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一人 can be thought of as 'per person' or 'each person'. This grammatical construction is extremely common in Chinese. I think it's called topical construction (correct me if I am wrong here). Essentially, you have the topic of the sentence (bus/taxi fare) at the start, followed by the subject, verb and the rest of the object. So let's break it down: ...

Frankie's answer is good, but I want to make a clarification on 孤 and 寡. Both of them mean "only one" here, and I don't think "single" is good in this situation since it could mean "unmarried". example: you and a female friend of yours are taking in a club, in a room with the door closed,(of course, I don't recommend this :-) ), unfortunately, your wife ...

相声 is a form of Chinese traditional stand-up comedy where two two performers talk back and forth to each other, telling a funny story or just chatting about a humorous topic. Because it's a traditional Chinese art form and originates in northern China, it has a higher political status than other Chinese art forms. This means that it gets broadcasted across ...

There is "我非常好" I'm extremely well, or I'm extremely good. There is also "我非常开心" I'm extremely happy. Maybe if you want to aim for something a little more subtle you could try "我很开心" I'm very happy. If you are mentioning that you are this "good" you will likely be asked for an explanation!

What's the pinyin for this/that character? 这个/那个字的拼音是什么？ What's the character for this/that pinyin? 这个/那个拼音代表的(or 对应的)汉字是什么？ I would use the words “代表(dài biăo)的” or “对应(duì yìng)的" for the second translation, because in general, you can determine the PinYin for a specific character (though some characters have two or more pronunciations). However, ...

很高兴见到您。 means glad to see you. It's usually used if you know (or heard of) someone for a long time, but haven't seen him/her for sometime(first time in case of heard of). For example, you would use 很高兴见到您 to greet someone you know from the internet. It's a bit weird to say 很高兴见到您 to someone you know very well or see everyday. If it's the first time you ...

I think it could be close to the fact to say "曾经(once)“ is used in the past tense, while "已经(already)" is used in the perfect(past, present, or future, it doesn't matter) tense, that's why ”了" is often used with it.. So when you are using the present perfect tense or future perfect tense, only 已经 can be used. For example(where 曾经 can't be used): ...

This is a classic example of a topic-comment construction that is prevalent in Chinese. In this case, 面熟 is not serving as an adjective to the noun, but rather as a comment on the topic. 常常看着一个人 ("often seeing a person") is the topic 面熟却叫不出名字来 ("[he's] familiar, yet [I] can't come up with [his] name") is the comment. All adjectives in Chinese can ...

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

If you find these kinds of things puzzling, I suggest you try and download 现代汉语八百词. It gives meanings and uses of a lot of these constructions. As Huang says, these constructions mean just what they mean. On page 594 of 现代汉语八百词 it says (the page number will depend on the edition you download): 要是 yào.shi ［连］表示假设；如果。 a) 用于前一小句。 ～看见《汉英词典》，替我买一本 | ...

I agree with your friend. I think the correct version is "什么来着". You can find the word"来着",but you can't find the word"来的“ in the dictionary. I think it's popular in northern area(such as 北京，天津，河北，辽宁). I have heard of "什么来着" on the TV and I can understand it, though I have never used "什么来着", either in mandarin or in my dialect. (Not applicable) Of course ...

The word "Great" has many meanings, both in English and Chinese. It seems that Google Translate picks "magnificent", "grand" as its translation in this case. While "Hope you'll have a great day" is said time and time again in English conversation, it's less so in Chinese - but it does not mean people do not say it. There are a few different ways to say it ...

As fefe has mentioned, you could use “在”…左右 /上下/ 附近 to describe a range near some position, somewhat like describing locations. 最低氣溫在 0 度左右； 蛋白質凝固的溫度在 65 度上下。 It is not needed for exact values. 現在室溫 7 度； 冷凍室的溫度是 -20 度。 For estimated values, you may also use 約 (about) to indicate uncertainty. 最低溫約為零度。 It is worth noting ...

It is somewhat similar in usage to the word great in English, with the following meanings I can recall: Impressive or skilled: 他的功夫非常厉害。= He is very skilled in martial arts. 太厉害了，他是怎么做到的？ = Very impressive, how did he manage to achieve that? formidable: 厉害的角色 = A formidable figure (not one to be messed around with) 厉害的手段 = formidable ...

Generally the same. "碰" is more informal than "遇" when used followed by "到" or "见" to form "碰/遇到" and "碰/遇见" Another difference is that "碰" is more 'physical' as a verb than "遇", E.g. "碰" is literally "touch", also with meaning "collide" as in "碰撞". "遇" is more similar to "meet" as in "遇见" or "being through" as in "境遇".

The most common expression should be 春节. 农历新年 is a kind of rare. We have another word for January 1st (not spring festival), 元旦(yuan2 dan4). So 新年 is normally the Chinese New Year. Another expression is 阳历年(yang2 li4 nian2) for January 1st, 阴历年(yin1 li4 nian2) for spring festival. 阳历年 may be used more often, as 阴历年 is the default.

After tofu is made ready to eat, it is very hot. And even the outer part of the tofu get cooled down, the inner part is still very hot. It someone tries to eat it in a hurry, he will be hurt by the high temperature inside. Rice or beef or some others cannot keep the inner part at a high temperature while the outer part is cooled down. PS. When you try to ...

This is just fine, and it's a very native usage. :) 「得」 has the meaning of 'must' when read as 'dei3' in pinyin or 'ㄉㄟ ˇ' in zhuyin. For expressing this, you could also say: 我不得(note: 'de2', not 'dei3')不走了。 我必須走了。 But '我得走了' is better in speaking and the above two are more used in writing.

This expression means 'to make life difficult for', 'to make it unpleasant for' or 'to pick on', just giving a few possible translations from the top of my head. Therefore your interpretation is correct. I am not sure what you mean by 'Is there a particular emphasis in this?' Emphasis in what? As for your second question - yes, it can be used either ...

It sounds weird because there is no formal subject (A.K.A. anticipatory subject) in Chinese. It is [X] that [Y] should be transformed into [Y][verb as appropriate][X] during translation。For example: It is a pleasure to meet you. => Meeting you is a pleasure. => 见到你很高兴。 So for the original sentence, Is it really so that you're just 18? => Are you ...

就 has many meanings, but here it means "only". Definition + examples from 《现代汉语规范词典》: 限定范围，相当于"只"，"仅" 屋里就剩下我一个人 这次聚会就他没有来 Definition + example from《现代汉语词典》: 仅仅；只：以前就他一个人知道，现在大家都知道了）. So it is used for a restricted scope and have the same meaning as 只 and 仅仅 (both meaning only). Some examples where 就 has the same meaning: 家里就是他一个人 ...

In Chinese culture, being over polite is never too much only except for between really close friends. Especially when getting along with an elder person, you should keep being formal and polite until you're really really close with that person. So even writing to a person that I'm familiar with, have a good relationship with and maybe hang out together a ...

Two set phrases come up to my mind: 炒冷饭 (heat leftover meal/rice) 新瓶装旧酒 (the same wine in a different bottle). 旧药换新瓶 is a less common variation. They're both applicable to your context. Their literal meaning is almost never used. Example: 大多数电子游戏的续作都是新瓶装旧酒。A lot of video game sequels are just rehash of the previous installation.

As a form of Southwestern Mandarin, you can approach the Chongqing dialect with resources designed for Sichuanese in general. The English Wikipedia gives a lot of resources on "Si4cuan1hua4", including a good overview of the phonology, and a introduction to Sichuanese Pinyin. The Chinese Wikipedia gives a little more detail on the Chengdu-Chongqing dialect. ...

I think what you wrote is all right. For the one given by Google Translation, it is unnatural. Or it may be treated as humorous, or comical. We don't use "偉大的" in this situation. Instead of "希望你", we may be "祝你" more often. Depending on the situation, there may be several ways of saying this. For example: "祝你今天過得愉快" "祝你今天玩的高興", etc.

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 马丁 (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 them now. In this case, the person could still refuse or suggest now is not the right time. ...

By using this word, you are reminding the listener that "he doesn't have to worry about something; just ignore it; don't be so polite; don't speak so formally". In you case, the speaker wants to express that "That's OK to call me 马丁. Just call me 马丁. You don't have to call me in a polite way such as 马先生 (Mr. 马). Take it easy".

It describes a man and a woman being together (usually in some manner of seclusion). Depending on the marital status of the man and the woman, it can be seen either as a good/normal (a couple dating) or bad thing (a brewing affair). There is no inherent negative connotation unless it is used in certain context. Google is just confused. It has problems with ...

In your case, passion could be translated into "热情"(zeal),"激情"(deep love), or "爱好"(hobby). Note that "激情" could also mean "passion" as in romantic relationships. I would like to describe the pattern for this word. In general, you would say "对X的热情/激情/爱好" to mean "passion for X". And for your example "My passion is rockclimbing", you could say "我的爱好是攀岩", or ...

好 is more describing the feeling of your heart. 我做了那麼多，都沒用。我好累。 I did so much. But nothing is useful. I feel really tired. 很 is just describing you're physically tired. 我跑了10公里。我很累了。 I've run for 10km. I'm very tired. In most cases, 『好』 is more than 『很』. Just like the example above.