17
votes
Accepted
What does "小" mean in "小炒牛肉"?
To understand the meaning of 小炒, you need some more background information.
Chinese factories or companies normally employ chefs to cook for employees, and chefs need to cook with super big pot or ...
- 1,025
9
votes
How to say "obscene": translate 下流 or 輕佻?
'Obscene' is not 下流(no class/ bad taste) or 輕佻 (frivolous)
One definition of obscene is 不堪入目 , it is used to describe perverted, immoral act or behavior
For example: Taking a child from his mother ...
- 77.2k
8
votes
Accepted
美国意大利黑帮 - Expressing location without 在?
Chinese and English express this in different ways. Or better yet, English emphasizes the nuance that these mafiosi are of Italian descent but operate in America: Italian mafia in America.
The ...
- 7,188
7
votes
Sentence with demonstrative without explicit subject - de required?
这个很好吃。
一般语气，可以不加'的'。
若要加强语气，加'的'，而且念重一点。
这是黒的。
这猫是黒色的。
通常要加'的'。
这本书很好。
和第一例一様，平常可省略；加强语气时，加'的'。
- 1,328
5
votes
Accepted
What are the best Chinese terms for the correct sense of the English adjective "everyday"?
“日常” is the closest in most contexts. It conveys the sense of "commonplace, mundane" very well.
Some example phrases:
everyday life - 日常生活
everyday conversation - 日常对话/日常会话
everyday clothes - 日常服装
...
- 711
5
votes
Accepted
When does an adjective require 的 to describe a noun?
Single character adjectives do not need possessive 的 when it is connected to single character nouns
利刀， 大樹，好人
Single character adjectives do not need possessive 的 when it is connected to multiple ...
- 77.2k
4
votes
Accepted
Usage of 的 to refer to a generic class of things
Short answer: yes. Your understanding is mostly correct.
Long answer: what happens in a sentence like
我喜欢吃好吃的
I like to eat delicious things
is that you are omitting something that would ...
- 5,452
4
votes
Accepted
Can one use 热 and 冷 to describe people?
You may need words of 2 characters, but I'm sure Chinese can do that. Specifically, what do you want to express? Hot or cold: passion, zeal, enthusiasm, interest, love, desire, hate? Here are some ...
- 17.4k
4
votes
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)?
一个劲儿地 is not a standard adverb, It is an adverbial phrase
一个劲儿 (constant effort) is a noun. Adding 地 make it an adverbial phrase 一个劲儿地 (with constant effort)
刻苦 is not only an adjective, it can also ...
- 77.2k
4
votes
Accepted
Adj. + 到 to express an extent
Your understanding is mostly right
“A 到 B 了” means "become so A that have got into the condition of B"
A: adj, but used as a verb, which means "become A"
B: a condition
"...
- 2,606
4
votes
Why is it correct to omit 很 in 小男孩嫌小鱼儿丑?
When there's a verb before the object, you usually don't need 很 before the adjective
Since 嫌(dislike) is a verb, 嫌鱼儿丑 ( 這鱼儿我嫌丑) is a perfectly acceptable sentence,
More example:
天氣很冷
怕天氣冷 (天氣我怕冷)
這詩很好
...
- 77.2k
4
votes
Accepted
How do you translate "美容的" for food?
美容：make oneself more beautiful
美容的食物：beauty foods, beauty-enhancing foods
I even found this:
营养美容: nutritional cosmetology
关键是将有助于美容的食物放在手边”，他说。
He said, "The key is having beauty-enhancing ...
- 17.4k
4
votes
Compound Structure of Chinese Nouns
Edit:
how should one say "an old tiger, a fragrant banana, a big garlic",
an old tiger - 一頭年邁的老虎/ 一頭年老的老虎
a fragrant banana - 一根芬芳的香蕉
a big garlic - 一大棵大蒜
for compound word nouns, it ...
- 77.2k
4
votes
Compound Structure of Chinese Nouns
lǎohǔ=tiger (虎), which literally means "old tiger (老虎)".
xiāngjiāo=banana (蕉), which literally means "fragrant banana (香蕉)".
dàsuàn=garlic (蒜), which literally means "big ...
- 12.1k
3
votes
Can all adjectives be transformed into adverbs with 地?
Check out these dictionary entries for 地[de5]:
ABC
(adv.-forming, like English -ly)
很快地
hěn kuài de
very quickly
Oxford
AUXILIARY
[used with an adverb or adverbial phrase]
合理地安排和使用劳动力
dispose of ...
Mou某♦
- 35.7k
3
votes
How can I tell apart which two-syllable adjective forms "ABAB" to emphasize it?
My take is ABAB expresses dynamically (表示动态感) or extent in degrees, while AABB is for statically (表示静态感).
For example, 舒服舒服 vs 舒舒服服。
舒服舒服 is kinda like 'Wow, I feel great!', it might imply that you ...
- 24k
3
votes
Using SHI4 for noun and adjective, exceptional rules
It is much easier if you know how your own mother language works, instead of trying to understand "grammar logic" of foreign language with your own understanding.
Let's look at some example :
the ...
- 1,362
3
votes
Where to put the adjective when asking for something that comes in multiple sizes?
I'm not a linguist, just a native speaker. My opinion is that 大 should go before 杯, i.e. 我要一大杯咖啡, since I have never heard anyone said 我要一杯大咖啡.
Words like 杯 are called 量词(sorry I don't know the exact ...
- 31
3
votes
Accepted
比 comparison structures: positive adjectives?
Personally, I've never heard about this as a strict grammar rule. You can say both versions of the same sentence as:
他比我高 vs
他比我矮
or
他比我富有 vs
他比我穷
and they would be equally correct, even though I ...
- 5,452
3
votes
美国意大利黑帮 - Expressing location without 在?
Drunken Master have given the correct answer in my opinion.
But I'd like to add some details about the phrase 美国意大利黑手党.
As Drunken Master said, meaning of Chinese heavily depends on context. The ...
- 1,307
3
votes
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)?
Many Chinese grammar books imitate those grammar books on Western languages. That does not fit well in Chinese grammar. The details I am not going to discuss here.
While Western languages transform a ...
- 1,994
3
votes
How to say "obscene": translate 下流 or 輕佻?
下流 describes indecent action or person, sexually harass is the typical 下流的行为, a voyeur is a 下流的人.
輕佻(轻佻) is slightly literary, only used for woman, it describes her characteristic.
This word is not ...
- 6,247
3
votes
How to say "obscene": translate 下流 or 輕佻?
My Chinese friend says 下流 is very, very bad and out of proportion and recommended 輕佻, but dictionaries say this means 'skittish, flippant, giddy, frivolous'. These words seem much too cute to me, ...
- 330
3
votes
In 你多吃点 and 多给他点时间吧, is 多 an adjective or an adverb?
"多" here functions just like "more" in English. It can be an adjective or adverb
In "多吃点", '多' (more) is an adverb for the verb '吃'(verb). In English, "多吃点水果" means "eat fruit more"
~
In "吃多点"...
- 77.2k
3
votes
Accepted
Adverbs of degree with reduplicated adjective phrases?
很 as an adverb (very) only applies to adjective, never noun
A reduplicated adjective emphasizes itself similar to adding "quite" (颇/相当)
A reduplicated adjective cannot also use "very&...
- 77.2k
3
votes
Why is 人口 in this sentence 多, not 大?
Yes Chinese see "人口" as "number of people" and 人口 is measured in number, e.g. China's population is 14 billion. And 多 and (小) are appropriate adjective for 人口
English use big or small to describe ...
- 77.2k
3
votes
Accepted
Why is it correct to omit 很 in 小男孩嫌小鱼儿丑?
丑 here denotes aspect, other than descriptive as a pure adjective does, so we should not add a modifier 很.
很丑 focuses on the aspect of "very or quite", whilst 嫌我丑 denotes the aspect of &...
- 24k
3
votes
Adjective before classifier
大 or 小 before a classifier describes the size or amount of it
Example:
一堆 = a pile of; 一大堆 = a large pile of; 一小堆 = a small pile of
堆 is not a measurement unit but a description of a form. The ...
- 77.2k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible