Questions tagged [adjectives]
Questions about adjectives (形容词 - xíngróngcí), i.e. a part of speech that can modify a noun.
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How to translate "没主见" or "没想法" to English?
How to accurately translate "没主见" or "没想法" to English? These two usually has a bad connation, as they are usually used to speak ill of someone.
Example for "没主见":
中文 ...
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How do you say "head tilt“ in Chinese?
I’m looking for the correct way to express the phrase "head tilt" in Chinese.
I’ve come across terms like:
"倾斜": which refers to something that is tilted .
Phrases that describe ...
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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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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 ...
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Do attributive-only adjectives take 的?
Do attributive-only adjectives like 公共 or 男/女 take 的 at all when modifying a noun?
I realize that they take 的 when in '是—的' construction. But is it correct to say 公共的建築 or 男的律師. Or can one only say ...
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Is 到 in 他白到耀眼 a Coverb Or Just A Verb?
When 到 comes after an adjective like 他白到耀眼, is the 到 a verb or a preposition? I know it means to the extent of.
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Is 的 Here An Emphasis or Just A Nominalization
我觉得这句话哪里怪怪的
I guess 的 can be nominalizing since it would be something weird. But every time I see 的 by itself at the end of a ssntemce I struggle to tell whether or not it's emphasizing since I'vs ...
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Most common way of saying 'X is red'
What is the most common way to say that 'something is red' (or any other colour)?
I ask this because grammar books (for example, Yip Po-ching and Don Rimmington's Chinese: A Comprehensive Grammar) ...
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Why doesn't 真的, when used as an adverb, use 地？ [duplicate]
地 turns an adjective into an adverb: I run quickly = 我快地跑
的 turns an adjective into a noun-phrase: the quick one = 快的
(2) holds true for the adjective 真："哪张照片是真的?" = Which photo is the real ...
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How does Chinese handle the -ing and -ed in common names, like "Black-bellied whistling duck"?
After learning some more about how Chinese generally handles -ed and -ing from English, I am still confused as to how it deals with -ed and -ing (and even -er) in common names of things. Like these ...
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Parsing "的" as adjective suffix?
判断学校好坏的标准有很多，不过我认为老师的水平的最主要的。
I've interpreted above sentence as follows using ungrammatical English for reading Chinese with ease.
Judging a school's good points and bad points 's criteria there ...
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What does "小" mean in "小炒牛肉"?
I am not sure why the character "小" (small) is used here. Is there any difference between "小炒牛肉" and "炒牛肉"?
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森严 Why does this mean heavy guarding?
So why does "森严" mean "strictly protected"? like, ok, "森" Means Jungle and "严" means strict, so shouldn't it means "strict forest" not "...
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How would you translate: Be sure to bring enough water
够，enough, is a kind of adjective that can only be used as a predicate, not as a modifier.
水够了 is "The water is enough" -- here it is used as a predicate.
We cannot say, however: 够水， using 够 ...
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How do I order the adjectives for describing hair?
I have found multiple posts that state that adjectival order in Chinese can be challenging.
I understand that I can say 我有棕色的短发 for I have short, brown hair but I'm struggling to find any resources to ...
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What is the structure of 这个道服好羞人?
I just bumped into this apparently simple sentence, but I cannot figure out what it means.
这个道服好羞人
Why there is 人 at the end of the sentence if it doesn't have any reason to be there?
In addition 道人 ...
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Using 的 to specify qualities
I've read a grammar tip about 的 which I'm not sure I've completely understood (it's on page 7 here, if you can read Italian). It talks about using 的 to specify a quality.
An example is: 意大利的人 is ...
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是+...+的 structure in describing colours
I have read that the 是+...+的 structure is used for emphasis. I wonder in sentences describing colours like 这辆车是红色的, is the 是+...+的 structure used for emphasis too?
What kind of 是+...+的 is this? Is 的 ...
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What is the meaning of 再 before adjectives?
What is the meaning of 再 before adjectives as in these examples:
“再普通的小事经过她的嘴都可能变得很有意思。”
“一个人即使能力再高，经验再丰富，如果对工作没有责任心，也很难把工作做好。”
I was told that 再 in the first sentence is similiar to 无论 so the whole ...
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A golfer is tricked out of his prize money: how do we determine whether he is (a) 充满智慧, (b) 非常善良, (c) 十分天真, or (d) 有些糊涂?
This a problem from 新HSK5应试指南 (pages 133页 and 134页):
一位著名的高尔夫球手赢得了一场比赛。他领取了奖金支票后，一个年轻的女子向他表示祝贺并告诉说自己的不幸——她可怜的孩子得了重病，正在医院里，而他却无力支付大笔的手术费和医药费。高尔夫球手被她那深切的母亲感动了，二话没说就在支票上签上自己的名字，然后递给那个女子，并告诉她，希望她的孩子早日健康。
...
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Compound Structure of Chinese Nouns
Chinese compound nouns are one of the interesting parts of the language, which sometimes can be confusing for beginners.
One good example is compound nouns, in which the first part is an adjective.
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Can I use 马马虎虎 to describe food, and in what sorts of sentences can I use it?
In what kinds of sentences can "马马虎虎" be used? Would I be able to use it to describe how good food tastes, and if so, how would I structure the sentence? Is it usually used by itself as a ...
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Chinese dictionary or list of ABB adjectives?
I found a list of ABB colours, is there a list of ABB adjectives in general and their corresponding meanings?
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Still about the filler word 很, after 得
I just learned that an adverb or quality describing how a verb (action) is performed must be preceded by the filler word 得, which introduces an "expression of degree" ("well", &...
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What's the opposite of 不安?
不安 (bùān)
CC-CEDICT: unpeaceful / unstable / uneasy / disturbed / restless / worried
Sometimes I want to use the opposite adjective to 不安 (with the meaning 不不安), but I'm not sure what to use. It's ...
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很 as a filler word?
Beginner's question here.
If I understood correctly, all descriptive words in Mandarin can work both as an adjective and a "descriptive verb", which would be equivalent to the construction &...
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Ranking of Likelihood/Probability Words
There are several words in Chinese that express various degrees of probability/possibility/likelihood, such as 也许，说不定，可能，确定，etc.
Many of these words have overlapping definitions, but this may or may ...
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Adjective before classifier
I was reading a short story on Du Chinese and came across this phrase 一大亩瓜田。
The app described 亩 as a classifier for fields.
I haven't learned yet of the adjective coming before the classifier. Is ...
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Does 那个公共汽车很红 sounds right?
A friend told me all adjectives in Chinese are verbs. I am not so sure if it is right in general, especially when it comes to color. I ask him to give me examples and he said
1 天黑了
2 那个公共汽车很红
I think ...
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How do you translate "美容的" for food?
In Chinese you can use "美容的" to describe certain kinds of food that are said to benefit your looks. I've never heard "cosmetic" use to describe food's effects on a person, only the ...
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Why is it correct to omit 很 in 小男孩嫌小鱼儿丑?
小男孩嫌小鱼儿丑
Why is it correct to omit 很 before 丑? The sentence means "The little boy considered the little fish ugly".
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Adj. + 到 to express an extent
I've just stumbled across this sentence:
"吃土" 表示自己没有钱了，很穷，穷到只能吃土的状态了
I'm interested in 穷到只能吃土的状态了. It means "so poor that they can only eat soil". But it seems that adjective + 到 ...
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When to use 不是 + adj
While I was studying, I came across this sentence.
如果她不是特别漂亮也没关系。
But I’m confused as to why 是 is there. I thought negation of adjectives should’nt be accompanied by 是. Could someone explain this ...
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When does an adjective require 的 to describe a noun?
In this post on the omission of the possessive 的，I came across an explanation of the adjective suffix 的 by Tang Ho. An example was:
强大勇敢 (brave + strong) = correct without 的
强大勇敢的人 (brave and strong ...
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Why is 人口 in this sentence 多, not 大?
中国是世界上人口最多的国家.
Why is 人口 in this sentence 多, not 大? In English way of thinking (or my English way of thinking), a population is something that can be "huge" rather than "much"/ "many". Is Chinese way ...
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Standard Chinese translation of "I'm not a bad person"
I'm trying to translate "I'm not a bad person" to standard Chinese. I am told the following:
There are also two ways to say "A isn't B". When B is a noun (things, people, places, etc.), use bú shì.
...
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Adverbs of degree with reduplicated adjective phrases?
Why is it not necessary to use 很 (or other adverbs of degree) to link nouns and adjectives when you reduplicate the adjective, and instead use a 的 after the adjective?
For example:
你的女朋友高高的。
她们漂漂亮亮的。
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Does this type of colloquial compound adjective translate directly: "got-rejected dance"
做我被拒绝的舞蹈! Doing my "got-rejected" dance!
Final answer:
被拒绝后，我气得直跺脚跳 "我被拒绝后的舞蹈!"
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Part-of-speech problems about adjectives or adverbs preceding 地
In "高兴/地/说", is 高兴 an adjective or an adverb?
The following link is a document on "Part-Of-Speech Tagging Guidelines for the
Penn Chinese Treebank (3.0)"
https://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent....
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What are the best Chinese terms for the correct sense of the English adjective "everyday"?
It seems that even CEDICT is full of the common English usage mistake confusing the adjective "everyday" with the adverbial phrase "every day". This means many dictionary sites and apps such as Pleco ...
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How does the order of noun modifiers affect emphasis
I have a Chinese textbook that gives two examples of a sentence, saying that the order of the noun modifiers can be changed for emphasis, but it doesn't explain which sentence emphasises what.
The ...
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In 你多吃点 and 多给他点时间吧, is 多 an adjective or an adverb?
Usage of 多 is a little bit confusing. As I understand it's an adjective in the following example 两百多个学生, but in the below-mentioned examples is “多” an adjective or an adverb?
1）你多吃点
2）多给他点时间吧
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Shi / Hen for adjective + noun when discussing facts or perceived facts
There are the simplified rules about never using "shi" to link an adjective with a noun. However, I believe this is not true for facts or perceived facts, such as colors, then I should use "shi" to ...
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How to say "obscene": translate 下流 or 輕佻?
I want to describe people wearing clothing as totally indecent and obscene, for instance because the clothing doesn’t remotely cover the buttocks. I am not talking about ordinary mini skirts or hot ...
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When should I use 地 with an adjective and when should I not use it with an adverb (and why do some adverbs require 地)?
I got quite confused these days with the grammar rule that adds 地 to an adjective to make it work as an adverb. My basic understanding is that you must add 地 to make an adjective work as an adverb, ...
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The connection of multiple adjectives
In the following sentence:
“现在大家坐上‘复兴号’，不仅更宽敞明亮舒服、速度更快，在车上打电话的信号也更好了，这些都是能感受到的变化。” 丁荣军说，“我们正在研究怎么接入媒体，让视频也能到车上去。”
The relevant part means:
Not only it is more spacious, lighter, and more ...
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Is it ok to say “发达的教育”或者“先进的教育”？
可以说“发达的教育”或者“先进的教育吗？
比如：......的教育是民族兴旺的标记。
What word would be appropriate to use in the above sentence?
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hao de pengyou vs huai de pengyou
Could somebody please explain what the following statement means, if possible paraphrasing and adding examples?
"hao de pengyou" is grammatical when used contrasting hao to huai
in "huai de pengyou" ‘...
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大兵小将 Little Big Soldier
I separated this film name by newlines in Google Translate and I see:
大 Big
兵 Soldiers
小 small
将 will
What is the meaning of 大兵小将 , character by character?
What is the "will" character for?
Why ...
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Can one use 热 and 冷 to describe people?
In many Indo-European languages metaphors of temperature are used to describe people. Is it the same in Chinese, can we say '他很热' and not mean that they have a high temperature?
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