on Google, I realize that there are people who actually use such a term though it isn't that widely accepted.

Let's take a look at the search results from a few similar terms before making a conclusion:

国防部部长 (11,500,000) vs 国防部长 (6,470,000)
协会会长 (8,630,000) vs 协会长 (1,010,000)
肃毒局局长 (31,500) vs 肃毒局长 (21,200)
卫生厅厅长 (6,320,000) vs 卫生厅长 (21,500,000)

As for 央行长:

央行行长 (4,310,000) vs 央行长 (80,600)

Language evolves with time and new terms are constantly being invented while old ones may fall out of use. Some of the new terms may gain wide acceptance while others may not. "央行长" could well be a new term which has not gain much acceptance. Therefore "央行行长" is still the recommended term to use in order to be understood.


Why does 身体 mean both "body" and "health"?

身体 doesn't mean health, it just means 'body'.
你身体好吗？ (is your body fine) =  how is your body.
If your body is fine (身体很好), then you are healthy
If your body is not fine (身体不好), then you are not healthy
We have a word for health and it is 健康

How is your health = 你的健康如何？

Are you healthy? = 你健康吗?

Is your body healthy? = 你的身体健康吗?

体格 means 'physique' (the form, size, and development of a person's body) = The condition of one's body, e.g. 体格強建， 体格孱弱 (Strong physique, weak physique)
体格不佳， (one's physique is not great) doesn't mean 身体不好 (one's body is not fine/ not healthy), it just means one's physique is weak e.g. too short, too thin, lack strength, and so on
Edit:
身体健康 (the body's health) doesn't include mental health, which is called 精神健康.
For the health of both body and mind, it is 身心健康 (the health of the mind and body)
Since 健康 can be an adjective or noun 身体健康 can mean 'the body's health' or 'one's body is healthy'


Help translating the phrase, "was seen as."

I think "be seen as" can be translated as "被视为"/"被看作"/"被认为"/"在...眼里看来是".

As you mentioned, there should a noun following "视为", so we need to add it, however, in some informal situation, like in speaking Chinese, without this noun it's still ok.

In some case of English-Chinese translation, it is very common to change passive voice into active voice to indicate the subject by context, which is more close to Chinese language. In the translation below I use "People"(人们) as the subject, which can be changed in the certain context.

Here is my translation of "Revolution was seen as desperate and dangerous."

（过去）变革在人们眼里看来是铤而走险的举动。

（过去）搞革命被人们视作是铤而走险的举动。

（过去）人们认为变革是铤而走险的举动。

（过去）人们视搞革命为铤而走险的举动。


The Mandarin counterpart of 颠咗 is 瘋了
颠咗咁 = 瘋了地 (like crazy)
狂 (adv): madly; like crazy (repeatedly; rapidly; in an indulgent manner)
擺 (v): strike / make
姿勢 (n):  pose

颠咗咁狂擺 pose = rapidly striking poses like crazy

望住個傻妹係你面前颠咗咁狂擺 pose = watching the dumb girl rapidly striking poses like crazy

Other examples of 狂 as an adverb
喺日本狂食海鮮 - eat seafood like crazy (in an indulgent manner) in Japan
狂數對方十蛋 - score on the other team like crazy (repeatedly) for ten goals


I think it depends on what you mean by a "description of this expression". The deeper you go, the more you'll have to explain it, and it will have to touch on sociological and psychological research, for which Psychology & Neuroscience StackExchange might be better.
The Chinese expression itself is fairly transparent, with no words that are particularly difficult for native speakers.
In English, finding an equivalent translation is simple. But for the sake of literary expression, something more balanced would be more native-sounding. E.g.

to detest the rich and despise the poor
to have contempt for both rich and poor
to hate on rich and poor alike

I have even seen:

He who hates wealth hates poverty.

... but I'm not convinced that this is an accurate interpretation.
Explaining that it is a type of 小人心態 "a petty-minded attitude / the mindset of a villain" or 受害者心態 start to touch on what the original expression "means", and this requires a bit more context on what kind of explanation is needed.


How common is the use of "瞧" and which region?

As far as I know the people of Beijing and Hebei province often use 瞧,for example:

瞧病（go to hospital）
瞧您说的

In fact,In most north parts of China use 瞧，such as

让我瞧瞧（Let me see）

is often heard in Shanxi Province.
It is more often to hear such word in dialect than in mandarin.


Did 劵 and 券 become variants in PRC/simplified in 1995?

No. It became a variant way earlier than that. There may well have been a document to that effect in 1995, but it would not have been anything new.

It is well established that 劵 and 券 were two different seal scripts characters, as @HenryHO points out. However, according to Qing Dynasty linguist Tuan Yu-tsai's annotated version of Shuo-wen Chieh-Tzu:

  【清·段玉裁·說文解字注】鄭云：『劵今倦字也。』據此則 漢時已倦行劵廢 矣。今皆作倦，蓋由與契券從刀相似而避之也。

So 劵 was the initial clerical script adoption of the original seal script character. According to Tuan, the visual similarity to 券 caused the character to be rewritten as 倦 as early as by the Han Dynasty.

It seems then the original 劵 character was then subsumed into the character 券 as a variant clerical script form, either intentionally or by mistake due to their visual similarity. This is supported by the Song Dynasty dictionary Collected Rimes, edited by Ding Du:

  【宋·集韻·去聲·願韻】契也。劵別書之 書以刀判契其旁，故曰契劵。

Which explicitly named them as variants in an official government dictionary, almost 980 years ago.

Therefore, 劵 has been a variant of 券 for over a thousand years.

Addendum:

A possible earlier reference might be in the Southern Liang Dynasty dictionary Jade Chapters (玉篇) (Note: NOT the Song Dynasty 大廣益會玉篇) by the scholar Ku Yeh-wang.

  【梁·顧野王·玉篇】契書。

This has been cited by the Taiwanese Ministry of Education as the first attested use of 劵 as a variant for 券. If true, the use of them as variants would have been as early as a couple of centuries after the Han Dynasty.


How does 翻's 2021 meanings appertain to 羽?

Flying birds can easily roll (翻) in the air. 羽 is related to both bird and flying
翻飛 = flying and rolling (in the air)
roll--> turn/flip


Following are the internationally recognized terms used. They should be very clear for you to find out the English equivalent:

中(华人民共和)国 — () usually omitted unless very formal
[中国]大陆 — [] not often omitted
台湾{地区} / {中国}台湾 — {} showing political preference
{中国}香港 — {} showing political preference
{中国}澳门 — {} showing political preference


translation of text and seals on painting (Poet identified: Pu Ru 溥儒)

井・飛影露走・

閒坐階前為有情

萬里碧空雲似錦

月・團扇不分明

茗函冷澀石生斑

苦竹・・・檻間

扇影生寒消月魄

・聲邊・成雲山

・・・影玉西沉

落・江上變秋音

誰知錦瑟・・然

玉露微霜正傷・

結合畫面來看，是思歸之詩。秋仲，霜降露結之日，月朧雲疏之時，少婦執團扇，捧香茗，倚坐石邊階前，是“為有情”也。至月沉日更，霜已成露，沸茶作冰，不知何處秋音自起，再添神傷。

（但是詩寫得確實不咋滴（坐了這麽久居然還沒凍死））

不過特意自題“飛鴻”、“舊王孫”，還叫“溥儒”，不得不讓人揣測“美人自喻”，“黍離麥秀”，“故國招魂”那檔子事情。


尔 in traditional chinese is written in 爾. Although it also mean "you", I believe it's a typo. Because

尔 is widely used in old chinese. The situation is just like "Thou" and "you".
It's rarely use in nowadays daily life no matter in HK, mainland China nor Taiwan.
Instead of simplified Chinese, Hong Kong people usually write in traditional chinese. Sometimes people tried to write in simplified chinese quite some HK people would mix up some wordings. I would rather believed that is a typo if you said your pen friend is come from HK.

When will we use 尔?
One common example we will definitely use nowadays is 尔虞我诈(or in traditionally chinese is 爾虞我詐). Which is an idiom mean "People cheating and getting advantages of each others".


Can anyone make my Chinese-English translation sound better?

在本校升等時，職級滿三年為50分，每增授課一學期加1分，最高分為70分
When applying for promotion at the University, those who have held their current rank for three years will receive 50 points, with an additional point for each semester of teaching beyond [the three years], up to a maximum of 70 points.

The word 申請 'apply for' is omitted at the beginning (在本校申請升等時) and there should be a comma after that. The word 'rank' 職級 is used oddly, I think 以原職級任教滿三年 or 服務滿三年 would make more sense. The intent is probably that one must hold each rank for a minimum of 3 years before applying for promotion (assistant to associate, associate to full), but this wording doesn't really make that clear. 每增 is also not very smooth.

The main problem with the translation is that 'credit' is not right here, this is a point system; also for every course taught over 1 semester is not right, the intent of the Chinese text is clearly to count semesters of teaching, not courses taught


in 就像, 就 means "just", so 就像 means just like and there is also 就像是.
So the real problem is to distinguish 像是 and 像.

As a native speaker, I think 像 can always substitute 像是 but 像是 can not always substitute 像.

In your example, if I change it to 像是夏洛特·纳尔逊这样的孩子，他们喜欢一醒来就打开任天堂Wii U. Then it sounds weird.

Or 这孩子长得像你。 This kid looks like you.

will sound weird if you say: 这孩子长得像是你.

To be honest, it's hard to tell the difference even as a native speaker. So I suggest you to use 像 always. It won't make mistake at least.


I got this from an online dictionary:

吧 <助>
① 用在句末，表示恳求、提议、请求、命令等语气 [(used at the end of a sentence) indicating entreaty， suggestion， command， etc.]。如:派六个人不够吧，我的意见派十个人 / 你说给大家听听吧!
② 用在句末，表示同意、认可的语气 [indicating agreement or acknowledgment]。如:好吧，我一定去 / 就这样执行吧
③ 用在句末，表示疑问语气，带有揣度的意味 [indicating doubt]。如:他现在赞同了吧? / 你弄通了吧?
④ 用在句末，表示估量、推测语气 [indicating uncertainty]。如:他自己总该知道吧 / 老王会到这边来吧
⑤ 用在句中，表示停顿，带假设语气，并带有列举性质 [indicating a pause]。如:说吧，不好；不说吧，也不好


How do I know whether to write the written character or printed character?

This question is a tautology - of course you would write the written character and not the printed character!

The written characters and printed characters nowadays are both typeface/font variations of Regular Script (楷書), originally a style written using a calligraphy brush, and which is what that stroke diagram shows:

  Regular script font imitating a calligraphy brush

The written character is now written using a pen, but still largely follows the stroke order of the original calligraphy styles, so it mainly just appears thinner than calligraphy-based fonts, and should look like the following:

  Japanese textbook font (教科書體, きょうかしょたい), designed specifically to imitate pen handwriting in regular script.

The printed character in your example originated in the 1100's CE Song dynasty, when movable type was first invented, and is called Song or Ming typeface (宋體/明體):

  Characteristics of this typeface are:

  Thick vertical strokes and thin horizontal strokes
  Triangles at the end of single horizontal strokes
  Geometrical regularity

It is the emphasis of Song/Ming typeface on geometrical balance that makes it divergent from natural handwriting, and there are deliberately introduced strokes in Song/Ming typeface characters that don't actually exist in regular handwriting.

The correct form of the character always defers to a calligraphy brush or pen based font, but there are also regional variations in what is considered 'correct'; that is, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, and Japan all have different ways of writing Chinese characters, so you need to be clear as to what standard you're following and follow that closely.


一二三 should be self-evident, they are equivalent to Roman numerals, that is, simple enumeration symbols.

Then it gets murky, but note that even numbers 二四六八十 are all symmetrical, whereas the odd numbers (一三)五七九 are not.

四 is defined by this symmetric property, as an even number that can be halved. 六 is actually a 四 with a dot above, using old seal script. 八 is also defined as a mirror symmetry, indicating divisibiliy.

As for 五七九, there are no good etymological derivations, they are simply symbols since long lost in origin. There are no patterns associated with these characters.


很有 pronounced rather like hěnyòu instead of hěnyǒu

The obligate tone sandhi for consecutive third-tones are rendered as follows:

Phrase
Before
After

很有品味
3334
2234

很有才能
3322
2322

很有辦法
3343
2343

In particular, the 333 -> 223 change in 很有品味 is explained here.

Possible facultative tone sandhi in 很有 in quick speech include:

For all 很有XX examples: blurring of tones (quasi-neutral, as explained here; to avoid confusion, let us not use the dotted tone letters normally reserved for real neutral tones, and let the one-lettered pitches reflect their brevity) in the presence of stress on XX out of contextual need (as explained here).
For 很有品味: a blurry rising trend for consecutive de facto second-tones, as explained in the 葡萄牙 example here (perhaps something like ˦ ˥).
For 很有才能 and 很有辦法: a blurry dropping trend (perhaps something like ˧ ˩).

What you seem to be implying is that the teacher pronounced 很有, in quick speech, with a go-up-and-down pitch change, i.e. ˨ ˧˩. Now, is this possible? If you are absolutely sure there is no mishearing or mislabelling on your part, then I think the teacher did not conform to standardised Putonghua well (i.e., this is a mispronunciation on their part). However, I am not entirely sure about your labelling 有 with two tone letters – is it worth that many, especially when it is expected to be blurred over? After all, we are treading on very thin ice here – it is very hard to capture every nuance of facultative tone sandhi. Unless I hear the teacher's audio, or an audio from an online source (e.g. YouTube) that you believe is close enough to the teacher's, I cannot provide a definite answer.

Edit
Now that we have made clear this was normal-paced, I am starting to suspect this is similar to the case of 比較, where some people say it as (bǐ jiǎo ->) bí jiǎo instead of the conventional bǐ jiào (see here for more examples). The link contains examples of non-dictionary readings.
I also found evidence where 有 may be pronounced as yòu: see here. Its use is relatively limited, i.e., when acting as a loan word (通假) for 又 in classical Chinese*, or when denoting numerical remainders (e.g. 七十有七人), both of which are not the applicable to 很有. However, 教育部重編國語辭典修訂本 claims yòu and yǒu are interchangeable (I for one think this is rarely practised in real life). At any rate, the teacher's choice of pronunciation is not mainstream. I also believe this is caused more by the polyphony of 有 than facultative tone sandhi during quick speech.
* Also supported by 余培英（2012）《多音字學習手冊》。北京：商務。


Why is 相 pronounced with a fourth tone in some cases?

相

[Xiang1]
surname Xiang

[xiang1]
each other,
one another,
mutually

[xiang4]
appearance,
portrait,
picture

You should look into getting a Chinese reader. http://www.loqu8.com has one for free that is really good. It uses the CC-CEDICT dictionary which is really good. If you would like more concrete examples, they're all going to be in Chinese, but there they are nontheless. http://stroke-order.learningweb.moe.edu.tw/advExplain1.do?big5=ACDB

Enjoy.^^


What methods are available for looking up a character?

This question could probably best be answered by Wikipedia as there are many, many methods.

One relatively common one is to look up the character by stroke count, then by stroke order. In this system, there are five types of strokes and each is assigned a number.

+--------+------------------------------+
| Number | Stroke type                  |
+--------+------------------------------+
|      1 | Horizontal, or rising        |
|      2 | Vertical                     |
|      3 | Falling to the Left          |
|      4 | Dot, or Falling to the Right |
|      5 | Turning                      |
+--------+------------------------------+

This is the method used to look up characters in 现代汉语通用字笔顺规范, the official character stroke order reference in mainland China. For example, below is the character 永 in this book:

If you want to look up this character, you will first go to the page with the 5-strokes characters, then you would search for the dot stroke (4), then the hook (5), etc. Basically, its code would be 45534.


If you look more carefully, you can see that the last stroke is different.

贝 bèi ends with a 捺 nà stroke.
见 jiàn ends with a 竖湾钩 shùwāngōu, a 'hook'.

Check this list.


Is there a difference between 显得 and 看起来？

显得 sounds a little more formal than 看起来, but both are fine to use in spoken and written contexts.
Their meanings though, are not completely the same. Both words can be used to express to seem; to appear; to look. With this meaning they are interchangeable and the difference is mostly formality:

他显得很憔悴 / 他看起来很憔悴。He looks haggard.

But both words can be taken 'literally' - 显得 means (actively) present oneself as while 看起来 means (passively) be seen as. When used in this way, they are not interchangeable. E.g.

这个节目看起来很好笑。<-- 显得 would sound unnatural because people find the show funny, not the show presenting itself as 'funny'.
他故意显得很愤怒。 <-- 看起来 is acceptable but 显得 is much better because it is consistent with 故意. The sentence means 'he was trying to make a point by appearing angry'.


The order of currency name and its numerical value (i.e. 人民币五十元 vs 五十元人民币)

In '人民币九十一元',  '人民币' modifies '九十一元'- (91 dollar --> 91 dollars in RMB)

In '九十一元人民币', '九十一元' modifies '人民币'- (RMB --> 91 dollars of RMB)

They mean the same, and you can use either one.

In '一美元价值8.2元人民币。', '一(元)' modifies 美元 (USD --> 1 (dollar) of USD); '8.2元' modifies '人民币' (RMB --> 8.2 dollars of RMB)


How can I make a two-character Chinese girl's name, perhaps using 静?

How about 甘静？ It's a character's name in the TV show 好先生.


I want to have practice outside -  我想在外面進行練習

In this sentence, "have" is a verb "practice" is a noun.
"have practice" means "to engage in practice" which is "進行練習" in Chinese

  I want practice to be outside - 我想練習在外面進行

In this sentence "practice" is a noun object, "to be outside" implies " to be held outside",  which is "在外面進行" in Chinese

  I want to practice outside - 我想在外面練習

In this sentence "practice" is a verb, and "outside" is a  preposition & adverb, which is "在外面" in Chinese


How to properly Translate the "在目标为。。。时使用." sentence pattern

I would render it thusly (like that word!):

妥协:
A compromise:

在目标为越过矛盾这一障碍并一齐向前看时使用。
(a lowering of your demands) with the goal of overcoming conflicting views while at the same time looking forward.


Where is 蛮 used, as in the meaning of 'quite'?

As others have said, 蛮 is not exactly dialectal. Most Chinese speakers would understand what you mean if you use it to mean "quite."

However, it should be noted that it is colloquial--it shows up in spoken Chinese but rarely in print, hence your discovery of it on a Chinese TV show. In fact, some native Chinese speakers will confuse 蛮 with 满 when asked to write the word down.


What's a precise translation of "they wouldn’t know if their backside was on fire"?

The government statement suggests PETA supporters only see things in their perspective, never care to consider other people's side, or look at the big picture, simply put - they are short-sighted (目光如豆), ignorant (愚昧無知) and don't know the suffering of the people (不知民間疾苦)

...wouldn’t know if their backside was on fire"

...他們後庭着火(自己)也不會知道

(they don't observe and think about things around them)

後庭(backyard) is also slang for 屁股 (buttock)


In Chinese, how can I describe someone as being cynical?

There are several words with close meaning: 愤世嫉俗、犬儒主义。

犬儒主义 is most close to the word as Cynic has the meaning of 犬 in ancient Greek and Chinese. And one of the representative Greek philosophers is Diogenēs o Sinopeus who proposed the philosophy which is very similar to "老庄哲学" in ancient China.

However, "犬儒主义" is not a negative emotional word -- not so discouraging -- it describes someone who lives and satisfies to his own life style which is different from the rest part of the "incorrigible" world.


What is the difference between 参加 and 参与？

参与，亦作“参预”或“参豫”。预闻而参议其事；
参与，also as “参预” or “参豫”. Listen something and talk about something.

参加。指的是以第二或第三方的身份加入、融入某件事之中。
参加 means join in something as a part of it.

So, mostly, 参与 has a meaning of organize some people and plan something,
it often has a mean of initiative, such as:
他参与了此次军事行动的谋划工作。(Which means he is one of the commanders.)

As for 参加, which is just join in something as a guest or [third] part people, such as:
他参加了此次军事行动。(Which means he may be just a soldier.)

Besides, we often say : 这个事情我不参与. means do your own business, I don't care about it.


How to translate the fictional name "yuan-ti" into meaningful Chinese words?

imo, "yuan-ti" is a transliteration of chinese, using older scheme of romanisation. the characters represented are "軟體" (a pliable body), quite a good description of "snake-related-monster".

the "華英萬字典", printed in 1907,

had the entry of "軟" (juan3, jwan)

https://archive.org/stream/chineseenglishdi00pole#page/339/mode/1up

and, 體 (ti3)

https://archive.org/stream/chineseenglishdi00pole#page/386/mode/1up

it's not far away from "juan" to "yuan" :)