好 hao – No good if you don’t know it
你好 Nǐ hǎo! Hello, you good! Did you know that 好 expresses a lot more than just ‘nice’?
Category: Mandarin
How to Use 了 le and 过 guo
Which of the following mean that the action of eating has occurred? 1a)Wǒ chīle.我吃了。我吃了 1b)Wǒ chīguo.我吃过。我吃过 1c)Wǒ chīguo le.我吃过了。我吃过了 All of them! Both 了 and 过 give the impression that something has occurred. How do you use...
Exercises on 了 le
Did you understand the lesson on 了 well? Now it’s time to test yourself! A) Choose the most probable response in each of the following dialogues. (Translation and answer key at bottom of page.) 1)Māma: Xiǎomíng, shuā...
Summary of 了 le
The following are the examples of 吃 in this lesson, summarising the most important and easily confused traits of 了. Those numbered with ‘A’ are not found in the lesson but added in this list to give...
When to Use 了 le
了 = past tense If you ever hear someone tell you that, you can be quite sure that the person doesn’t understand the language at all, even if they are Chinese! Because 了 ≠ past tense! Looks...
白 bái ~ Your Loss If You Don’t Know It!
白云 bái yún, 白马 bái mǎ, 白花 bái huā These three words all contain 白 bái (white), and one of them is different from the other two. Can you tell which is the one? 白 bái –...
Quiz – 再 zài, 又 yòu and 还 hái
How confident are you in using 再 zài, 又 yòu and 还 hái? Find out how well you know them through the test below. If you are unsure, check out the explanation here first. (Answer key at...
Spot the Difference – 再 zài, 又 yòu and 还 hái
Why is the Chinese way of saying goodbye 再见 zàijiàn? You might know that the phrase literally means ‘again’ and ‘meet’, so put together, 再见 zàijiàn means ‘see you again’. Well then, how about using 又 yòu...
How to Say Yes and No in Mandarin
How do you say Yes and No in Mandarin? You might think it’s a simple question, but the answer might not be so!
Quiz – 一点儿 yìdiǎnr 一下 yíxià 一会儿 yíhuìr 有点儿 yǒudiǎnr
How well do you understand 一点儿 yìdiǎnr, 一下 yíxià, 一会儿 yíhuìr and 有点儿 yǒudiǎnr? Take this quiz to find out! (If you are not clear about the uses, check out the previous post here) A. Choose the...
