All Questions
11,595
questions
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Are there other phrases like 钉钉子, 种种子, and 扇扇子?
The phrases
钉钉子 (dìng dīngzi) "to nail a nail"
种种子 (zhòng zhǒngzǐ) "to plant a seed"
扇扇子 (shān shànzi) "to fan a fan"
are curious in that there's a single-character ...
- 16.4k
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1
answer
68
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Can someone help me convert this paintings stamps & signature to American & give me an approximate value of this painting please? Thanks in advance
I inherited this painting from my grandfather who bought this in China back I believe in the 70s or 80s. It is about 5 feet tall and about 2.5 feet wide I am trying to determine the approximate value ...
- 1
0
votes
3
answers
60
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为了学钢琴调律，陈燕…… why is the answer 手经常会受伤?
This a cropped exercise from the HSK6 Standard Course workbook (chapter 3, page 25; photo of original; OCR by Yandex):
陈燕自小对音乐感兴趣，学过很多乐器。自打学调琴开始，她每天总是十三四个小时泡在钢琴边，仔细摸，用心记。学调律还必须会修琴，一个盲人手拿
睡子钉钉子、用创子创木头，...
- 16.4k
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votes
5
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88
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How should I understand 不要说“你应该……”?
This is truncated from the HSK6 Standard Course workbook (page 17; photo of original; OCR via Yandex):
面对青春期的孩子，父母要格外关爱他们。青春期正是孩子形成主见的关键时期，
父母要包容孩子，不要过分约束他们，不要总认为自己讲的话是对的，孩子是错的，不
要什么都自己说了算，...
- 16.4k
2
votes
3
answers
116
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Is reading Mandarin text straightforward for speakers of other varieties of Chinese?
I'm travelling in Taiwan right now and I'm curious about the Chinese writing situation. Verbal announcements in all public transport are repeated in Mandarin, Hokkien and Hakka, but I only ever see ...
- 141
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votes
1
answer
45
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Can "没完没了" be used as an Adjective/形容词？What are some adjective to express describe someone that is "没完没了" or someone what won't stop?
I am wondering if there is a adjective that is similar to 没完没了, to describe someone that is won't stop at something.
An example would be someone what offended you but still won't stop making jokes.
...
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0
votes
3
answers
165
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Why do people use "head teacher“ as a translation for ”班主任“？
In the education field, I notice some people use the word "head teacher" in place of "班主任".
However, I am unsure if this is quite accurate.
Upon searching, I notice "head ...
- 219
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votes
3
answers
68
views
How do you say "para" (paraprofessional) in Chinese?
I am trying to figure out a translation for paraprofessional in Chinese, Google translate gave me "辅助专业人员”. While the NYC Public School website gave something like “助教” or “专业辅助”. However, I am ...
- 219
2
votes
6
answers
300
views
How is 学习紧张和劳动并不矛盾 the answer to 那位中学生家长展示的特别简历说明……？
This is from Chapter 1 from the HSK6 Standard Course workbook (photo of original; OCRed via Yandex):
曾几何时，《劳动最光荣》的儿歌响彻大江南北，影响了一代又一代人。对于 35 岁以
上的绝大多数人而言，他们还是孩子的时候，勤劳致富、劳动光荣等传统美德就深深地
扎根在他们的心里了。
...
- 16.4k
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1
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63
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I have a nice Chinese silk? Painting - any info, price, year, meaning?
Can someone please help tell me anything about this?
https://imgur.com/a/moXIY2g
Thanks!
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0
votes
2
answers
70
views
Is 恁 related to 您?
I noticed that in Henan dialect people use 恁, nén in place of 你.
Some comments in this question:Why in Chinese Bible (和合本), "you" was translated as "你" instead of "您"? ...
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1
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2
answers
73
views
Which 魏 did 蘇軾 mean in 上神宗皇帝書?
Text
In his 上神宗皇帝書 Su Shi opines on a permanent problem of Chinese governmental philosophy: the power distribution between centre and periphery or intra-capital and extra-capital officials. He comes ...
- 2,816
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2
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138
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Can anyone identify this mark? It is most likely not chinese based
Can anyone identify this mark?
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1
answer
137
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Can someone please help me by translating this vertical group of Chinese characters and the smaller chop located on the left?
These characters are located beneath an antique (19th century?) Chinese ceremonial box that I own. Your help will be greatly appreciated.
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10
answers
2k
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The meaning of 我看你呀
I had my tutor explain to me " 我看你呀" that is meant to sound sarcastic. But I just can not wrap my hand around what it means in the context of these sentences:
我看你呀，还是早点儿洗洗睡吧。
我看你呀,还是别去吧 。
...
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0
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2
answers
69
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Meaning of 特异人士
In the song 皇后大道东 there is a verse which says:
冷暖气候同样影响这都市
但是换季可能靠特异人士
What are the 特异人士 here on whom the changing of the seasons depends? Google translates this as "special people" but I ...
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5
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124
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Looking for an English equivalent of : 勿以恶小而为之，勿以善小而不为
context: meeting btwn Chinese and American Foreign affairs bosses.
original:
双方就开展人文交流，便利人员往来交换了意见。王毅敦促美方停止无端滋扰盘查中国公民，多做有利于增进两国人民相互了解的事情，并送美方一句古话：“勿以恶小而为之，勿以善小而不为。” During their exchange of views on ...
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0
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54
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Can you help me identify the artist and seal (Characters identified: 一青)
These came from my grandfather who fought in WW2.
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3
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88
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How can 坚强 be used after 选择 in this term "选择坚强和希望"?
I recently came across this term "选择坚强和希望" and I wonder how 坚强 is used here. In every single dictionary I have searched 坚强 is an adjective, so how can an adjective be used after 选择 (to ...
0
votes
1
answer
55
views
Which is the most frequent term for “detergent”?
According to Pleco, there are very many terms for “detergent”: 去垢剂, 洗涤剂, 洗洁剂, 洗涤灵, 清洁剂, 除垢剂.
Which is the most frequent term for “detergent”?
- 590
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3
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82
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What's the grammar underlying 进步那么快?
A recent ShuoshuoChinese说说中文 video says:
……，但当然，如果没有前面十几年在学校，学习的基础知识，我可能也不会进步那么快。
The use of 进步那么快 caught my by surprise since 进步, when used as a verb, appears to be a separable verb (you can say ...
- 16.4k
1
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2
answers
87
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Why is 愈演愈烈 before 一件事情 here?
My assumption is: 社交媒体是讨论的平台.
I saw this:
最近中国社交媒体中愈演愈烈的一件事情是,
I immediately wondered, "Why not write like this?"
最近中国社交媒体中一件愈演愈烈的事情是,
My answer: The topic does not change. The discussion, ...
- 18.3k
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votes
0
answers
104
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Will Dragon Boat Be Changed to Loong Boat?
Recently news reports in China said the English version of 龙年 lunar new year of dragon has been changed into year of loong, to distinguish the auspicious animal of China from the evil monster of the ...
- 2,755
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1
answer
43
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How to understand 无法可修饰的一对手
The song 真的爱你 begins with this line:
无法可修饰的一对手
which means literally "A pair of hands that can't be decorated". It's his mother's hands so they might be aged a bit but I feel there must be ...
- 488
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3
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3k
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Is 龘 a contender for "character with the most strokes"?
龘 dá: 龘（读音为dá、ㄉㄚˊ [7]）是一个汉语汉字，部首为龍，“龖”的异体字 [8]，字义指龙飞的样子
I got this character in a WeChat New Year message. It has 3 x 17 strokes, I believe.
Even that made up biangbiangmian character only has 57 ...
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2
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82
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What is the relationship between the characters "苹" (traditional), "苹" (simplified), "蘋" and "𬞟"? Which character should be used to express "蘋科植物"?
What is the difference and relationship between the four characters "苹" (traditional character), "苹" (simplified character), "蘋" and "𬞟" (⿱艹频)? Which character ...
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1
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1
answer
91
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Creating Chinese names for my family members
I took Mandarin for a couple semesters in college. It was a great experience, but I haven't looked at my coursework in 10yrs at least. One of the experiences that I remember fondly was that of my ...
- 13
1
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1
answer
96
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Classical meaning of 為 at the time of the Daodejing
I’m very curious 無為 should be translated. I recently heard that the usage of the word was “fake” at the time of writing the Daodejing
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1
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78
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Translation: möglichst rasch und schnell
To pin down one of my positions, I got inspired by a fictional interview with Jean Dubuffet, which contains a question for advice for young artists.
The autobiographical text is called "Bâtons ...
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0
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149
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I have a small painting with a signature and seal which i cannot read.?
The painting is of a dragon on a vase.It is approximately 4 inches square and would be interested in knowing more about it.
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2
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1
answer
215
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Why did "けっぱる", "You got this!" or "I got this!" got translated to "拼冲天"？
In Pokemon Scarlet/Violet, the character Kieran often said "拼冲天" during the climax of the battle or when he tries to encourage himself.
The first instance of this is when Kieran battles the ...
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1
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1
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163
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Trying to identify this artist signature (Characters identified: 古惠蘭)
I have looked everywhere and have no solid answer on this signature seal, please help.
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7
answers
2k
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总 vs. 中 - can someone help me get the whole picture? Possible Typo?
I am currently looking at a text about the situation of chinese kids in schools. The following sentence asks the (rhetorical) question of whether kids are allowed to rest a few weeks in the holidays.
...
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0
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0
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25
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What's the Chinese equivalent of Strunk and White's The Elements of Style? [duplicate]
The Elements of Style is a style guide to writing American English, published in numerous editions. ... The Elements of Style was listed as one of the 100 best and most influential books written in ...
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3
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87
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What is the proper gesture of 抱拳?
Famous Chinese writer Lin Yutang(林语堂) said that as a good manner western people hold the hands of others but Chinese people hold their hands only.
A very interesting point,isn't it?
As today is the ...
- 2,755
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6
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147
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When translating "I'm trying to [do something]" into Chinese, when do you use a Chinese word meaning "to try"?
Over the years, I've been corrected repeatedly for using 试图 and other verbs meaning "to try", seemingly because "to try"'s usage in English is different to 试图's usage in Chinese.
...
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1
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78
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How to write ,,friendship” in Chinese
Me and my bestfriend are going to get a tattoo and I'd like to know how to really spell friendship in Chinese.
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2
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34
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稽查 vs. 勘查 meaning, context, and usage
稽查 and 勘查 both means to investigate. So what is the difference? How would I distinguish between them and choose which one to utilize if I'm writing something? And the more mainstream term is 調查, so is ...
2
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1
answer
146
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I need help identifying the characters on this artist’s seal (Characters identified: 南海)
I have this cool tshirt from the 1990’s and really want to know who is the artist. I actually lived in Guangdong for 4 years and have asked some friends but they cannot help. So… translation software ...
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3
votes
2
answers
265
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How many unique glyphs do you need to know to learn Chinese?
Glyphs is probably not the right term. I'll try to explain what I mean.
I often read things like: "Chinese is much harder than English: there are 50,000 characters but only 26 letters". This ...
- 488
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3
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108
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How to say "views" speaking about video sharing platforms?
I find it very difficult to say the word "view" speaking about online video sharing platforms (Youtube, Bilibili, etc.).
The term for "to view (a video)" is 观看.
https://support....
- 590
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3
answers
457
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Did the simplification of Chinese characters make Chinese easier to learn?
Simplified characters were introduced in Mainland China with the intention that this would improve literacy by making reading and writing easier. This seems intuitive: a character like 學 looks a lot ...
- 488
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4
answers
102
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What does 差强人意 really mean?
Containing a word 差 (bad, lousy, not good, inferior, low, etc), this idiom is often used to mean 差, but nothing can be more wrong. Even native speakers of Chinese language do not get the real meaning ...
- 2,755
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9
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5k
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Is Cantonese Chinese? 【广东话属于中文吗】
I recall an incident that occurred once in (Mainland) China, which I found puzzling and intriguing.
It was in Zhengzhou, I think. There was some kind of sales activity where people were being given ...
- 488
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4
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99
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Translation of Rothko's: We are for the large shape because it has the impact of the unequivocal
In response to a harsh critique of the Syrian Bull by a journalist, Adolph Gottlieb and Mark Rothko wrote a letter which contains the sentence:
We are for the large shape because it has the impact of ...
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3
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146
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Uncrowned bodies, and altruistic ideology
Beyond released a song called 长城, The Great Wall. It seems to reflect mixed feelings and a sense of the human cost that went into building the Wall.
https://youtu.be/IOXoAvF6r_A?si=bOuI6TCa67321S2I
In ...
- 488
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3
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70
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Interested in idioms similar to the theme of 集腋成裘
I'm interested in learning idioms that are related to small parts or actions eventually adding up to something bigger, or like idioms related to emergent property, kind of like 集腋成裘 (jíyè-chéngqiú).
...
2
votes
8
answers
1k
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What's the error in 记得吗，我和你认识的时候，还是个中学生，充满热情，充满理想?
This is a "faulty sentence" from the HSK6 Standard Course (p.112; photo of original), in a section called 表意不明:
病句：记得吗，我和你认识的时候，还是个中学生，充满热情，充满理想。
分析：句中“还是个中学生”可以是“我”，也可以是“你”，应在该分句前补上主语“我”或“...
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3
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1k
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usage of 不有 in the Lost in Russia movie
There is a phrase 你不有钥匙吗? in the opening scene of the Lost in Russia movie (https://youtu.be/C78nLZZCVxc?t=191). Why 不有 and not 没有 is used here?
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5
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253
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Are there lists of phonetic components and semantic components?
It is pretty much as the question said. I am pretty much aware of the facts that radicals are just dictionary headers so that the characters under the headers can not really have the exact forms as ...
- 31