Questions tagged [usage]
Questions about the use of expressions, parts of speech, words, verbs, etc.
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How do I know whether or not a character can be used separately?
Note:
This question exists, which is asking a similar question—but the accepted answer is not what I'm looking for (nor do I think it actually answers my question), indicating that the OP's intent in ...
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Is this sentence correct 很多人需开始工作得帮家
I'm making a text for a test and I ended up with this sentence 很多人需开始工作得帮家. What I'm Trying to say is:
Many people need to start working to help their families
It's a complex phrase for my level and I'...
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Is 你多久吃一次鱼? a natural way to ask: How often do you eat fish?
The sentence
你多久吃一次鱼?
How often do you eat fish?
is on Tatoeba. The grammar seems different to English. The English "how often" is asking "with what frequency", whereas the ...
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Difference between 佔 and 占
In this post, I am discussing characters in traditional writing.
When reading as zhan4, I wonder what the difference between 佔 and 占 is. Is there a division in use by meaning? Or, is one totally ...
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Usage of 贵方 in real-life conversation
I read a book titled 国际商务汉语 by 李忆民, and I came upon 贵方 in one of the conversation reading. My questions are:
How common is 贵方 being used in real-life conversation？[especially in business or ...
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What is the exact meaning of 着 and how to use it in a sentence?
What is the exact meaning of 着 and how can I use it in a sentence?
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difference between 接到 and 收到
Can you give me as many as example sentences where I can
use 接到 but not 收到
use 收到 but not 接到
use both 接到 and 收到, and their meanings are same
use both 接到 and 收到, and their meanings are different?
I'm ...
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What does GHKWXUE mean in English?
What does GHKWXUE mean in English?
It's the brand name if a pot/pressure cooker I'm looking into buy and I wondered what it means.
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Is 播主 actually a word?
I'm getting into making YouTube videos, and sometimes I find it hard to express the concept of a "YouTuber". I've been calling myself a 播主, but it's not in the CC-CEDICT, and maybe I should ...
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In 大蝎的眼珠差一点弩出来, is 弩 ("crossbow") being used as a verb?
“快回去，迷林被抢了！”大蝎的眼珠差一点弩出来。迷林似乎是一切，他的命分文不值。
老舍，猫城记, p.47 (see also photo of original for further context; note: 大蝎 is the name of a character, and 迷林 is a kind of forest/farm on Mars)
I'm confused about:...
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Why 雨下了 is not used?
Normally to say "it's raining", we use "下雨了". However, according to the subject-verb-object pattern, it seems that it should be "雨下了". Why this is not the case?
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Why is there a drink called 手打柠檬鸭屎香 = "hand-made lemon duck-feces fragrance"?
手打柠檬鸭屎香
鸭屎香是真的香！精选潮州凤凰……
(China-accessible version)
This drink's name translates to something like "hand-made lemon duck-feces fragrance". I get the feeling feces = 屎 isn't as repulsive as ...
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usage of 几乎 vs 几乎要
I just spent an hour of class trying to figure out the difference between： "这辆车几乎 撞 到我了" and "这辆车几乎 要撞 到我了". The only differnence is 几乎要 and not 几乎. The teacher kept saying ...
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meanings of 就 inside 学校内就有银行，很方便
学校内就有银行，很方便
As I remove 就 from above, then the corresponding translation could be The school has a bank within its premise and it is very convenient.
I guess that "already" can be used to ...
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How to specify colors etc. attributively
I’ve been using Duolingo and Google Translate (definitely not the most authoritative of sources) and have seen constructs like
红色的书
and
红车
Is there a difference in meaning depending whether one ...
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When and why is 的 used with an object in the middle between compound verbs?
I can't understand when this happens. For example, I know such a variation 我生你的气 and 帮他的忙。 but why doesn't it happen with other similar verbs? For example 说话，吃饭，结婚?
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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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What does 抢高 mean?
Example: 在求过于供下，自然抢高租金，一有放盘就会大排长龙。
Obviously it involves raising the price.
Who is the subject here? Is it the landlords who rob (抢) the tenants by raising (高) the price, or the renters who rush and ...
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Does 指鹿为马 = Don't pee on my leg and tell me it's raining?
I'm teaching idioms to university students in China. I wonder if 指鹿为马 could be used as a translation / explanation of "Don't pee on my leg and tell me it's raining." Yeah, that's not a high-...
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I have a piece of homework due in on describing with adjectives and we just recently learned about prepositions which I'm unsure of, also grammar
(this is all about my ideal bedroom and what I would like in it)
你好！我喜欢城市和雨天所以我想住在下雨的城市。我理想的卧室会很高也大。我的卧室有里很多窗。我想两张桌子在卧室里，也两张很小黄色的灯在桌子上。我的床是橙色的和很大。卧室里有很大电视 和电脑在桌子上。卧室不有椅子。然而，我喜欢我的卧室。
What I'm trying to ...
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Is ～面(上面，下面) more common than ～邊(上邊，下邊) in Taiwan?
If it wasn't obvious from my usage of traditional characters, I'm learning Taiwan Standard Mandarin. While studying, I learned that ～面 and ～邊 are largely interchangeable in place words, and was ...
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Can 追求 function as a noun?
I stumbled upon a bunch of example sentences at YouDao wherein 追求 is used as a noun:
对金钱的追求支配着他的生活。
我对崭新未来的追求未曾犹豫过。
谁能否认他们的追求是合理的呢？
I'm skeptical. I looked it up in 现代汉语词典, and it doesn't list 追求 ...
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Can 人口 be interpreted as a number?
I was just in my iTalki class, and it seems I've been making an error for years whereby I refer to 人口 as 大/小 instead of 多/少 (which came up in this question, so it's seems I'm not the only one making ...
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Does 常数 only refer to commonly used, fixed numerical constants like 1 or π or c, or can it refer to e.g. 384810513112?
I got a bit confused talking maths with my iTalki teacher today. We encountered the term:
CC-CEDICT: 常数 (chángshù) a constant (math.)
On one hand, since 常 appears in 常用, 常常, 经常, etc., the 常 in 常数 ...
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Has anyone seen the word or the characters in the word "𠄑𠄍" used before?
According to Wiktionary, 𠄑𠄍 is an adjective pronounced "juéjié" in Mandarin and means "moving"(https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/𠄑𠄍#Chinese). Somebody on the page has hypothesized ...
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How should I interpret this 吧 in the sentence "好，那咱们一起去吧" ？
A：我们去吃午饭，你也一起去吗？
B：好，那咱们一起去吧。
I translated above sentences as follows using a dictionary and the text book which gave those sentences.
A: We are going to eat lunches, Do you also come together (with ...
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Is it more common to say 他写汉字写得好 Or 他的汉字写得好?
I wasn't able to find a similar question, its a bit pedantic but I would like to know if one is more common than the other in spoken or written language. According to my Chinese teacher, both are ...
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Is 好 acting as verb complement or adjective in 我穿好衣服了?
In the sentence
然后，我穿好衣服了。
What's the function of 好?
Is it a complement for the verb 穿 meaning "the act of putting on has finished"?
Or is it an adjective for 衣服 meaning "good clothes&...
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Why is 黄河 used in the saying 不到黄河心不死?
In Chinese, there's a saying along the lines of "it's not over until the fat lady sings":
CC-CEDICT: 不到黄河心不死: lit. not to stop until one reaches the Yellow River (idiom) / fig. to persevere ...
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How did 子 come to mean "master?"
In cases of famous masters like Laozi, Zhuangzi, Mozi, Sunzi, Kong Fuzi, etc. the suffix -子 is translated as "master" or sometimes "great teacher." Otherwise it indicates offspring ...
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What function is 被 performing in the sentence: “现在，成龙的老板让他找回被偷的每个生肖雕像”?
What function is 被 performing in the sentence: “现在，成龙的老板让他找回被偷的每个生肖雕像。”
Translates to: Now, Jackie Chan's boss asks him to retrieve every zodiac statue that has been stolen.
I'm aware of 被's usage as ...
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The function of 慢行 in 减速慢行
I understand that the phrase 减速慢行 simply means "slow down", but I'm not sure why 慢行 is there, since 减速 solely can (at least in my non-native logic) express the idea of "slowing down&...
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What are the implications of saying 保护好自己?
I've heard this used in various contexts, but there is one that I am confused about which relates to being emotionally vulnerable. Specifically, it seems like people say that about situations where ...
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In my maths textbook, what is 和 doing in the question 两次所得的和相同吗？
This is a photo from my year-7 maths textbook (click to enlarge; alternative version):
两次所得的和相同吗？换几个加数再试一试．
从上述计算中，你能得出什么结论？
I understand what it's saying: calculate 30+(-20) and (-20)+30 and check ...
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What is the difference between using "去 + place," versus using "要去 + place"?
For example, 我们去森林里探险。Translations for this will be pretty much the same as, "我们要去森林里探险。
I understand the difference may be subtle, but I'm curious as to the nuance of the difference.
Thanks so ...
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Is 綴飾 being used naturally as a verb in 這件衣服綴飾了許多亮片?
Is the following sentence natural for native speakers of Mandarin?
這件衣服綴飾了許多亮片，適合在晚宴上穿著。
Is "綴飾" used naturally? I thought it's supposed to be used as a noun.
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Can “懂” be used (as a verb) before a place name?
For example, could the sentence ”我懂四川“ sound natural at all? If so, could it mean you know the place very well, possibly even in a nostalgic or essential sense?
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What does 行文至此 mean in 行文至此，北京市职业介绍部门传来令人欣喜的消息……?
行文至此，北京市职业介绍部门传来令人欣喜的消息：在招聘的85名保洁员中，有50人是北京人。
Short Term Reading Chinese (2nd edition): Advanced; photo (alternative site)
I'm confused about why this sentence from my textbook begins with 行文至此.
CC-...
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Honorifics used by students the same age
Can anyone tell me honorifics that would be used by high school aged students who are the same age? More specifically, is there any honorific that would be used by a student being extremely polite to ...
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How is the expression 恪尽职守, from a short story by Diao Dou, used? Is it used ironically?
恪尽职守
How exactly is this used? Is it often used ironically? I ran across it in a short story by Diao Dou 蹲着.
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Does Chinese have 单词 ("words")?
This may seem like a strange question coming from someone who has studied Chinese for a number of years now, but I recall a teacher long ago saying I shouldn't call Chinese words
CC-CEDICT: 单词 (dān...
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Differences with 呢度，喺度，and 喺呢度
Can anyone explain any differences in usage between the three ways of saying 'here' in Cantonese?
I anticipate that in many cases, these will be exchangeable. I'm looking for examples of sentences ...
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这段课文写对了没有? 请你们检查一下。谢谢
Please help me to check if my text for the video is correct. 大家好! 我是_, 我来自俄罗斯, 今年20岁。 目前还是一个_大学外国语学院的学生。 我是一个渴望知识的人, 学得很认真和努力。 我家不太富裕, 我从中学工作和帮助解决金钱问题。 从那时起，我试图了解金融和经济学是如何运作的, 觉得很有意思。 在我上学期间, ...
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What does 兮兮 mean?
According to the dictionary, 兮兮 means:
词的后缀。用在某些词后，表示一种情态。
脏兮兮 | 可怜兮兮 | 神经兮兮
I'm not sure what this has over just using the word (how can 情态 express adjectives to express a state, not people?). Does ...
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Can also a teacher say "同学们好！" ？
If "同学们好！" means "Hello classmates!", can also a teacher say that to its students, despite the fact that the teacher is essentially not a classmate / not part of the student group?
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Can 同学 really be used as a separable verb?
Online, you can find this example of 同学 being used as a separable verb:
我和他同过三年学。
He and I were classmates for three years.
I'm skeptical this is correct. (Sometimes databases have errors, and ...
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How to say wow in chinese and stretch it out? Woooaaaaah
How do you say "waaa~" in chinese? Woooaaaaaa~
To express being dazed by awe. I know 哇 exists but I'm not sure how to exaggerate it.
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Why is there a 零 in 三年零九个月?
……大王，您所期待的长恒纪元就到来了，这个恒纪元将持续三年零九个月，其间气候温暖，是一个黄金纪元。
刘慈欣，《三体》
This is from the novel The Three Body Problem. I'm a little bit puzzled as to why there is a 零 added in 三年零九个月 = "three years and nine ...
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Can kan4 be used to mean "to look after"? Or must it be first tone?
看 is a 多音字. With fourth tone it has many different and very common meanings. With first tone it is defined as "to look after", "to take care of", "to watch", and "to ...
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What is the function of 得 in 我聽日仲有得面試添 in Cantonese?
I would like to ask about the function of 得 in this sentence:
我聽日仲有得面試添。
I understood the sentence as: "Tomorrow I still have an interview (additionally, on top of something else that might not ...
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