The construction Adj. + 于, where the adjective X is actually a stative verb means "more X than".
Stative verbs, which in English are normally translated as adjectives, are verbs that describe qualities, and can be modified by intensifiers as 很，太，非常, etc.
低 means "low", it is a stative verb, therefore 低于3度 means "lower than 3 degrees". If you want to keep some morphological correspondence with English, you can render is as "to drop" (= to go lower than).
As for your example sentences:

最高气温很少高于40度 here 高 (high, tall) is a stative verb, or adjective, like 低 (in fact it's its antonym), therefore this is a correct sentence, where 高于40度 means "higher than 40 degrees".

最高气温很少超过40度 I think 超过 is not the best verb here, but the sentence sounds fine to me.

最高气温很少达40度 here 达 alone doesn't sound okay; I would say 达到

最高气温很少降到40度 the word 降到 means “to fall, to drop" so this sentence  is borderline nonsensical (= the highest air temperature rarely drops to 40 degrees). You can use 升到 "to rise" instead: 最高气温很少升到40度


Expressing knowledge or skill: 认识 vs 会 vs 知道

會 indicates ability. 認識 emphasises recognition (exposure). 知道 emphasises the possession of knowledge. Let us look at the following unfortunately similar examples:

i. 你會這首歌嗎？
ii. 你認識這首歌嗎？
iii. 你知道這首歌嗎？

Sentence i.: this inclines to mean 'Can you sing this song?' (There is understandably the omitted verb 'to sing') Of course by being able to sing you possess the knowledge (知道) about the song, but this sentence emphasises whether you have the ability to sing it.
Sentence ii.: this inclines to mean 'Do you recognise this song?' That is to say, the asker expects the recipient to have already been exposed to this song elsewhere.
Sentence iii.: this inclines to mean 'Do you have knowledge about this song?' There is no emphasis on prior exposure (of course by being knowledgeable on something, logically, one has to be exposed to it, but this is not the emphasis of the verb 知道 per se), the asker is simply interested to know if the recipient knows or understands the existence of the song (in this case, it functions similarly to 認識), or the content of the song. Or even the knowledge of the singer / composer / lyricist. That is to say, 知道 has the broadest and most general sense and is expectedly used most frequently in modern Chinese.

In the case of people (Dr Sun Yat-sen in the following examples):

i. *你會孫中山嗎？ / *你會認識/知道孫中山嗎？
ii. 你認識孫中山嗎？
iii. 你知道孫中山嗎？

會 functions best when prefixing a skill (游泳 'swimming', 唱歌 'singing', 寫作 'writing'). There is no possible verb candidate (not even 認識 or 知道 because they are not exactly skills) in sentence i.
The word 認識 has also developed to mean 'to know each other' (相識) over time. So unless you are a contemporary of Dr Sun or a time traveller, sentence ii. usually does not make any sense. That is to say, it is nonsensical but not ungrammatical. (Of course, you may argue there is some sense in a pedagogical setting – when asking if students recognise this historical figure based on the assumption of prior learning exposure. But in general, this sentence is slightly odd.)
Sentence iii. merely asks if you are knowledgeable about Dr Sun Yat-sen (not the other way around, the asker is not interested in that). His existence, his life etc. That is why it emphasises unilateral knowledge, as mentioned in this answer.

Finally,

i. 你們認識嗎？
ii. 你們知道嗎？

Sentence i. means 'Do you two know each other?'. The omitted object is ‘each other’ (對方/彼此). Because of expected mutuality, you can only use sentence i.
Because of unilaterality of 知道, sentence ii. cannot be used to say 'Do you two know each other?'. It only means rhetorically 'Did you two know?', the omitted object being something else.


I do not agree that 是 is acting as the copula in the sentence. Because even without 是, the following sentences contain the same meaning and only differ in tone:

我应该是感冒了
我应该感冒了

This answer comes after reading
「是」，「的」與動詞名物化 by professor 石定栩 of PolyU in Hong Kong. (The title roughly translate to: 是, 的, and Normalization of Verb)
感冒 should be acting as a verb in the sentence, as 是 can be optionally added to the sentence to add stress to the statement. 我应该是感冒了 conveys the meaning of: "I think I am really having a cold."
TL;DR, Professor Shi proposes that "是" used in a sentence like

他這樣做是合情合理的。 (What he did was very reasonable) VS
他這樣做合情合理。 (What he did was reasonable)

should be treated as a modal verb, before the main verb of the sentence "合情合理", with "是" treated as a modal verb the same way the 2 other referenced papers have had it analyzed.
By the same argument, I believe we can treat 感冒 as the main verb, and 是 as a modal verb, used to intensify the tone of the sentence.
By removing all descriptive words, the sentence simplifies into: "我感冒了", which still carries the essential meaning.

P.S. I believe some Chinese linguists actually prefer treating 应该 and 是 as just verbs (with 是 pointed out in the paper referenced), which would have changed the sentence analysis. However, for some people, it may be more acceptable to allow for modal verbs in Chinese grammar analysis, with the above argument.


给 is part of the passive structure of the sentence you've cited. It can be used before the verb either with or without another passive marker (like the neutral 被 or the colloquial 让 or 叫). It doesn't change the meaning of the sentence though, as dacongy mentioned, it can add emphasis.
Here are some example sentences:

衣服［让］他给弄脏了。
The clothes were dirtied by him.
这个杯子［叫］我给打碎了。
The glass was broken by me.

Confusingly, 给, like 叫 and 让, can also be used as a passive marker by itself in sentences like the following

门给风吹开了。
The door was blown open by the wind.
孩子给妈妈打了一顿。
The children were given a beating by their mother.

In the above sentences, 给 could be replaced with 叫, 让, or 被 with no change in meaning. (The register and regional flavor will be slightly different.)
This paper, "北京话“给”字被动句的地位及其历史发展 (PDF)", which I haven't yet had a chance to read, analyzes the use of 给 in passive sentences (被动句) in Beijing dialect. I skimmed the abstract and it seemed like it might be illuminating.


Can all adjectives be transformed into adverbs with 地?

Check out these dictionary entries for 地[de5]:
ABC

(adv.-forming, like English -ly)
很快地
hěn kuài de
very quickly

Oxford

AUXILIARY
[used with an adverb or adverbial phrase]
合理地安排和使用劳动力
dispose of available manpower rationally
应该历史地评价一个人。
We should judge a person from the historical point of view.

Oxford Pocket

<助> [used after an adjective, a noun or a phrase to form an adverbial adjunct before the verb]
狐狸偷偷地跑进果园
The fox sneaked into the orchard
他喝醉酒似地叫嚷
He shouted as if he were drunk

KEY

{grammar} (variant pronunciation of -dì) (forming an adverb from an adjectiv, e.g., gāoxìng 高興/高兴 "happy" + de 地 yields gāoxìngde 高興地/高兴地 "happily")

CC-CEDCIT

1 -ly
2 structural particle: used before a verb or adjective, linking it to preceding modifying adverbial adjunct

The simple answer to your question is: yes. The more complicated answer is that many things can be turned into an adverbial adjunct by adding 地[de5].


"I can't afford to" can translate directly to " 我（已（经））无法承受……"
I can't afford to lose any more time. 我无法承受损失任何更多的时间。
I can't afford to lose any more sleep. 我无法承受损失任何更多的睡眠。

adding 已 or 已经 enhances the negative tone.


In Chinese, "随便" has a lot of meanings.

It can be used to represent words ending with '-ever', like whatever, whenever, like what you thought.
It can be used also as an adjective, and in this way it means 'don't care much about details'
It can be used as an adverb, which means 'freely' or 'do as one's will'

But I think maybe "随便" is not very suitable in your example. "不正式", which means not formal, or "随意", which is used to describe someone or something without many constraints, may be more appropriate. But actually, they don't differ a lot :)


Is 昨天我有过敏反应了， 所以，现在我不吃西瓜了 grammatical?

昨天我有过敏反应了， 所以，现在我不吃西瓜了。

Your sentence is grammatical. However, you haven't explicitly said to what you have your allergy. It's not something with grammar though. To be clear and concise, you could say:
我昨天吃西瓜过敏了，现在不能再吃了。

The reason why 了 is not needed at the end of 昨天我吃完西瓜有过敏反应 is that 有 already denotes the existence of 过敏反应, so 了 is unnecessary. But if you add 了， 昨天我吃完西瓜有过敏反应了 sounds emotional, implying that the allergy surprised you, it's really a big deal, the ellergy is what you were expecting, and etc.


Where can I get brush stroke caligraphy fonts for traditional characters?

You can try searching a site like http://www.fonts.net.cn/ with queries such as 繁行.
Unfortunately, a lot of these just map simplified code points to traditional glyphs and don't even contain mappings for the corresponding traditional code points. But it looks like at least some of them work with traditional code points, such as 王漢宗中行書繁.


Should the second character in 回来了 be pronounced with second or fourth tone?

I am a native speaker. The term 回来了 is of course pronounced with ㄏㄨㄟˊ ㄌㄞˊ ㄌㄜ˙, so the second character is pronounced with 2nd tone. And the word 来 can only be pronounced with 2nd tone. (I've never heard 4th tone.)


Modern and ancient word choice: 昔人 vs 古人 vs 前妻

never? you're kidding :) the term "古人" is also used in poem.

just a casual search:

in 通典·卷三十二 (end of p73, and start of 74):

  賦詩曰

  古人云此水﹒一飲重千金

  若使夷齊飲﹒終當不易心

next, 杜工部﹒ 吾宗

  吾宗老孫子﹒質朴古人風﹒耕鑿安時論﹒衣冠與世同

  在家常早起﹒憂國願年豐﹒語及君臣際﹒經書滿腹中

later, 孟宗獻 wrote

  古人借宅亦種竹﹒大是饕竒心未足﹒髙齋聞有萬琅玕﹒坐對懐山飲秋緑﹒

  官閒勝日無一事﹒尊酒不空仍有肉﹒他時剥啄叩君門﹒髙枕矮床容我宿

imo, characters are like fashion, "trendy" today, would out-of-date".

have fun :)


Should one write “妳好" when addressing a female?

Yes you can definitely use “妳好“ when addressing female.

However notice that in Chinese there isn't a strict usage defined to differentiate addressing male and female. If you use "你" instead, the reader will not (and probably should not) assume a male is addressed in the context.

In other word, "你好" is perfectly fine to address female without any grammatical concern.


It's the 4th in 一概而论, both regions:

Check. e.g.:

Mainland: 在线新华字典
Taiwan: 教育部重编国语字典

(Both URLs point to the '一概而论' entry)

论 does have a 2nd tone reading, but 论语 seems to be the only where it is used.


What is the grammar of "用餐曅請隨手整理桌面 座位有限請勿休憩估用"?

This is probably easier with some punctuations:

用餐畢， 請隨手整理桌面。

座位有限， 請勿休憩佔用。

Let's break it down:

用餐畢: 用餐 means 'to dine' or literally 'to use meal'； 畢， short for 完畢, means 'to finish, to complete' (intransitive sense only); so altogether - 'after your meal'.

請隨手整理桌面: 請 - 'please'; 隨手 means 'while at it, while doing it' or literally 'to follow hand'; 整理 - 'to arrange, to put in order', in this case 'to tidy up'; 桌面 - 'tabletop' ; so altogether - 'please readily tidy up the table'

座位有限: 座位 - 'seat'; 有限, means 'having a limit, limited' ; altogether - limited seating

請勿休憩佔用: 請 - 'please'; 勿 - 'don't, not' ; 休憩 - 'to rest' ; 佔用 - 'to occupy'; altogether - please don't rest (here) and occupy (the seats)

The whole thing can be translated as:

Please tidy up the table after your meal; limited seating, so please don't rest here and/or occupy the seats.

Personally I'd have used 清理 instead of 整理, as 清理 implies cleaning and taking your mess with you whereas 整理 usually means to put things in order. It just sounds a little unidiomatic. Maybe it's more idiomatic in Taiwan (I assume this is where you saw the phrase from)?


From my point of view, 「这里能说脏话吗」may have several different meanings in different contexts.

Ask other people whether he can swear in the chatroom.
In this case, the person asking the question wants to talk rudely in the chatroom.
It serves as a rhetorical question.
This person may have seen some people talk rudely in the chatroom. So he said this to remind other people that it is not allowed to speak rudely in this chartroom.
「我能说脏话吗」"Can I speak X?"
This is most commonly seen online. It's widely used that in fact this phrase has become an online idiom among Chinese people.
It origins from a passer-by when asked by a journalist of his opinion about increasing gasoline price:
「我能说脏话吗？不能？那就没有可说的。」 "Can I speak X? No? Then there's nothing to say.."
Now Chinese people use this phrase to express dissatisfaction about something especially when under some kind of censorship.


In the film 流浪地球, why is a character nicknamed '户口'?

The main character's name is 刘启
Break his first name 「启」 apart, and you'll get 「戶口」. That's how his nickname came about.
The character 启 contains the meaning of "enlighten". It has nothing to do with 戶口 (household).
It only works in simplified Chinese, The Traditional characters for 刘启 are 劉啟


The difference is legal.

有限公司 is a limited liability company (LLC), usually a smaller company.

股份有限公司 is a public limited company/private company limited by shares (PLC), usually larger companies whose shares (股份) are traded on the stock exchange.

PS. I am not quite sure what are the equivalent of these two forms in your country (Common law, I suppose). In the Roman law based German and Central European law the first would be GmbH, latter would be AG.


Why is "weight" = 体重 and why is "height" = 身高?

身高 is short for 身體高度

體重 is short for 身體重量

身體 can be shortened to either 身 or 體

Therefore, 身重 and 體高 are also legitimate shortened forms of 'body weight' and 'body height'

Especially 體高-- it is the proper term for describing the height of non-human object.

For example: 體高 in "高達體高18米" (Gundam's height is 18M) is the correct term, because Gundam is a machine, not a person

We use 身高 and 體重 far more often than 身重 and 體高 when describing a human's height and weight, eventually, no one use 身重 and 體高 to describe a human's height and weight anymore.


What is the most succinct way of explaining that I have an older sister and a younger sister?

我有一个姐姐和一个妹妹

This is good.

  我是三个姐妹中中间的一个

This is usually expressed in another way: "我家一共姐仨，我是老二", or "我妈(我爸)有三个闺女，我是老二".

  我有两个姐妹

It might work, but I don't often hear it.

And by the way, maybe related to his question or not: If one says "我有两个兄弟"， it often means he has two younger brothers (and gives no information about how many older brothers he has), but not two brothers (in all). As fas as I know "姐妹" does not have such usage.


Is there a Chinese equivalent song of 'auld lang syne'?

In fact, this famous song has a Chinese version called 《友谊地久天长》(the friendship will last forever), however, we traditionally don't sing songs to celebrate over festivals, so this song is not popular in this peroid of time.

I can't think of such a popular song as "auld lang syne" in the west. Over this period, you wll find a lot of songs(different melodies, different lyrics, different singers) with the same theme "happy new year" on the street or in the markets(to convey the happiness or to attract more customers). I would like to recommend Timi Zhuo(卓依婷), a female singer famous for her "new year" type songs.


Please help me fix the grammar in a birthday letter 祝你生日快乐!!! 对不起, 让你久等了

于一文: 你好!

If 于一文 is your friend, you should just use the first name 一文, and write: "一文, 你好!"
If you like to keep English favor in your letter, you can add 'dear' like in English letter and write: "亲爱的一文, 你好!"

祝你生日快乐!!! 对不起, 让你久等了。

If you need to apologize for lateness, better put it in first, and write  "对不起, 让你久等了, 祝你生日快乐!!!"

祝你年年有今日，岁岁有今朝。

This phrase is kind of dated, and only suitable for blessing a person in advanced age or at least in late middle age. If you must use it, put it in a separate paragraph to emphasize your blessing

祝万事如意。

No problem with this phrase

谢谢你的万事。

It is an attempt to translate "thanks for everything" but we don't use 万事 this way (the correct usage is another topic). The literal translation is "一切都多得你" ; However, "thanks for everything" imply "thanks for everything you have done for me" which shouldn't be omitted in Chinese, so the correct translation is "谢谢你为我所做的一切"

有机会的话，

It sounds like you and this person rarely have chance to meet. If it is not the case, you should add "next time" and write: "下次有机会的话，"

大家见个面。

It sounds too blunt, I suggest "(希望)大家(能再)见面。"

他不但是我的老师还是我的哥哥。

Do you mean: "你不但是我的老师, 也是我的哥哥。"?

我爱你♡

Chinese don't use to say "I love you" but you are not Chinese, so it is ok.
Here is my edition:

亲爱的一文, 你好!
对不起, 让你久等了, 祝你生日快乐, 万事如意!!!
谢谢你为我所做的一切! 下次有机会的话， 希望大家能再见面。
你不但是我的老师, 也是我的哥哥。
我爱你♡

Note 1:
In Chinese, we only use 万事 at the beginning of a phrase. It acts like an exclamation.
Example:
"万事有我" (I would deal with everything!)
"万事都有例外" (There's exception in everything!)
Note 2:
见个面 (meet once) --> 能再见面 (can see each other again)
zyy wrote:

I would say 兄长 is better than 哥哥。

Consider replacing '哥哥' with '兄长' and write: "你不但是我的老师, 也是我的兄长" if you want to be more formal.
However, using '哥哥' is also acceptable, and it shows more passion-- consider the next phrase is "我爱你"


As a 西南人, I have to say that it is rare to hear. 南方人 (Southerner) is okay.

If someone is from the south side of the Huanghe River, they would let you know which province they are literally from, like Sichuan, Yunnan or Guizhou.

I suppose the reason is dialect, which so different in southern China.

But 西北人 (Northwestern) is commonly heard.


Sure, there are many different ways to mean "father" in Chinese:

父亲：a formal and polite word, not usual for daily use

令尊：a very polite word to replace "your father"

家父: equals to “my father” when you are talking with someone else (more polite)

泰山 or 岳丈: a very polite way to call your wife's father，while "岳父" is more common

公公: your husband's father

爸爸 = 爸 = 老爹: just like "dad"


I think it is a terrible mistake that the website has made, because there is no occasion when qu is pronounced tsʰu in Mandarin. Since you can actually tell the difference between u and ü, things should be easier for you now. You can just memorise that after (pinyin) j, q, x, y, ü is always written as u, and if you see u after j, q, x, y, it's always pronounced as ü. It shouldn't cause any confusion at least to native speakers because these consonants are never followed by a vowel sound u but only by a ü.


Normally you wouldn't translate happen in questions like the one you proposed.

But, if you really wanted to - the best equivalent I can think of for doing this would be by adding:

  顺便问一下

at the beginning of a question.

So your question would end up being something like:

  顺便问一下，你有没有眼镜护理螺丝刀呢？


Is there any other language intelligible to Mandarin Chinese speakers?

No. Mandarin is part of the Sino-Tibetan language family, whereas Japanese, Mongolian, and Korean are not.

Even within the Sino-Tibetan family, most langauges are mutually unintelligble. Even worse, within the Chinese family, most regiolects and topolects are mutually unintelligble.

People in Shanghai, Suzhou, Ningbo speak Wu, which is not intelligble for Mandarin speaking people. The two topolects broke off some two thousand years ago.

People in Guangdong and Guangxi speak Cantonese, which is unintelligble for people speaking Wu or Mandarin. And so it continues. Only nearby topolects are intelligble, for instance Sichuan Mandarin vs. Hebei Mandarin vs. Tianjin Mandarin and so on.

Japanese has borrowed the Chinese writing system, but the spoken language has nothing in common with Chinese. Even so, Japanese has borrowed many loanwords, that often sound similar (电话 is denwa in Japanese, dianhua in Chinese). Chinese is therefore considered as the equivalent of Latin in East Asia, since many langauges have been influenced by Chinese.

At best, people from different nations can only pick up stray words in other languages.

On the other hand, they have long shared the same writing system, which means that Japanese can read Chinese and vice versa (when using characters, not Hiragana or Katakana), with some difficulty. This was true for Korean and Vietnamese before they incorporated their own writing systems.

It doesn't matter if the writing is in traditional or simplified, most can read both varieties, although may not be able to write in both scripts.


Conjunction to express extension (of area) "In Moscow and also in the whole Russia there are..."

莫斯科 ~ 俄罗斯

由莫斯科(以至)全俄罗斯 = From Moscow (to) the entire Russia
look at Moscow first, and then extend your view to look at the entire Russia

You cannot reverse the order and write "由全俄罗斯(以至)莫斯科" because 莫斯科 is already included in 全俄罗斯
songyuanyao wrote:

"在莫斯科(以及)全俄罗斯

It means "In Moscow (and also) the entire Russia" .
Mainly indicate things happen in Moscow. Mentioning of Russia as a supplementary information. You cannot reverse the order and write "在全俄罗斯(以及)莫斯科" because 莫斯科 is already included in 全俄罗斯
Usage difference between 以至 and 以及:

"From Boston, New York, Chicago 以至 the whole America" sounds natural. You are extending your view from one city to another and eventually extend to every city in the country

"In Boston, New York, Chicago 以及 the whole America" sound strange, It is easier just say "In the whole United States"


Do any good topolect maps exist for Chinese?

I am not sure if this is what you were looking for, but there is a book that does this kind of study 中国语言地图集.

You can refer to 知乎 for some examples.


你们 = you (plural)
你 = you
们 = plural

Perhaps "ya'll" would be another suitable translation.

They would be 他们。

他 = Him/Her


Does the chinese letter mean the number, one?

Yes, it is chinese number one. For the whole phrase, it is normally used like 改编自XXX同名小说, means "edited from the novel with the same name from XXX"

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 as Arabic numerals。

〇一二三四五六七八九十 for normal use in China (since ancient china).

零壹贰叁肆伍陆柒捌玖拾 for financial use in China, like accounting or bank transaction application.


How do we know what characters correspond to Chinese names?

This is actually a common problem in newspapers and television in Singapore, where the original report may have been filed by a reporter who did not or cannot use Chinese. In these cases, the author simply chooses phonetically matching characters to fill in the name of the person, then add (音) or (译音) to indicate that the name shown is only a phonetic translation of the person's name and not the actual characters.

An example can be found in this article from the local newspaper 《联合早报》

  被告谢国安（26岁，译音）共面对12项控状，包括四项冒充欺骗、两项麻醉物法令、三项偷窃，以及欺骗、失信和伤人罪状各一项。昨天他被判坐牢1年又10个月。


What's the difference between 慢慢 and 渐渐？

慢慢means slowly, 渐渐 means gradually.

you said 你可以慢慢吃 = you can eat slowly.
but not 你可以渐渐吃 = you can eat gradually.


Difference between 那时，那时候，当时，那会儿，那阵子

那时/那时候 - formal, a long period of time. Whichever one you choose depends on how fast-paced you want your narration. 那时，我开始对数学感兴趣 makes the most sense because your growing interest in math sounds like a long-term process.
当时 - formal, a very short period of time. Example: 当时，我吓坏了。
那会儿 - colloquial, any length of time. Example: 那会儿，我在火车上只吃方便面。
那阵子 - colloquial, a very long period of time. Example: 那阵子，我特别无聊。


Which term is used for "oyster" in Taiwan?

In Taiwanese 蚵仔 (ô á), in Taiwan Mandarin 牡蛎 (mǔ lì).

There's also 蛤蠣 (há lì) but this means clams.


Where can I find a downloadable database of English to Chinese words?

Only other two freely available that I'm aware of are Adsotrans  and LDC wordlist.

Adsotrans is based on CC-CEDICT, but they also include (for non-commercial use) software for segmentation, hanzi2pinyin and apparently some sort of semantic analysis. I don't know whether dictionary itself differs from vanilla CC-CEDICT. Their download contains SQL instead of CSV. Also, if I remember correctly they used some sort sort of Latin-whatever encoding instead UTF-8.

If you're willing to pay then most popular option seems to licence ABC dictionary, but unfortunately University of Hawaii  has granted Wenlin exclusive license so you'd have to sublicence it from them. See UH and Wenling respective pages here:
www.otted.hawaii.edu/technology/00294/abc-chinese-language-database-dictionary and www.wenlin.com/abc.htm

If you find another free or free-ish/cheap database I'd be interested too.


Why is 称 used instead of 显示 in 消息称，苹果已经开始……?

显示 = indicate

消息显示 - The announcer observes the information that's available and provides a report to the audience
The source of the information may or may not have provided the material directly to the announcer

称 = announce/ claim

消息称 - The announcer directly relays the announcement or claim from the source of information to the audience
The source of the information has made the announcement/ claim itself
Also:
证据显示 - evidence indicates (evidence doesn't make claim)
发言人称 - the speaker claims (speaker announces, not indicates an announcement)


How do native speakers structure their essays?

The Chinese have a device called 起承转合. First you start(起) narrating on some topic. Then you continue(承) to develop the topic with added material. Then you turn(转) the narrative, either by seeking different aspects, or creating conflicts and resolving them. Finally you conclude(合) the topic.

Often it goes like this:

(起) New study shows that spanking is bad for children...
(承) The study is conducted by Harvard and it goes like...
(转) Some may say "I was spanked as a child, and I turn out to be fine." They are wrong because...
(合) So it's better not to spank our children...

It also work in poems and songs. Here is a modern example, a song by by 张玮玮, titled 《织毛衣》

(起)我深深地爱着你
(承)你却爱着一个傻逼
(转)傻逼却不爱你
(合)你比傻逼还傻逼

This idea has its classic roots, so we can see it being used in classical poems as well. For example, 《登高》 by 杜甫, my all time favorite:

(起)风急天高猿啸哀，渚清沙白鸟飞回。
(承)无边落木萧萧下，不尽长江滚滚来。
(转)万里悲秋常作客，百年多病独登台。
(合)艰难苦恨繁霜鬓，潦倒新停浊酒杯。

It's rather akin to the Hollywood three-act structure, where you plan the plot, develop the plot, reach the climax, then draw the happy ending.

Note that it's just one of the common devices that could be used on any type of writing. As for scientific theses, I think most of them try to follow western standards.


华裔：华夏族的后裔，但大多数指华侨在侨居国所生并取得侨居国国籍的子女

华侨：尚未加入外籍的中国公民，但长期居于国外；包括已取得居住国永久居民身份者，仍保留本国公民身份

华人：属于中华民族的人的泛称

华人： All Chinese

华侨： Chinese Live overseas but no citizenship

华裔： 华侨's children, get the citizenship

Taiwanese, Hongkongese, Macanese, called 同胞

Uyghur living overseas, you can call him 华人, if you dont know his identity.


请问到英国的运费需要多少钱？

"to the UK" should be put in front of "shipping", and the sentence can be translated back to

how much is required for the shipping to the UK?

“请问” is for politeness, and “需要” make it formal.


I've searched some sentences on Baidu, they all mean Chinese nationals in the context, i.e. localization.

西门子高管出现首张中国面孔
西门子中国没有职位上的‘天花板’,从CEO,到业务总裁,越来越多的中国面孔跻身西门子高管团队,我的责任就是让有能力有经验的本土化员工迅速成长起来,担纲西门子中国以至全球的重任。

BTW: I can't find your sentence exactly on Baidu, but I found this, which used the word 本土 for localization.

西门子这样一个跨国公司，已经开始选择完全的本土脸孔来拉近和中国的距离。

西门子高管出现首张中国面孔
程美玮:西门子中国没有天花板
西门子本土化"模板" 用本土人管理上海业务


What is your research effort?

There are many websites that teach aspects of the Chinese language Putonghua.
One example is the Wikibook Chinese.

Other sites provide dictionaries and, more importantly, example sentences, like Ichacha.

You won't, however, find a "complete" or "end-to-end" guide for any natural, living language. Despite many people stressing the simplicity of Chinese grammar, the fun only really starts after completing the basic structures.


The answer is in this article:
从"出洋"、"游学"到"留学"——晚清"留学"词源考

It is really a complicated history, but in short: During the Tang Dynasty Japanse students came to China to study. These were called 留学生 in Japan. During the Late Qing Dynasty 留学 was taken over in China and became more and more popular.


什么都没有 和 没有什么 difference

The first (我跟那件事一点关系也没有) is supposed to translate into “I have nothing to do with that.”
The second one (我跟那件事没有什么关系) should be translated into "I don't have much to do with that."


Difference between 你能看完这本书吗？ vs 你看得完这本书吗？

I think basically what you wrote in your question is right.

As for:

  What's the difference between 你能看完这本书吗？and 你看得完这本书吗?

Let's remove 这本书. 你能看完吗？vs 你看得完吗?, I can't seize any difference in meaning between them. It's just different syntax being used to express the same semantics. In practice, you can probably replace one with the other without any problems.


Generally I think BBC is a good place to learn English. As "阅兵" is a pretty big event recently, you can see it on news in most English speaking countries. So, just take a look of a news title from BBC: China military parade commemorates WW2 victory over Japan.

"Military parade" looks good to me. However, if you are one of the officials, then you are in a different position. You would call it "review troops". But for outsiders like us, it's an event, a "military parade".


Meaning of “帶看病做工!她的一家人還是餓看！“?

"看" in “帶看病做工!她的一家人還是餓看！“ is obviously a typo of "着"

  “帶着病做工, 她的一家人還是餓着“ would make all the sense

帶着病做工 = working with illness (working while she is sick)

還是餓着 = is still in hunger (餓= hungry; 餓着 = in a continuous state of hungry)


听不见 and 听不清 mean different things.

听不见 = can't hear/ didn't hear (didn't know you spoke)

听不清 = can't clearly hear (unsure what you are saying)

Use '听不见你说的話' [didn't hear the words you said] or '听不见你说了什么 [didn't hear what you have said] instead of '听不见你说了的' [didn't hear that you have said] (object missing)
'听不见你(剛)说了的(話)' is also acceptable, but kind of wordy.


Other meaning of 一顿 besides relating to meals

In Taiwan, according to dictionary owned by Ministry of Education.
一頓 means:

表示數量，一次、一回。

(Denote quantity, one session.)


It is always good practice to look up the etymology of an idiom whenever you are learning one:

（阮籍）嗜酒能嘯，善彈琴。當其得意，忽忘形骸。《晉書．卷四九．阮籍列傳》(教育部成語字典)
Ruan Ji enjoys wine and a good wail; he is also skilled in playing the guqin. Whenever he derives joy (from these), without warning, he forgets his physical form.

Ruan Ji was one of the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove (竹林七賢). They developed a particularly hedonistic lifestyle – it is important to understand the original (positive) meaning of the idiom with this context.
While in modern Chinese, we see 得意 as an indivisible word that means 'to be proud of oneself; to be complacent', it is separable in classical Chinese (and has a different meaning too), which is arguably more accurate when we are interpreting idioms with a literal approach.
得 is a verb meaning 'to get; to acquire'.
意 is obscurely polysemous. It can mean 'idea' (e.g., 意義, 意在言外 in modern Chinese) and 'intention' (e.g., 意圖, 不懷好意). But here, it should mean 'interest; pleasure'. Consider another similar example:

醉翁之意不在酒，在乎山水之間也。《醉翁亭記》
This joy from the mountains and the water he feels within his mind; he merely ascribes it to the wine.

This suggests, in very crude terms, that the enjoyment of a drinker is not derived from the wine itself, but the environment in which the wine is drunk. In modern Chinese, we say someone is having an ulterior motive if we say 醉翁之意不在酒.

However, idioms are known to be especially prone to semantic shift. 得意忘形 is no longer used to describe someone as being hedonistic (which is neutral, perhaps somewhat approving), but careless due to extreme glee (which is definitely disapproving).

References
Lian, Xianda. “The Old Drunkard Who Finds Joy in His Own Joy -Elitist Ideas in Ouyang Xiu's Informal Writings.” Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, Reviews (CLEAR), vol. 23, 2001, pp. 1–29. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/495498. Accessed 20 Apr. 2021.
Hegel, Robert E. "A Record of the Pavilion of an Intoxicated Old Man," in The Columbia Anthology of Traditional Chinese Literature, ed. Victor H. Mair (New York: Columbia University Press, 1994), pp. 590–591.


How is the currency of Taiwan referred to in Mandarin?

Yes, people use ‘kuài’ in conversation, as in ‘yī qiān duō kuài’ (over 1,000 NT$).  You can also add ‘qián’ to make it clear you’re talking about amounts of money:  ‘wŭ shí kuài qián’ (50 NT$).

You might want to use ‘(xīn) tái bì’ when changing money, as in ‘qĭng gĕi wŏ tái bì’ (please give me Taiwan dollars).  I don’t know what was used in previous periods, but here are some ways to refer to other currencies:

mĕi jīn   ‘American dollars’
rì bì   ‘Japanese yen’
găng bì  ‘Hong Kong dollars’
yīng bàng  ‘British pounds’

These are from a Mandarin textbook put out by TLI, a language school in Taiwan.  Be careful with the tone on ‘tái’ - in some contexts this can be confused with the falling tone ‘tài’ referring to Thailand/Thai money.  But if you’re already in Taiwan, that shouldn’t be a problem.


The translation of "they" depends on what it refers to.

Use "他们" if you are talking about a group of people.
Use "她们" if you are talking about a group of females. Note that if you are certain that they are a group of females you should always use "她们" instead of "他们".
In comparison, if there is at least one male in the group of people, or if you don't know about their gender, you should use "他们".
As for "祂" I have only seen it when Christian people refer to God. There's only one God so you don't want to say "祂们". For other gods, we usually use "他" or "她", depending on if that is a male god or a female god.
"牠" is for animals. However it is seldom seen in modern CHS (Chinese Simplified). Now we use "它" for animals too. It is considered a character in CHT (Chinese Traditional).
"它" is for objects, including animals.

For your example:

You should use "他们" in your example sentence instead of "他们" because actually you are talking about the people in the shop.

No, they only sell x. => 不，他们只卖 X。

Some other special cases you may want to know:

When we assimilate some object to a person (拟人, personification), we use the corresponding "他" or "她" instead of "它". Therefore you may also use "他们" or "她们" in this cases.
For pets, Chinese people don't think they are people - No they are never people. You should always use "它们" for your pets as you do for other animals. Exception happens if you are following point 6.


不安 mean uneasy, restless. The close opposite is 鎮定, which means a person with a stable mental state when facing either expected or unexpected events (can be any mind-stimulating event but usually bad things or news).
The complete opposite is 安然, which means at ease.


Sounds like you should investigate the localization features of your language.

Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture = CultureInfo.GetCultureInfo("zh-CN");
string version = strings.Version.replace('%version%', '1.0.0');
version = version.replace('%build%', '0');
Console.WriteLine(version);

With the information given in James Jiao's answer & comments, your Chinese version string and its English equivalent could be:

版本%version%（编译版本号:%build%）
Version %version% (Build %build%)

For more information on localization in C#, refer to:

https://stackoverflow.com/a/1142840/187954
http://www.c-sharpcorner.com/UploadFile/brijrajsingh/glbal_110012005021049AM/glbal_1.aspx
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/1021kkz0(v=vs.71)


Why does the Chinese language have so many characters?

Chinese may have many characters, but many are not in use such as some 甲骨文 and such. Many (pretty much all) Chinese characters are from drawings, with the exception of new ones such as 'biang' . Your average Chinese adult that graduated college only needs to know around ~3000 and experts know ~5000 or ~7000 if you are really good. Some characters become redundant as they can be formed by others.


Actually there's a site written by Chinese explained the meaning of "主持". And here it is: http://baike.baidu.com/subview/77617/14131395.htm

Then, there are some points I think I should explain for you:

1. When it comes to Ancient Chinese, the "主持" always means someone handles or deal with things. And at this time, it's a verb. But when we visit a temple, we would call the head-hander "主持" -- now it's a noun.

2. When it comes to Modern Chinese, this word means someone in charge of some things, especially something matters or grand to cater for the solemn atmosphere there. In those occasions you can use it, and others will not feel you choose your words unexpected.

Hope can help :)


As far as I understand, The difference is "habit" not semantic.  They mean exactly the same.  But 什么也 are usually used in negative while 什么都 can be in both positive and negative.
You can't say 他什么菜也吃 is wrong, just not generally used.
My advice is simple: stick to 什么都 because it can be used both positive and negative, but understand that some people may prefer 什么也 in negative.
Actually, this is generally the principle when facing many options in expressions, for example, the 7 fundamental ways of continuous forms be + ~ing, (在+..., 正+..., ......呢) choose one of them that you feel most comfortably and most practical in using (in this case, my recommendation is 正在 because you can include place terms easily), and understand there are other 6 ways.


Etymology of the Chinese number characters (一二三四五六七八九十百千)

Etymology of 一, 二, and 三

Explanation of 一/二/三 in 象形字典 (Dictionary of Pictographs)

  “一”是特殊指事字，抽象符号“一”既代表最为简单的起源，也代表最为丰富的浑沌整体。造字本义：最小原始单位，最小的正整数。古人认为“道立于一，一生二，二生三，三生万物”。就是说，混沌太初的存在整体是“一”；然后由太初混沌的“一”，分出天地“二”极；天地二极之间，又生出人这第“三”部分；天地人三者，衍化出宇宙万物。一 ，代替混沌太初的整体；二，上面的一横代表“天”，下面的一横代表“地”；三，上下两横代表“天地”，中间的一横代表“人”。

  一 is a special self-explanatory character. The abstract symbol 一 presents not only the simplest origin, but also the abundant chaos entirety. The original idea of character construction: the smallest basic unit, the smallest positive integer. Ancient Chinese people thought "Tao stands on 一(one), 一(one) bears 二(two), 二(two) bears 三(three), 三(three) bears everything". That is to say, the entity of original chaos is 一; then the chaos origin 一 differentiates into 二极(two extremes), the sky and the earth; and between the two extremes, there breed humans (the 三); And finally, everything in the universe are derived from the sky, the earth and the humans. In conclusion, 一 presents the whole of the chaos origin; 二, the top bar stands for the sky and the bottom bar stands for the earth; 三, the top and the bottom is respectively the sky and the earth, the middle represents humans.

  My Annotation: The statement "道立于一" (Tao stands on one) is a little different from "道生一" (Tao gives birth to one) in Tao Te Ching. This paper “道生一” “道始於一” “道立於一” 合解 offers a further discussion on this issue.

Explanation in 甲骨文字典 (Dictionary of Oracle Scripts)

一

  【解字】卜辭由一至四，字形作、、、，以積畫為數，當出於古之算籌。甲文金文均同。屬於指事字。從五至九，則利用假借字，其形作（或）、（或）、、、，至十則為豎形。

  [Character Forming] The glyphs of one to four in oracle inscriptions are respectively , , , and . The method of counting strokes is used for representing the number. It should originate from the ancient counting rods. Their glyphs in bronze scripts are the same to those in oracle scripts. And they belong to the self-explanatory characters. From five to nine, oracle script uses the loan characters:  (or ),  (or ), , , , and ten is a vertical shape.

  Ivory Counting Rods in Western Han Dynasty (206 B.C. -- A.D. 8). Photographed by maverwolf in Shaanxi History Museum.

二

  [Character Forming] The glyphs of one to four in oracle inscriptions are respectively , , , and . The method of counting strokes is used for representing the number. It should originate from the ancient counting rods. Note that, the two strokes of 二 in oracle script should be of equal length. It is different from  (上) and  (下).

三

  [Character Forming] See explanation of 一 above.

Rubbings

No. 032013: 貞(divine to predict) ?? 來(come)，一(one) 羌(western shepherd) 一(one) 牛(ox)。

No. 034575: 庚午(year of 庚午) 貞(divine to predict) 餗(food in a cooking vessel)，餗 其(, a basket made by bamboo splits; it; its) 二(two) 牛(ox)。

No. 032110: 其 一(one) 羌(western shepherd) 三(three) 牛(oxen)

Criticism on "Explanation of 一/二/三 in 象形字典 (Dictionary of Pictographs)"

The explanations of 一/二/三 in Dictionary of Pictographs are some concepts from 《周易》(I Ching), 《道德經》(Tao Te Ching) and 《淮南子》(Huainanzi). And such a statement for 一 is similar to that in 《說文解字》(Shuowen):

惟初太始，道立于一，造分天地，化成萬物。

But let's consider these questions:

I Ching was one of the oldest Chinese classic text, written in Western Zhou Dynasty; Tao Te Ching was written in Warring States Period (newer than I Ching); And Huainanzi and Shuowen were even newer. So question 1: was it possible for ancient Chinese people to have such philosophical thinking, before the early period of Shang Dynasty when oracle scripts were invented?
As number characters are very important in communication, they must appear at the early stage of oracle scripts. So question 2: at that early stage, would ancient Chinese people create 一/二/三 by such abstract thinking rather than by concrete images?

Unfortunately these two questions are both based on conjectures. So there isn't a definite "yes" or "no" answer. For question 1, I would say the earliest evidence we have found today is I Ching, and personally I don't believe philosophical thinking like "道立于一" (Tao stands on one) can date from an earlier period before the creation of the writing system. For question 2, it was illogical to invent the "basic characters" utilizing very abstract concepts, or, it would very probably make the communication become more difficult.

Besides, 算籌 (counting rods) were used by ancient Chinese for more than two thousand years. It was possible to appear during or before the creation period of oracle scripts.

  So in conclusion, for the explanation of etymology of 一/二/三, opinions in Dictionary of Oracle Scripts are more reliable: they should originate from the ancient counting rods.


「瘦」is comprised of semantic「疒」(sickness) and phonetic「叟」, indicating the meaning underdeveloped muscles and fat; emaciated (speaking about the body).

The skinny meaning is not how we view the meaning skinny in modern terms.

Today, especially in countries which are not struck by famine or poverty, skinny is viewed as a better state than obese. To become skinny/thin is to change from an unhealthy obese weight.
In the olden days, skinny is a synonym for malnutritioned/pallid/emaciated, hence the use of「疒」.


The confusion here lies with the fact that「黑」(black) is an adjective, but「黑色」(black colour) is a noun. So, the correct way to say your example meaning is one of these:

她什麼衣服都很黑 (not 黑色)
她什麼衣服都是黑色的 (not 黑)

「的」should be appended on the end of the second example to make it a nominalised adjective, and「色」is optional:

  她什麼衣服都是黑的

This syntax equates the following two:

黑色的衣服
衣服是黑色的


What’s the difference between 符合, 适合 and 适应?

符合 means "match". Example:

  他 符合 我们的 要求。

  He matches our requirement.

适合 means “fit” in a sense of "good fit". Example:

  他 很 适合 这个 职位。

  He is a good fit.

符合 and 适合 have similar meanings but are often paired with different nones. I would say 符合 is a more precise fit than 适合。

适应 mean something quite different. It means "get used to", it is the process of getting to 符合 and 适合.


In Chinese typesetting, is there a version of Lorem Ipsum?

There is no standard text, but there is sometimes the need for something equivalent (i.e. a body of text to see how typesetting looks).  Sometimes this is referred to as 乱数假文.  Your exact question has been asked and answered in Chinese here: http://www.zhihu.com/question/19708165 , if you want to read more.  You can also find a tool for generating such texts here: http://www.richyli.com/tool/loremipsum/


Cantonese jyutping Tone 4 question "throat should be vibrating"

The fourth tone is usually considered low-falling, rather than low-flat.

The fourth tone begins just a little lower than where the sixth tone begins. Just start by producing the sixth tone, and then bring the pitch down as low as you can.

In terms of tone numbers (a 1-5 scale, with 1 the lowest), fourth tone is usually transcribed as 21, third tone as 33, and sixth tone as 22.

That's the reason for the advice about hearing your throat vibrate: the pitch you make should be low-frequency. I'd be happy to follow up on this for you if you have any more questions.


How to determine the part of speech tags of words succeeding 不 like these?

Basically:

趕不上 is a [(趕) verb + (不) potential particle + (上) directional  particle] structure.

找不到 is a [(找) verb + (不) potential particle + (到) attainment / achievement particle] structure.

In 趕上, 趕 is the verb "to rush", and 上 is a directional particle that indicates the direction of the verb apply to (forward)

趕 = to rush; 趕上 = to catch up

In 找到, 找 is the verb "to find", and 到 is a particle that indicates the success of the verb (attainment / achievement)

找= to find; 找到 = have found

I had explained the role of potential particle in other answers before:

「得」or 「不」 are the two potential particles that indicate " "able , or "unable"
*Potentially, you either able or unable to. That's why they are called potential particles.


Does Shanghainese have a buzzing sound & what does it mean?

是 (the copula) is pronounced /z̩/ in Shanghainese. The negative (often written as 伐, though for phonetic reasons only) is pronounced like "vah". So one often hears zzzvuhzzz in the middle of Shanghainese conversations.


I think a good way to translate that sentence into English so that the usage in Chinese is well understood would be to say "Mom says that if your nose is long, only then is it pretty". I think it's important to think of 才 in this case meaning "only then" rather than just "only". That makes a sentence like 你跟我去我才去 easier to understand ("I'll only go if you go with me" or "If you go with me, I'll go" or "You go with me, only then will I go").

Be careful not to confuse this meaning of 才 with its meaning in a sentence like 我才不去 in which 才不 means certainly won't or certainly do not.


Do we say 星期五早上 or 早上星期五?

In China, we usually use "xīngqí wǔ zǎoshang".
今天早上
明天早上
下星期一下午
We always put the time of a day after the day.


Where can I find a full list of combinations of sounds and tones used in Chinese?

I use this one. But it show all combinations, including ones that aren't words.
http://www.quickmandarin.com/chinesepinyintable/

ETA: It has tones, if you want to hear how they sound.


How to congratulate someone on getting a new job?

「祝你找到一个好工作」 means "Wish you find a good job".
It's usually used when somebody is hunting for a (new) job,

「恭喜获得这个工作」and「你的新工作表示祝贺」 are quite natural expression.
But from my point of view:
「恭喜获得这个工作」   --> 「恭喜您获得这个工作」
「你的新工作表示祝贺」 --> 「对你的新工作表示祝贺」
 are a little better.

You can also say 「祝您今后在工作岗位上大展鸿图！」 to wish other people a bright future on their new job.


Weird Chinese text next to the Great Wall

The writing says 忠于毛主席, or "loyal to Chairman Mao", 倪阔乐 says. as This has a pretty interesting history.

It is said that it was constructed by Red Guards during the early Cultural Revolution, out of rocks painted with lime. It is a famous slogan, the first part of the "三忠于四无限" movement (three loyal, four infinite), which provides the following slogans:

忠于毛主席 (loyal to Chairman Mao)
忠于毛泽东思想 (loyal to Maoism)
忠于毛主席的无产阶级革命路线 (loyal to Chairman Mao's proletarian revolutionary path)

and the four infinites refers to the degree of loyalty to the above three:

无限崇拜 (unlimited worship)
无限热爱 (unlimited adoration)
无限信仰 (unlimited faith)
无限忠诚 (unlimited loyalty)

As the Cultural Revolution ended and its legacy discredited, the writing became obscured by brush. But for whatever reason, in 2008 the area was cleared and repainted, making the writing visible again. It's placed in a very prominent position in the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall, a section that's already special as it's one of the few with merlons on both sides of the wall - very picturesque. Here you can see before/after pictures of the clearing, note that the writing is visible even from far away on the wall, as it's on the inside of a turn:

Before:

After:

Photos from http://www.thegreatwall.com.cn/phpbbs/index.php?id=125518&forumid=1&threadid=125489

What's interesting is why the writing was restored, as usually the Cultural Revolution and its artifacts are unpopular even in China. Perhaps after so many years, it's gained historical value. Perhaps it's become popular by Chinese millenials, who have not lived through the Cultural Revolution - it was also a time where leftists like Bo Xilai were at their peak in popularity.


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

I think the level are different.

他的确很帅 = He is very handsome, indeed.

他确实很帅 = He is very handsome, indeed.

他实在是帅 = How handsome he is!!!


Baike

如《中国古代服饰风俗》中说：“为什么要把指环这种饰物称之为戒指呢？那就要从‘戒’字的含义说起了。明都 《三馀赘笔》记称：‘今世俗用金银为环，置妇人指间，谓之戒指’。按《诗》注：‘古者后妃群妾，以礼进御于君，女史书其日月，授之以环，以进退之。生子月辰，以金环退之；当御者，以银环进之，着于左手；既御者，着于右手。事无大小，记以成法，则世俗之名“戒指”者，有自来矣。’”《现代汉语词名探源词典》中也引用类似上面的一段，并说“嫔妃月经来潮之日，即戴戒指，表明不可与帝王同房。戒指即‘戒止’”。还有《中文大辞典》中的“戒指”、“指环”项，也引用了上述说法。

Apparently, concubines wore a ring when their period came to let the emperor know coitus wasn't an option and this is where the name came from.


How to say "where else", "who else", or "what else" in Chinese?

Next, from the sentences above, it seems like when you place 还/别的/其他 or any other words that mean "else" and any question words like 什么，谁，and 哪里 together, you can already form "question word (like where/who/what) + else". I don't know if my assumption is correct though. Please kindly tell me if my assumption is incorrect.

Yes, a 'question phrase' can be formed by the way you have discussed.

For example:

你还要买什么？ - What else do you want?

你还要去哪里？ - Where else do you want to go?

还有谁要来？ - Who else still wants to come?

谁还 - Who still (want to come)

哪里还 - Where still (want to go)

什么还 - What still (want to buy)

In the 8th sentence, '女士，还有其他什么事吗?', it is actually okay to remove the '其他' as it is unnecessary as you said. (double else)

This forms: 女士，还有什么事吗?

"有" literally means "have"

"在" literally means "there"

There is not much meaning and explanation to why these two characters are sometimes used and sometimes not. I don't feel like I can fully explain to why this is so as if I did I have a possibility to give wrong advice. If you give me some comparison examples I would be happy to help you explain the differences to why one uses these characters and why one don't.


咩 (me1) as a sentence final particle is used not only to mark the sentence as a question, but also to indicate surprise (or disbelief) that the situation is not what you expected.  Taking your example:

  唔使返工咩？ (m4 sai2 faan1 gung1 me1?) "You don't need to go to work?"

This asks why the receiver doesn't need to go to work, but also indicates that you were originally under the impression that the receiver needed to go.

The use of 嗎 (which is usually pronounced maa3, not maa1) in Cantonese is usually considered formal and not commonly used in everyday speech.  Its existence in Cantonese is most likely due to Mandarin influence.  To express a neutral question, the verb-not-verb construction is generally favored.  Expanding your initial example, if you just want to ask whether someone needs to go to work, you would say:

  使唔使返工呀？ (sai2 m4 sai2 faan1 gung1 aa3?) "Do you need to go to work?"

The sentence final particle 呀 (aa3) is often placed at the end of questions, generally to soften the tone so that it won't be considered abrupt.

For information on these and other Cantonese sentence final particles, check out http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/essays/cantonese_particles.htm

P.S., Fivesheep's answer notes that 咩 is a contraction of 乜嘢 (mat1 je5), but this is a completely different me1 that just happens to be represented using the same character.  The use of 咩 as a sentence final particle is not related to this and is not a contraction of 乜嘢.


四航奋进: This ship's name is translated as "Four Aircraft Endeavour", but is it?

This is a typical example of Chinese English. 「四航」is the company or institution who built the ship. It has nothing to do with the ship's structure. I read 「四」 in 「四航」 as fourth. There might or might not be 「一航」 or 「二航」. Here's the official website for 「四航」.  「四航」 is short for 「第四航务工程局」， it's a company mainly engaged in construction of a variety of infrastructures like ports, bridges, hydraulic works and etc. according to the about page. They call themselves Fourth Harbour Engineering in English.

"Four Aircraft Endeavour" is a confusing translation. Literally, 「四航」 is "Fourth Harbour" and「奋进」 is Endeavour in this context, although I'm not sure whether Endeavour is a good translation. I would probably translate 「奋进」 as striving forward but it doesn't sound like a name.


Position of 提供 in 这椅子是专为老年人提供的

It is all because of that 为

Basically the following two sentences have the same meaning:

这椅子是专门提供给老人的

这椅子是专(门)为老人提供的

English translation will be:

We provided this chair specifically for the elders

It is actually quite common to use the 为 to move the verb after the subject to emphasize the "for"

For example,

My heart only beats for you

我的心只为你跳动


Here's my take on it.

更好 = "even better." For example, X很好。Y更好。= "X is good. Y is even better." This comparison could be over time too: X已经很好，现在更好了 = "X was already good, now it's even better."

比较好 = "better", without an implication that the object of comparison was/is already good. So, it's acceptable to say X不怎么样，Y比较好。= "X kind of sucks, Y is better"

For more example sentences, check out Allset's grammar wiki: 更 geng and 比较 bijiao.


In Northern China, 瞧 is the colloquial form of 看 and they are always interchangeable. I can't speak for Southern China though.

E.g.

瞧瞧 = 看看 = take a look
你瞧瞧 = 你看看 = [in blaming tone] look (what you've done)
瞧一瞧 = 看一看 = take a look (don't miss it)
瞧得起 = 看得起 = look up to
瞧得见 = 看得见 = can see
瞧一眼 = 看一眼 = cast a glance at


This particular pronunciation is traditionally used in crosstalk, especially in the northern area of China. I think it's related to Tianjin dialect. Today Chinese only pronounce 小小 as 'xiaoxiao'.


What does "强横" mean when it is used to describe an inanimate things?

zdic says 强横: 骄横跋扈;强硬蛮横。亦指这样的人.

亦指这样的人 is not very clear. I suspect what it means is that in addition to functioning as a modifier (brutal and unreasonable), 强横 can also function as a nominal by itself (a brutal and unreasonable person). It doesn't give an example of this, however.

强横 refers to a type of person, or perhaps actions or policies that people implement.  I don't think it could refer to something inanimate, or even an animal.

zdic glosses 横 as 'unreasonable'. 横 refers to someone who goes straight ahead without following a road or path (reason or morality).

I also don't think 强 really means strong here; it is more like the 强 in 強盜 'robber'.  The MOE 國語辭典 defines this sense of 强 as 橫暴.

In any case, 强横 is never going to be neutral, just like 霸道 or 講理 are not neutral. Someone who is 强横 is a bad guy.


制 has no ox/bull or cloth. That left component is a corrupted version of 未. 未 is a tree with many branches, ready to be chopped down. There is  as a variant form. Original meaning is "cut" hence the knife component 刀 on the right. After cutting down a tree, the wood obtained can be made into many different objects, thus "make" became an extended meaning. 制 furthermore had more extended meaning.
Over time, 制 became the definition for non-tangible things that can be "made" such as "regulation", "system", and "formula". "Control" 控制 was an extended meaning for the "system" definition. Another component 衣 was added at the bottom becoming 製. This took on the meaning of "make" or "manufacture" for tangible objects such as clothes and furniture.
製 is still the standard in areas that use traditional script such as Hong Kong. In PRC, 製 was removed and 制 is reused as the meaning for make and manufacture.
https://www.zdic.net/hans/%E5%88%B6


龜背功為硬功外壯，屬陽剛之勁。此功專練背部，使之堅實，與腹部之布袋功、鐵牛功等法，效用相同，用以禦敵，非用以制敵也。

practising this art, would strengthen one’s back, make it harder, like a carapace / tortoise shell

扣畢復摩

i would shortcut it to “massage [one’s back] after knocking”
in details, “扣” is

以拇指，扣住中、食二指之第一節，使其第二節骨突出，即用突出之處，向腰部軟當上環扣之

use one thumb hold the first joint of index finger & middle finger, let the second knuckles protruding, use these knuckles to “knock” one’s back
畢: finished (完畢)
復: again, and then
摩: massage (按摩)

以兩手緊按後腰，先向內揉摩三十六次，復向外揉摩三十六次，如此為一轉

seriously, do you believe it?
龜背功:此功專練背部，使之堅實(圖文)
be cautious


Here's an English translation from YouTube

and in text form:

Inheritance over the barriers of vicissitudes of life

Without directly translating every word specifically we could change this to something more user-friendly like:

An inheritance that transcends the barrier of time

You might even be able to fit "changes" in their as well to make it a little truer to the original Chinese.


In this sentence 也 should not be understood individually.In Chinese 宁愿...也... is a coordinating conjunction. It means a choose relationship. You choose the option behind 宁愿 and you give up the option behind 也.
I think it seems like rather...than... in English.宁愿冻死也不穿 may be translated to rather be dead than be wearing the long underwear.
More examples about 宁愿...也...could be see in here;
And More examples about coordinating conjunction in Chinese could be see in here


How to say those mouth-watering Chinese dishes names in Chinese?

Q: How to say other mouth-watering Chinese dishes in Chinese?

In Chinese you can say something like “垂涎欲滴”、“垂涎三尺”……This means foods are too nice for you to eat so that you are now drooling.

  Q:What are the proper sentences to order food in a Chinese restaurant?

Some steps of ordering dishes, you can watch the torturial of Chinese video: 点菜，幻灯片教学版


I think that “随你便” may suit your needs.  This phrase can be translated as "as you wish" or "suit yourself" or even "whatever."


How to understand "实" in this context? ”五侯九伯，女实征之“（《齐桓公伐楚盟屈完》）之"实"字何以训？

Here's an expansion from 《史記》·《齊太公世家》that clarifies:

「『東至海，西至河，南至穆陵，北至無棣，五侯九伯，實得征之。』齊由此得征伐，為大國。」

In this expansion, 實 means "truly"/"legitimately" (實) authorized to (得) launch expeditions (征) against them (之): launch expeditions against them with actual authority.  So "legitimately" might be your best single word for the apparent function of 實 here.

實 as 的確 makes some sense in the expanded version, but still doesn't make sense as 的確 in the abbreviated form you cite in the 春秋左傳; so I would take that 實 as an abbreviated form of 實得, and gloss the original shorter phrase as "legitimately [authorized], go on the expedition" .  It would be interesting to interpret 實 as "具備"(權力) but I can't find any clear evidence for that reading.

More examples of the 實得 usage would be useful: I'm having trouble finding other instances of this combination.  It's worth noting that the above interpretation works quite well for the only other similar usage of 實 I can find, also from 《春秋左傳》·《昭公三十年》:「靈王之喪，我先君簡公在楚，我先大夫印段實往，...」.

Other Examples

Here are some additional examples of uses we can use to examine the problem.  Based on searches from ctext.org.

《覲禮》:

  天子設斧依於戶牖之間，左右幾。天子袞冕，負斧依。嗇夫承命，告於天子。天子曰：「非他，伯父實來，予一人嘉之。伯父其入，予一人將受之。」侯氏入門右，坐奠圭，再拜稽首。擯者謁。侯氏坐取圭，升致命。

This seems useful because the gloss as 確實 seems even more strained than the example you have provided.  Here it seems to mean "May the Royal Protector [伯父] come here under authorization, so that We may congratulate him..." and then the Royal Protector comes in (I think - not sure what 侯氏 is, maybe one clan/surname/氏 of the 諸侯?).

《周語中》

  王召士季，曰：「子弗聞乎，禘郊之事，則有全烝；王公立飫，則有房烝；親戚宴饗，則有肴烝。今女非他也，而叔父使士季實來修舊德，以獎王室。唯是先王之宴禮，欲以貽女。...

I.e., the Royal Uncle [叔父, again, whatever] has dispatched 士季 to come under orders to renew old good will, in order to favor the Royal House.

There are other examples of "實來" in canon where it's not so clear it isn't simply meaning "really came". The advantage to the above selections, particularly the second, is that it's a real stretch to translate it as something like "X dispatched Y to actually visit..." - it just doesn't make very much sense.


What is the difference between 目前 and 现在?

First, 没有(without) in the sentence is a typo, It should be 设有 (with)
Both 目前 and 现在 can mean 'now','currently' or 'presently'.

目前 literally means "in front of eyes" which implies 'the current situation you can see'

"目前在银座的三个大厦屋顶都设有养蜂场" means "Currently, the roofs of the three buildings in Ginza are all set up with bee farms" (currently observable fact)

现在 literally means "in the present"  or "at present"
https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/in-the-present-at-present.1576445/
"In the present" = as they are happening/now.
"At present" = at the moment/now.

现在在银座的三个大厦屋顶都设有养蜂场 means "Now, the roofs  of the three buildings in Ginza are all set up with bee farms" (in the present time)

如今(as of now) is similar to 现在

眼前 can replace 目前 for "now"; but 眼前 can also mean "in front of one's eyes" which cannot be replaced by 目前

眼下 has the same function as 眼前


回答 vs. 回复 vs. 回应 vs.答复： What is proper usage?

回答often used when somebody answer your question, usually face to face.
回复often used when they reply you via text or phone.
回应is used when you done something, others do another thing in respond.
答复is used when you ask question or have some petition to the government or other big agency, you will get a respond from them.

In your example,

  "I'm so sorry I took so long to respond to your message!"

should use 回复

  "‘Of course!' the man replied!"

should use 回答

  "I waited for a long time, but still no response"

should use 答复

as for

  "He was not happy with my reply"

it will mainly rely on the context you are in,


In Chinese , you should press "nv" instead of "nu". "v" here means "ü" in pronunciation.

For more about Pinyin, you can see this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinyin


In Chinese, the particle 好了 is used to mean "OK".

So in the sentence

  你叫我马丁好了。

this would be translated as "You can call me Martin, OK."

好了 is also used to suggest something where you are not expecting a response:

  现在我带你去看他好了。 = I'll take you to see him now.

In this case, the person could still refuse or suggest now is not the right time. But by using the 好了, the speaker is suggesting that the other party is likely to go ahead with the suggestion.

Contrast this with a sentence where 好吧 is used, which is more offering a suggestion:

  我们现在去看他好吧？ = Let's go and see him now, OK? or How about we go and see him now?

Also note that 好了 can be used in another context to indicate completion, e.g.:

  你吃好了没有? = Have you finished eating?


Far as I know, names such as 意饺 really don't refer to any specifics - instead, they are simply names given to foreign foods that resemble their "chinese counterparts."

饺子 refers to boiled dumplings (note, dumplings alone refers to, ambiguously, 粽子, 饺子, and 包子) - where a stuffing is wrapped in a layer of dough and boiled in water.

Thus, 意大利 饺子 really refers to any food originating in Italy and resembling Chinese boiled dumplings. So far, the only Italian food I think resembles boiled dumplings is ravioli. So yes, 意饺 does refer to just ravioli - until some new Italian food is invented that also resembles Chinese boiled dumplings.

Lastly, I want to note that terms such as 意饺 really originate from big food industries trying to introduce fancy foreign-ish flavors into the Chinese market, labelling them with fancy names for "marketing" purposes.

EDIT: Many of the foods in this link, pointed out by user330506, could also thus be referred to as 意饺 - far as I know, that is.


Asking a cafe/restaurant if they have Wi-Fi *and* electricity for using a device

Actually the literal translation of English sounds natural in this case: 你们有Wi-Fi和电源吗？  or 你们有Wi-Fi和插座吗？

Here 电源 means power source, and 插座 means electric socket.


As user6065 mentioned there are many examples can be found.  I'll try to give them a simple explanation:

思维 - The generalization and indirect reaction process of the human brain by various means to objective things, or, your way of 'learning' or 'reacting' to things.
example: Perceptual figurative thinking, logical thinking, Rational thinking

思想 - The action or process of thinking, or, your thoughts / mindset / organization of ideas.
example: open-minded, great thinker

心思 - The 'application' or 'capability' of your thinking.  It could include your thoughts, your emotions / mood etc.
example: attentiveness, being considerate, carelessness


"(noun) 之后" = "after (noun)"

Example:

"2018 之后" = "after 2018"

"暴風之后" = "after the storm"

  "(noun) 过后" = "after (noun) had passed"

Example:

"2018 过后" = "after 2018 had passed"

"暴風过后" = "after the storm had passed"

  "之后 (verb)" / "过后 (verb)" = "afterward (verb)"

Example:

"之后再補償" = "compensate afterward"

"过后再補償" = "compensate afterward"

  "(verb) 之后" = "after (verb)"

Example:

"清朝灭亡之后" =  "After Qing Dynasty ended"

"政府成立之后" = "After the the government is founded"

  we cannot use "verb + 过后".  Both "清朝灭亡过后" and  "政府成立过后" are grammatically incorrect


Sentence Translations with an Emphasis on 被 and other general sentences

我的腿撞到地上，被受伤了--> 我的腿撞到地上被弄伤了 (受伤 is an intransitive verb and it doesn't work in the passive voice. Similarly, we don't say 被死去了 or 被昏倒了)
他病得很重了， 被送往医院了。 --> 他病得很重， 被送往医院了。 (we only need one final particle 了 in the same sentence)
我们两个草坪上摔倒了。幸好，我们没有被受伤了。 --> 我们两个在草坪上摔倒了。幸好没有被弄伤。 (need preposition 在 before 草坪. Again, 受伤 is an intransitive verb and it doesn't work in the passive voice and you don't need to repeat the subject 们两 = 我们)
出租车司机的受伤没有巴士司机的那么严重。 --> 出租车司机受的伤没有巴士司机的那么严重。 (的受伤 is not as native as 受的伤)
上个星期五辆自行车被偷了，还没有被找到小偷们。 --> 上个星期五辆自行车被偷了，小偷们还没有被找到。 (with 被 before the verb 找到 the object 小偷们 should be placed before 被 and the verb)
夹克的颜色，大小，和款式适合你。 --> 夹克的颜色，大小，和款式都适合你。 (add 都 after the last item on a list make it sound more complete)
夹克有一点儿太松。 --> 夹克有点儿太松。 (一点儿 can be reduced to 点儿 or 点)
裤子又瘦又长，让你的腿看起来很长。 --> 这裤子又窄又长，让你的腿看起来很长。。(瘦 for thin is normally for people or animal, for objects, we use 幼 or 窄 for thin
裙子不是太长或太短。你穿裙子看起来很漂亮。 --> 裙子不太长不太短。你穿起來很漂亮。 (no need to repeat 裙子 in the same sentence)
这个周末百货商店有一个特别销售活动。 --> 这个周末这間百货商店有一个特别销售活动。 ('这間百货商店' specify a particular store; while '百货商店' refers to all 百货商店 in general)


What means Nanfu? (Characters identified: 阿難)

first of all, read from right to left.
the right character, the left component is (阜, ⻖) is easy to recognise. the right component is a 口 (mouth) with surrounding stroke, so, it’s also easy to guess that it’s 阿 (u+963f)
then, confirm the guess with 漢語多功能字庫
http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/search.php?word=阿
the left character, well, it’s also “easy” to find that it’s 難 (u+96e3)
http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/search.php?word=難
put them together, the word is “阿難” ananda, one of the ten principle disciple of buddha.
further, judging from the photo provided, i think the characters are inscribed on a stone plinth, of a statue; that’s why i ask in the comment.
have fun :)


Where do I put adverbial expressions and other phrases in a sentence?

adverbial adjuncts (状语) always premodify the predicate which can be a verb, adjective or other predicate. These have to be distinguished from complements (补语）。The latter always postmodify the predicate (verb or adjective) .

quote from 外国人实用汉语语法（ISBN ７－８００５２－０６７－６）第无节 状语 （Adverbial Adjuncts）
一，什么叫状语（Definition）

在动词谓语前边的状语 （adverbial adjuncts premodifying the verb predicate：状语－－－中心语（动词谓语）

Adverbial adjunct ＋ modified word （verb predicate）
他 昨 天 参加了一个招待会。

我们 那 边 看看。

他 很 关心大家的健康。

我 只 有一本汉语语法书。etc。

在形容词谓语前边的状语：
（Adverbial adjuncts premodifying adjective predicate）：
状语－－－中心语（形容词谓语）

adverbial adjunct ＋ head word （adjective predicate）

他 非 常 谨慎。

他对人 很 热情。

他说话的声音 不 大。

在其他谓语前边的状语 （adverbial adjuncts premodifying other types of predicates）：

他 已 经 二十八岁了。

今天大概十七号。

二，状语的语法特点（Grammatical features）

（一）状语一定要在中心语前边 （The adverbial adjunct always precedes the head word）

（三）状语后边常带结构助词＂地（de）＂（The structural particle 地 is often attached to the adverbial adjunct）


How to translate "Muscle Memory" to chinese?


What is the difference between 看不起 and 看不上?

I am not a linguist. So I can only give you my perspective as a native Chinese speaker.

To make it short: 看不起 is rarely used on an object, whereas 看不上 can be used on both persons and objects.

Some examples:

我最 看不起 他这种自私的人。 CORRECT
我最 看不上 他这种自私的人。 CORRECT
品味一向很高的她根本 看不上 这种便宜货。 CORRECT
品味一向很高的她根本 看不起 这种便宜货。 Understandable but AWKWARD


Is 再过［时间］ the most common way of expressing "in [amount of time], something will happen"?

Yes, your guess is right. However, I think you should focus on the character "再" here. There are several such patterns with "再".

The pattern "再 + verb + [], [] + 就 + []" is used to express a condition, a premise; remember that "过" here means "[time, etc] to pass, to elapse" and "再" means "to continue to do something" or "to do something again" here. This pattern is somewhat like the pattern "if sb/sth continues to do sth,sb/sth will..." in English.

  再向前走500米，你就会看见那栋建筑。 [if you ]continue to go forward for 500 meters, you will see that building.

"再" here implies "you" have covered a distance already, so now you continue to walk.

  再写一个小时我就去睡觉。 [I want to ]continue to write for 1 hour, then I will go to bed.

"再" here implies "I" have written for a while, so I want to continue to write.

  再骚扰我，我就报警。 Warning: I will call the police if [you] continue to harass me.

"再" here implies "you" have harassed me for some time, so now you continue to harass me or harass me again.

When a police officer is chasing a criminal, he would warn the criminal,

  再跑我就开枪了! I will shoot [if you continue to] run/escape.


What are the surnames and given names of these fictional people of the Three Kingdoms?

In 《三國演義》 孟獲 (Meng Huo) was  described as 蠻王 (king of the Barbarian). The fictional characters in his army were supposed to be barbarians. Their names were supposed to be transliteration from barbarian's language. There's no point of trying to find out their surnames.

The funny thing about transliterated name is --  the meaning of the Chinese characters in it are irrelevant. For example, the name '約翰遜' (Johnson) has nothing to do with  約 (approximately) 翰 (writing brush) or 遜 (inferior).

約翰遜's last name is certainly not 約; 約翰遜 is a last name


人 - people (subject)

理所当然的 - naturally (adverbial phrase)

忘记 - forget (verb)

理 (logic)

理所 (according to logic)

当然 (of course; certainly)

理所当然 = naturally; of course

理所当然的 = naturally; of course


吉, short for 吉祥, lucky, auspicious, propitious
庆, short for 喜庆, joyful, happy event, to celebrate
有余, to have enough and to spare, to have a surplus

to have a lot of happy things

In some Chinese traditional paintings, you may see a plump child holding a halberd(戟, ji3, similar with 吉), a chime stone(磬, qing4, same with 庆) and a fish(鱼, yu2, same with 余), usually a cyprinoid, sometimes only a fish and a lotus flower, which indicates 吉庆有余.


How can the expression "高就" be understood grammatically?

If you are looking for an exact English translation, the answer is that there isn't one.

It is a tradition in Chinese culture. When you are talking about/to other people, you should butter him/her up by exaggerating his/her achievements, wealth, position and etc. And do the opposite thing when talking about yourself. It's all about being polite (when talking about others) and modest (when talking about yourself).

An example conversation may be like this:

A: 您在哪里高就呢？ (So I heard that you've got an excellent job now. Where is it again? )
B: 哪里哪里，不过就是在Google混口饭吃而已。 (Well, I work at Google, just barely getting by.)

A called B's job an "excellent job(高就)", not necessarily for the literal meaning, but just being polite. And B said that he is "just getting by"(混饭吃/混口饭吃), which is not necessarily true (we all know Google pays a lot) but just being modest.
The translation above isn't word-by-word. But you get the gist. You can also see that you can't talk to a native English speaker like that.

If you say:

我在Google高就
听说你在Google混饭吃

While these sentences are grammarly correct, they are simply wrong.

So don't bother with the translation or the grammar. Just understand the cultural difference behind this.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you are really into grammar, it's something like this:

高(adv. better)就(v. work)

您(在哪里)高就 (Where are you working?)

To be culturally correct, 高 should be lost in translation.


係=就是

噉=這樣

㗎嘞=的啦

it is more appropriate to translate as 就是這樣的啦 in the phrase you mentioned.


Sure, the expression you had is correct and indeed used in daily life. There are however, some alternatives which you could use

请给我一点自由空间
请给他一些自由
给我一些自己的时间


同乡 is common in formal language. In spoken language, 老乡 is the preferred word especially in Northern China and it is an informal word. People from Southern China may choose 乡亲 or 乡里. (Reference on this regional difference: wikipedia)

Colloquial:

  On the airplane I met someone who came from the same hometown. 在飞机上我遇见一个老乡/乡里/乡亲。

Formal:

  There is a Shanxi Townsmen Association in Beijing. 在北京有个山西同乡会。

Because it's the name of an association, which should be formal, 同乡 is used.


The '的' in '自己的' is a possessive marker. "自己" = "oneself"; "自己的" = "onself's"
Some people use 的 and 地 interchangeably in the adverb role. The second 的 in the second sentence functions the same as 地 as an adverb marker
你要靠你自己的能力来学习中文。
你要靠你自己的能力来努力(的/ 地)学习中文。
The term '努力' itself can function as an adverb. "你要靠你自己的能力去努力学习中文。" would be a cleaner sentence
努力地 is also an adverb, but it emphasizes the manner of the action.
I personally never use 的 instead of 地 to mark an adverb.
Side note: I changed 来努力 to 去努力. Both are grammatical but '靠你自己的能力来' emphasizes 'with (自己的能力)' and '力去努力学习中文' emphasizes 'to (学习中文)'


What is the character for romantic love in classical Chinese?

This should be a clever question!

In classical Chinese
“爱” should be love to culture, nature, mess people or emperor(the culture emblem)
“恋” should be romantic love to another person, a butterfly loves a flower (蝶恋花)
“情” is a noun of “exist love/adore”, more clearly --“恋情”

For further,
“慕” should like “adore”, always use as “爱慕”, “倾慕”

In traditional/full Chinese writing these words are

  愛、戀、蝶戀花、情、慕、愛慕、傾慕


What other words than 奥 exist for places of reveration?

四隅（four corners of a room）

宧（yí ／ ㄧˊ）：室內東北角（northeastern corner）

窔（yào ／ ㄧㄠˋ ）同“穾”：室內東南角（southeast corner）

奥（ào ／ ㄠˋ）：室內西南角（southwest corner）

屋漏（wū lòu ／ ㄨ ㄌㄡˋ）：室內西北角（northwest corner）


公德心 mostly refers to 對公眾利益的尊重 (respect/ mindfulness for the public interest).
For example, not littering, not damage public property, not making noise in the early morning are all for the public interest
The public interest is also your interest -- you are a part of the public.


Does the word '攬' in Mandarin carry the meaning of "to loop ~ around"?

Explanation from zdic:

  　1. 把持：～持。独～大权。
  　2. 拉到自己这方面或自己身上来：包～。招～。承～。～客。～活儿。
  　3. 搂，捆：把孩子～在怀里。
  　4. 取：～秀。～胜。摘星～月。

From this and some other dictionaries (which may not be online) and my personal experience, I think 揽 in Mandarin does not have the usage you asked in Cantonese.


I remember the the full slang was like
因为所以
科学道理
国家机密
干嘛告你
which was used when this person does not want to explain something, so he/she explains it with nonsense instead.
But it was a really old slang we used in primary school in 2000s.


霹雳与雷霆有什么分别？(What's the difference between 霹雳 and 雷霆?)

According to 汉典:
霹雳 (pīlì) mainly means thunderbolt as the atmospherical phenomenon.

又急又响的雷，是云与地面之间发生的强烈雷电现象
sudden and loud thunder, it's the strong lightning bolt occurring between the clouds and earth

雷霆 (léitíng) mainly means thunderclap, as the booming sound of the thunderbolt, and it's also used figuratively. In English that would be thunderous.

洪大而急发的雷声
booming and sudden thunder clap

比喻声威或怒气
describes metaphorically prestige or rage (thunderous, roaring)

In your examples, the two words look similar because of context:

空中雷霆一响

Here it's definitely thunderclap, reinforced by the presence of 响, denoting a sound. (The usage of “一 yī” follows the "一 (yī) ～ 就 (jiù)" structure, events in quick sequence). "A thunderclap from the sky, ...".
Translating as "The thunderbolt" is not wrong, but that seems poetic license on the translator's part, which is fine, since the sentence can't be nicely translated word-for-word.

我听到了一声霹雳

Here 霹雳 is preceded by 一声, which works as a classifier / measure word, and results in "one sound of thunderbolt". Therefore "I heard a clap of thunder."


What does 㫬 mean in 唯有中大夫楊元愼、給事中大夫王㫬是中原士族?

Here "㫬" is the given name, and "王" is the family name.
So  "彪亦是南人。唯有中大夫楊元愼、給事中大夫王㫬是中原士族。",
中大夫楊元愼  means, someone named  楊元愼 has a job position named "中大夫"
給事中大夫王㫬 means, someone named 王㫬  has a job position named "給事中大夫"
㫬 's pronunciation is:   [xù]  , the same with 续。
For further pronunciation questions, come to http://baidu.com and search this Chinese word. Frankly speaking, I don't know this word either. This word is used only as people's name.  >_<
And, when you are reading 文言文， the context is very important. The job position "给事中大夫" is a guess by me.


What could 轰 be a contraction of to mean "what"?

Not only in Sichuan. Some Anhui dialects use it too. Probably contracted from 何麽. 哪麽 contracted to be LANG in Chongqing.


Ways to politely insult somebody's intelligence in Mandarin?

I don't know if there is a way to politely insult someone's intellect, that almost seems like an oxymoron to me.

糊涂 (silly) is the only expression I can think of that doesn't stigmatize the addressee too much. But I would under no circumstance apply it to my boss or my in-laws or a teacher or anyone with whom one has to be respectful.

E.g. 你这么糊涂! How silly of you!
Also: 糊涂虫

傻 is still somewhere between 'silly' and 'fool'. A mother could reply to the naive questions of her child with 傻孩子！ (Silly kid!).
别犯傻！ (Don't be silly) is another way to use it.

傻瓜 would a bit stronger, but between peers could be still acceptable, but I would only use it if it is clear that I am not really meaning it.

胡说！ can used if you think someones says something stupid.

By contrast 混蛋 and 笨蛋 are more verbal and far more insulting. You can see and hear movie protagonists spitting and yelling this at each other.

UPDATE: 二货 is another non-offensive way to call someone silly, e.g. 二货朋友 a silly friend.


Is there an equivalent to "awww" in English for expressing sympathy?

Usually 哎, 咳, 唉, those means "sigh", can not find more appropriate words.
or 哎呀, but it sounds affected when you read it, more natural in speaking.


What is a good form of address for a male friend who is too old to be 小, too young to be 老, and too humble to be called 大?

if he is older than you are, then 柯兄 (柯老兄)
if he is younger, then 老弟 (柯老弟)
if he is of the same age, and his first name consists 2 chinese characters, then first name
if he is of the same age, and his first name consists 1 chinese character, then full name (calling someone by their full name is not rude if they are the same age or younger in China)

EDIT: I'm from Northern China and we don't use 阿X as often. that's more of a southern convention.

Note: if his first name is one character, then calling him by his first name sounds 肉麻。 It is actually worse if you are of the same gender. then that just sounds wrong! :P


Why is 看来 in the sentence 照他的年纪看来,他显得年轻？

Although this sentence seems good to me, I think it can be better phrased as:

照他的年纪来看,他显得年轻。

And 照 ... 来看 can be considered as a set phrase meaning “considering”


How do you say "ball of foot" in Chinese?

Difficult!

How about 脚球？（开玩笑）

The bones you are talking about are the 跖骨

https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E8%B7%96%E9%AA%A8/4055417?fr=aladdin

Can't really find a word for 'the ball of your foot', seems it is not a Chinese thing. The second joint of your thumb has no real common name in English either.


Your guess is correct. You use it when you hand over or give something. You can translate it as "there you are, here you are, here you go".

For example a teacher might say it while handing out some study material. A student of course should use 给您 when handing in his exam papers.

You can also add what you are giving. For example 给你一本书.


How does "多" work in this describing sentence "多好看啊!"?

Chinese words or characters are best not to be thought of as having specific meanings but rather of having a concept or a general meaning.

So in the case of 多 anything that roughly means many, a lot, very (like Rui said) can work


Translation of message from Chinese to English

1
又体会到有同桌的喜悦感
I felt the joy of sitting at the same table again.
(maybe the boy she is crush on)

2
An old man probably sat by the door.
The girl asked him to keep (take care of) the book for her for a while.

The girl didn't know him before.
The stranger is the old man.

Two people. (I think 1 has nothing to do with 2.)

The old man left the message.

祝你學習進步
I wish you progress in your studies.

天天快樂
Happy every day.


What's the difference between 特色 and 特点?

特色 distinguishing feature; quality; characteristic
特点 unique/ special feature; quality; characteristic

特色 is the distinguishing characteristics of something

Example: 鋪榻榻米是和室的特色 -  using tatami mats is a distinguishing characteristic of Japanese style rooms
the use of tatami mats indicate it is Japanese style

特点 is the special features of something

Example: 鋪榻榻米是和室的特点 - using tatami mats is a special characteristic of Japanese style rooms
tatami mats is a unique feature of Japanese style rooms


How to say "I live at the bottom of a hill"?

山, in general, refers to a mountain or a hill.

  坡 refers to a slope.

  Therefore, 山坡 refers to the side (or slope) of a hill (or mountain).

  脚 refers to the foot.

  So, 山脚 refers to the foot of a hill (or mountain).

Depending on what bike you are referring to, it could be a motorcycle (摩托车) or bicycle (自行车).

I think the translation provided by Google is okay:

  Because I live at the bottom of a hill it is hard to ride my bike to
  work.

  因为我住在山脚下，骑自行车(or 摩托车)上班很难。

If you are staying in a valley, 山谷 will be more appropriate.


V + 到。。。。头上来: Exact meaning and how to use?

This is a good question. First of all, 头 is the most important part of a human body. So, for someone to climb on top of another person's head 爬到 Subject 头上 or to ride on top of another person's head 骑到 Subject 头上 shows great disrespect to the person. This term is used usually to express incredulity on the action of another person.

Because this phrase XX头上XX is usually used in the literal sense,
any translation to English has to be done on a case-by-case basis.
到 always used together with a verb in front for this type of construction if you want to use 到 at all.
Yes, for example, 算在 Subject 头上. Note, 来 is not necessary here.
As explained earlier, 头上 refers to the most important part of a
human body. It still refers to whoever is the Subject, not necessary
自己 (yourself).
The following would be how I would translate the three sentences: a)
I should be the one looking for you to settle the score, but you
have come to look for me instead! b) They lost some stuff but ended
up investigating on a little kid! c) Your bullying antics have
gone on unchallenged, now you even dare to bully him!

Note that for the three sentences above, omitting the words 头上 would not change the meaning of the sentence. In English, it could only be represented by an exclamation mark as a way to express incredulity.

However, the more common usage would be 爬/骑到 Subject 头上 where 头上 is not optional. Example:

  婚前她千依百顺，婚后她却骑到她丈夫头上，百般刁难。 She was very obedient, but after their
  marriage, she rides roughshod over her husband, making life difficult
  for him.

The words 头上 can also be found in an idiom 在太岁头上动土, which means to do a daring act that would offend someone of higher authority.


Do the words 疼痛 and 痛苦 exactly mean "physical pain" and "mental pain"(i.e. sadness), respectively?

疼痛 means physical pain, but it is very formal, and usually used in medical speak. This is also similar to 痛楚, which is also too formal for casual conversation.
For example: 肌肉疼痛是感冒病徵。 ~Muscle pain/aches is a flu symptom.
The words 疼 and 痛 are usually used in solidarity, in Mandarin and Cantonese respectively.
For example: (In Mandarin) 我肚子疼。(In Cantonese) 我肚痛。 ~I have a stomachache.
On the contrary, 痛苦 means pain in general. It could still be physical, but usually mental or even metaphorical.
For example: 生產的過程很痛苦。 ~Giving birth is painful.
Bad example: 他看來很痛苦。is as vague as "It looks like he is in pain". It could be physical or mental, and depends on the context.
Another example: 學習中文很痛苦。 ~Learning Chinese is painful. (Based on true experience)


Did phonological systems (namely bopomofo) standardize Chinese phonemes?

As far as I know, Bopomofo and other schemes were based on the pronunciation of Beijing dialect. That is, Bopomofo and pinyin are a representation of the phonological inventory of Mandarin as pronounced in Beijing. I don't believe that this involved standardising 'two or more characters that had slightly different phonemes or sounds and/or tones' with a single bopomofo (or later Pinyin) to 'make things simpler'.

Of course, the creation of Bopomofo and pinyin involved drawing distinctions that were not found in other dialects of Chinese (including other pronunciations of Mandarin). One example is the distinction that pinyin draws between 'sh' and 's', which is missing from many dialects, even northern dialects (modern-day Dongbei, for example). It is therefore also possible that the opposite case was true, i.e., some distinctions drawn in other dialects were not drawn in the pronunciation of Beijing, and therefore ignored in Bopomofo and pinyin. I'm not knowledgeable about non-Beijing phonological inventories and have no way of commenting on this, but it is conceivable that the choice of Beijing dialect as standard (rather than, say, Nanjing or other varieties) may have involved getting rid of certain phonological distinctions found in other varieties of Mandarin. This was not caused, however, by the adoption of Bopomofo, but by the choice of a particular variety as standard.

Pronunciation of individual words has also been manipulated quite extensively in pinyin usage in order to bring about standardisation (I'm not sure about Bopomofo). For example, 法国 'France' was originally pronounced fàguó; it has now been standardised as fǎguó. 往 was originally pronounced wàng; it is now standardised as wǎng. There are many other cases where pronunciations have been standardised, including the abolition of alternative readings. But this is quite a different matter from making changes to the phonological inventory of the language.

So I think the answer to your question must be that, no, neither Bopomofo nor pinyin involved simplifying Mandarin phonological distinctions (where Mandarin is defined as based on Beijing pronunciation) out of existence.


How do new Chinese characters get added to the language?

国务院, or the State council, decides formally on official characters, for example characters for new chemical elements (like 钐), species (like 鳤) or physical properties, like your example 熵.

But the decisions in China are made just like they are in the rest of the world, that is, they adapt to actual usage. Some characters go, some come.

If a character becomes popular, the government will most likely incorporate it into the 通用规范汉字表 (see http://www.gov.cn/zwgk/2013-08/19/content_2469793.htm for the last edition of 8105 characters).

Names like 喆 (Zhé) and 淼 (Miǎo) are now part of the official standard, although they have of course existed all the time. There is also the classical example of premier 朱镕基, where 镕 was not part of the standard. This is fairly common in China, as odd name characters exist in abundance.

Sometimes existing characters are modified to contemporary usage, like 囧, but is mostly slang and will often not make a permanent mark in dictionaries.


Placement of duration complement 很长时间 before a negated verb 没看?

Q1: Why is it located before the verb when duration should go after the verb?

The explanation you posted in your comment is correct. Reposting it here for clarity: when expressing the duration of an inaction, the duration complement goes before the verb, following the pattern:
Duration + 没 + Verb + 了

Q2: Does the final 了 indicate a change of status suggesting the speaker wants to watch a movie soon?

No, it indicates the change of status that occurred when you started not doing something.
In your example, it's the change from watching movies to not watching movies.


Object oriented programming terms class, object, instance, attribute, method

Note: The below answers apply to mainland Mandarin Chinese. For technical vocabulary, the words used in different regions often have differences. The link you posted in your comment looks like it uses Taiwan standards.

Class 类
Object 对象
Instance 实例
Attribute 属性
Method 方法

"Object oriented" is 面向对象. You can find more at the 面向对象程序设计 Chinese Wikipedia page.


How to say "I thought you are..." to a response?

It is "我还以为你是学生"

认为 (consider; think) can be in any tense

but 以为 already mean "(previously) thought"

还 is a common adverb with many meanings. In this case, it means 'even'

还以为 = '(even) thought'


English translations for the operatic terms 二流 and 倒板?

I would argue that it is wisest to simply transliterate (with Pinyin) with the Chinese characters included. As both these are specific terms with no equivalent in Western culture, transliteration with some explanation is best. For example:

  erliu (二六, a medium tempo xipi tune)

  daoban (倒板, literally "lead-in meter")

However, academic studies have provided standard translations:

  二六 = two-six meter

  倒板 = lead-in meter


What is a better way to say the phrase 腳都軟掉?

I suggest 「翻倒」and  that is "flipped" in English

Example:

「他此言一出，眾人翻倒」; "Once  he said that, everyone flipped"

Also, in this kind of scene, the audience was figuratively "being knocked out" or "floored". I found the idiom "blow someone away" be a good match, and from the example sentence, I found "knock someone off their feet" suit even better.

  http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/blow+away

  Blow somebody away also blow away somebody:

  To cause someone great pleasure or surprise knock somebody off their feet

  "Everyone I tell that story to, I mean everyone, is just blown away."

  Related vocabulary: blow your mind

Example:

"Once he said that. Everyone was blown away!"

"His stupid words knock everybody off their feet!"

"His stupid words floored everyone!"

As for Chinese slang, 「雷倒」http://baike.baidu.com/view/1816380.htm describe the reaction scene  very well.

Example:
「他的蠢話，雷倒眾人」


Has 朅 (qiè) ever been commonly used for 去 'to go'

I think this Zhihu post might be of help.

To sum up:

Not just southwest, many topolects, including even the good old Beijing dialect, read 去 along the lines of qie or khe.
The OP's quoted text used the character 朅, probably to distinguish it from the standard mandarin qu, but in fact it is just 去 but with a different sound.


Tips for multiple-pronunciation characters (多音字)

To answer your specific question, it should be kept in mind that 尽 is a simplified character that merged both traditional characters 盡 (jìn) and 儘 (jǐn), which is why it appears to be a 多音字 in Simplified Chinese.  The difference between 盡 and 儘 is very subtle though.  This link talks about the difference as it applies in Cantonese, but I believe it applies in Mandarin as well:

  「儘」是「力求達到最大限度」，強調的是「力求」，至於能否達到「所求」，不得而知。「盡」則有「達到最大限度」的意思，強調達到。

  儘 is "strive to attain maximization", with the emphasis on "strive"; whether it can be attained is unknown.
  盡 on the other hand has the meaning "attain maximization", with the emphasis on attaining.


What's the meaning of 聊起 in 马小姐正在和她的好朋友李太太聊起这个男人的事情

It means "to start talking/chatting".
起来 can be used as a direction complement to express that the action has started.
As it's common in direction complements, when there is an object, the second direction verb 去 / 来 can be moved after it, and it can even be omitted1.
For example:

咱们动起来吧 = Let's move！
我刚看起这本书来，就觉得无聊 = I just started reading this book, and I'm already bored

Additional examples can be found here.

1: in the linked question, 起来 was used in its more literal meaning of "rise up". In your example and in this answer, "to begin" is figurative. The AllSetLearning link explains these two usages as well.


The first image says "公平，公正，公开" on the hoodie, firstly notice the bit of Japanese at the bottom. Chances are that isn't meant to be read in Chinese. Either way, the main three terms translate roughly as "impartial", "equitable", and "public" respectively. I guess the hoodie has something to do with freedom of speech or something similar.

The other central term is "裁判" which I had to look up, translations include: judgment, to referee, umpire, judge, and referee. Referee is also listed at the top of the hoodie in English. Honestly I have no clue what this hoodie is on about.

久夕ツフ スタッフ Are the Japanese characters at the bottom but I haven't found a translation

Edit: In hindsight it's probably meant to be worn by a referee, eheh


How to say, "Let's test your sense of direction. How do we get to the car from here?"

“Let's(Google: 让我们) = "让我" but you can use "来"

test = 考, but it is better to use reduplication "考考"

your = 妳的 (it is easy)

sense of direction. = 方向感 (it is a common term )

吧 (optional final particle)

  [How do we] [get to the car] [from here?]

Google translates "get to the car" as "到达汽车", but the native way is "走到汽车那边"

  [我们如何] [到达汽车] [从这里？]

English place the location "from here" after the verb clause "get to the car" but Chinese would put the location before it, so the correct order is

  [我们如何] [从这里] [走到汽车那边?]

“Let's test your sense of direction. How do we get to the car from here?”

Translation:

"让我考考妳的方向感吧, 我们如何从这里走到汽车那边?"


In 有一只小鸟真可怜，它在树枝上冷得发抖 why is 有 at the start?

So here I assume 有 indicates the bird‘s existence

Correct. 有 is frequently used as the equivalent of "there is" in English. The typical construction is

place + 有 + noun
Example: 我家里 (place) 有 (existence) 很多椅子 (subject) -> There's many chairs in my house

Then you can also omit the place to express just generic existence, as in your sentence:

有一只小鸟真可怜 (nowhere in particular) there's a little bird which is really pitiful

This construction can be productively used in story-telling, where the exact location of the subject is not very relevant. Same as in English.
If you add a time complement instead of a location, you get the classical story introduction:

很久以前有一只小鸡~ once upon a time (nowhere in particular) there was a small chicken...


Differentiating Between Dove And Pigeon In Chinese

I think most people distingish them these way:

Pigeon - 鸽子 - larger in size and not necessary white

Dove - 白鸽 - smaller in size and mostly white

Although some may disagree as these 2 terms are interchangable in most situation / definition.


When do I use V for Ü in Pinyin programs

In the past (e.g. 80's to 90's), when the Chinese IME did not implement fuzzy logic, the rule was you should use v for and only for ü as you would write on paper. For example for J you should type ju not jv.

Now all the mainstream Chinese IME (MSPY, Sogou, Google Pinyin, etc.) has fuzzy logic built-in and enabled by default. This question isn't much relevant anymore.


Mined from an opinion post (http://blog.sciencenet.cn/blog-39731-510338.html):

劣勢者
弱勢者
新[入/行/進]者
後來者

I personally prefer the first one as the best translation; 弱勢 is a bit broader in meaning as it can mean weak in general rather than in comparison to something. The other ones just mean newcomer, so the disadvantage of being an underdog is only implied rather than explicitly stated.

You may also want to check out 弱旅 (opposite: 勁旅).


What's the difference between 重覆 and 重复?

重覆 is traditional whereas 重复 is simplified. There is no difference in pronunciation or meaning.


Help translating two lines of Zhang Shaolin's "Hakka homesickness" (客家乡情) + some weird pronunciations in that song

Hakka speaker from mainland China here.

there is karaoke lyrics on the video, L2 is 追根由石壁求证 which is correct. Not exactly sure how to translate 求证 here. Maybe: ancestry seeking is proven by the stone walls.
Your own translation is good. "Hakka people in the world are united in remembering homesickness / [And] acknowledging [their] blood is thicker than water." The uncommon order of words is intended for a better rhyme in the song.
团结纪念乡情 (thon ket nyi hiam hiong chin) I hear that's exactly what the singer is pronouncing.
官 is indeed kwon, but still I don't have any problem with the singer's pronunciation.


你的表 (your watch) is the topic

有一点儿快 ( is a little bit fast) is the comment

in '有一点儿快',  '有' (having) indicates 'possession' of a condiction or ability, which is 'being faster than normal'

therefore, the literal translation of the sentence would be 'your watch is having a problem of being a little bit faster than normal'

[(topic) + (comment)] sentence structure is different from typical S+V+O structure like "你的表(subject) 行(verb) 快了 (adverb)"

Since 你的表有一点儿快 is a [(topic) + (comment)] structure, '一点儿快' describes something the watch possesses, therefore you need '有' to indicate this possession


Must the numerals be monosyllables?
In my opinion, you can use multi-sllable numbers, like:

十五六公里 (fifteen or sixteen kilometers)
百八十个 (one hundred or eighty)
三十七八岁 (thirty-seven or thirty-eight years old)

Restrictions on the measure words?
No, I have no idea.
Can there be at most two numerals?
Yes, I have never seen more than 2 numbers used in such a pattern. This pattern is used to express an estimation, an approximation.


What are 因 and 而 doing in the sentence 他因受到热烈欢迎而高兴?

[因 A 而 B] = [because of A, therefore B]

[因 A (受到热烈欢迎) 而 B (高兴)]
[Because of A (受到热烈欢迎), Therefore B (高兴)]

or

[B because of A] ; [B for A]
[B (高兴) because of A (受到热烈欢迎)]
[B (高兴) for A (受到热烈欢迎)]

When A is a reason; B is an action
When A is a cause; B is a result


Which grammatical rule is being used here?

"得" in "考试考得不好" is a "degree/result complement" that indicates 'the degree' of a verb, or 'the result' of a verb

考试考得不好 = [考试(to take exam) - 考得 take exam to the result of - 不好(not good)]

or

考试考得不好 = [考试(to take exam) - 考得 take exam to the level of - 不好(not good)]

More detailed example:

考试考得不好，祇得到  D 平均 - the result of the verb was bad)
考试考得很吃力 - the degree of the verb 'taking exam' is at the degree of 很吃力 (laborious level)

Side note: 得/不 as potential complement:
考得好试 = able to take exam well
考不好试 = unable to take exam well


What does this character from PUBG mean in Chinese? (Character identified: 魂)

It is "魂", and there are several meanings of it.
Probably the most common one is soul, but usually the meaning is some kind of phantom things related with one's soul or one's characters.


Is it considered as anadiplosis (顶真) when the same character repeats but means differently?

頂真 is a rhetoric method to make sentences reading more smoothly or meaning more tightly.
The connected words should be the same meaning. Check the following examples:

將軍百戰死，壯士十年歸。歸來見天子，天子坐明堂: 歸->come back, 天子->emperor
江南可採蓮，蓮葉何田田: 蓮->lotus
我出了村就過了河，過了河就進了城: 過了河->across the river

But for your example like:

度 is part of India (印度) on the left and means "passing" on the right.
光 is part of "time" (時光) on the left and part of the adverb "just" (光是) on the right.

These above should not be counted as proper anadiplosis rhetoric method, maybe only 历 (past meaning in general).


How to translate "engage in healthy behavior"?

In the context of educating a child to have a healthy behavior, I would translate the following sentence as:
"...the more likely she is to engage in healthy behaviors..."
“...越倾向于养成好习惯..."
I hope it helps.