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Chinese Verbs Cheat sheet: E's

My quick guide to some common E- verbs in Chinese!

Eat - 吃 - chī Educate - 教育 - jiàoyù (this ones a bit formal) Empty - 清空 - qīngkōng Ensure - 确保 - quèbǎo Enter - 进入 - jìnrù Encourage - 鼓励 - gǔlì End - 结束 - jiéshù Enjoy - 享受 - xiǎngshòu Estimate - 估计 - gūjì Evaluate - 评价 - píngjià Examine - 检查 - jiǎnchá Excel - 出色 - chūsè Exceed - 超出 - chāochū Exchange - 交换 - jiāohuàn Exercise - 锻炼 - duànliàn Exist - 存在 - cúnzài Expect - 期望 - qīwàng Experience - 经历 - jīnglì Explain - 解释 - jiěshì Explore - 探索 - tànsuǒ

Chinese Verbs Cheat sheet: F's

A quick guide to some common F-verbs in Chinese!

Fail - 失败 - Shībài Fall - 跌倒 - Diēdǎo Feel - 感觉 - Gǎnjué Fight - 打架 - Dǎjià Find - 找到 - Zhǎodào Finish - 完成 - Wánchéng Fix - 修理 - Xiūlǐ Fly - 飞 - Fēi Follow - 遵循 - 遵循 Forget - 忘记 - Wàngjì Forgive - 原谅 - Yuánliàng Freeze - 冻结 - Dòngjié Fry - 炒 - Chǎo Function - 作用 - Zuòyòng

Taobao Finds #1

What is this thing?? Glasses stand? High-fashion necklace?

Could be useful, especially if you're new to the local squat toilets.

Tempting, especially amidst this recent weather. However. It doesn't have pockets so it's a no from me.

Because who doesn't need a fake muscle suit thing (idk what to call this thing)? Handy for cosplays, but no idea when else you could use it.

I fear if I bought this blanket I'd wear it everywhere

An earphone disguised as a speaker. Fun for roadtrips but not too practical for daily use I think.

Shanghai fashion week move over. We have a new thing going.

At first I thought it was an oversized ring but no. A water bottle shaped like an oversized ring and worn like a handbag.

For that one special guest ♥

A bed and a sock. A bock? A sed? Would need to be washed separately, the logistics remain undefined. Fun for sleepovers though.

What what you (maybe) buy, and what's a 100% no way?

Let me know if you'd like to see more of the weird and wonderful things that you could (but should you?) buy on taobao.

Life in China: Observations #2

Deodorant what? I order mine from taobao, as I've yet to meet a deodorant out in the wild. Seriously, none of the beauty or health stores carry it, so taobao has been a great help

The bathrooms The public bathrooms tend to be the squat kind (malls and places frequently patronized by foreigners excluded) and you'll have to bring your own toiletpaper and other hygiene items with you. Some places do have the odd western stall amidst the squat stalls, but nonetheless they are the expection. This is in a pretty big city, so expect western style bathrooms to be more rare in more rural areas.

VPN can be a hit or miss It's good to have a few vpns as backups in case one starts glitching and doesn't work (it actually happened a few days ago and after 15 min I caved in and bought the premium version for my free backup only for my current one to start working later). Not all vpns work in china, so it's important to do some research before buying any.

Getting stared at It happens everywhere, even in big cities, but after a while you get used to it.

Food is affordable My uni canteen breakfast costs around 1-2 euros, whereas the same meal at a local cafe would be 7-10 euros back at home

Eating out is common Sure you can cook, but it's much cheaper to go out to eat, especially to the local non-touristy places. In a lot of them you just scan a code that's on the table and order and pay from your phone so there's not a lot of in-person interaction other than saying thanks when the food is brought out to you.

Taking the initiative with friends Making friends with people is always great, but ever so often you will have to take the initiative to do things especially with your Chinese friends.

Bottled water is the way to go Everyone drinks bottled water. Local people, tourists, expats, pretty much no one drinks tap water. The explorer in me wants to try it out, and maybe see how much sips I can have before something (probably bad) happens but past experience says no :/

Private hospitals are more convenient Yes, they may be more expensive but if you can afford to pay a bit more it's always worth it. The staff speak English, which is very useful if you don't speak Chinese or if you have a complex issue that requires very specific vocab that you never learned.

Chinese Verbs Cheat sheet: G's

A quick guide to some common G-verbs in Chinese!

Gain - 获得 - Huòdé Gather - 收集- Shōují Generate - 产生 - Chǎnshēng Get - 拿到 - Ná dào Get up - 起床 - Qǐchuáng Give - 给 - Gěi Give in - 让步 - Ràngbù Give up - 放弃 - Fàngqì Glare - 眩光 - Xuànguāng Glow - 发光 - Fāguāng Go - 去 - Qù Go back - 回去 - Huíqù Govern - 执政 - Zhízhèng Grab - 抓住 - Zhuā zhù Graduate - 毕业 - Bìyè Greet - 打招呼 - Dǎzhāohū Grieve - 悲伤 - Bēishāng Grow - 成长 - Chéngzhǎng Grumble - 发牢骚 - Fāláosāo Guard - 守护 - Shǒuhù Guess - 猜 - Cāi Guide - 指导 - Zhǐdǎo

The directional "下/上/出/去/来" puzzle guide

I for one still confuse the usage of 出来 and 出去 and other similar structures so here's a guide to slightly depuzzle this puzzle.

上去 (Shàngqù): To go up and away from the speaker

下去 (Xiàqù): To go down and away from the speaker

出去 (Chūqù): To go out and away from the speaker

出来 (Chūlái): To go out and towards the speaker

上来 (Shànglái): To go up and towards the speaker

下来 (Xiàlái): To go down and towards the speaker

过来 (Guòlái): To ask someone to come over to the speaker

过去 (Guòqù): This one is tricky as it can have a few meanings so here are some random examples.

Movement away from the speaker e.g. 我来这家公司工作已经过去五年了= I have been working in this company for the past five years

Movement in time during the past e.g. 过去的年份里，公园里有很多树和花= In the past years, there were many trees and flowers in the park

Here's an illustration I made (it's been a while lol) to make it less (?) confusing：

Chinese Measurement Units Guide

At first glance the Chinese clothes sizes make little sense (they still make not that much sense even at the 15th glance as well to be honest). And the fruit and veggie prices are also no odder.

Then I realized that China has its own local measurement units, so here are some unique measurement units you should look out for plus an odd one out.

1. Weight

Kilograms are used (confirmed this during my medical exam, which is a story in itself), but for things like fruits, veggies etc. 公斤 is used, which is basically kilos divided by 2.

一斤 (yī jīn）= 500g

两斤 (liǎng jīn）= 1kg*

*Even though 斤 is translated to as pounds sometimes, it's actually kilos.

This is also used for clothing sizes (on taobao at least), so if you want to get an accurateish estimate you need to convert your weight to kilos, multiple by 2 and then select a size that fits within the range.

For example: if you weight 70 kg, you then multiple that by 2 = 140斤. Clothes will usually have size ranges e.g. 120-145斤, so that could fit into the L (Large) category.

Note: Sizes vary across stores, so an L in one shop can be an XL in another store or an 2XL in a different store so be ready to contact the seller asking for more specific measurements if not too sure.

2. Length

Usually kilometres and metres are used, but there's also a local system.

0.5 km - 1里 - lǐ

1 km - 2里 - lǐ

3. Area

Same as the previous one, the western measurement units are used but there's also a local system. Not very common from what I've heard, but still pretty handy and interesting to know.

1 km² -15顷 - qǐng

4. Volume

Volume is the same as the metric system, with it's own name so no surprises here.

1 L - 1 升 - shēng

The only major issue I've had has been with the weight measurement and its conversion, but other than that there aren't many issues.

5. Contact lenses

Maybe it's a location thing, but the eye diopter thing here is slightly different.

If your prescription is -4.00, then here it'll be just -400 or just 400 without the minus if buying on Taoboa. It should be obvious (farsightedness of +4.00?? with people studying and working that much??), but it threw me off the first time I had to get my contacts here.

They range from 0 to -8.00 but with one value for the entire package, so if you have significantly different diopters in each eye e.g. -2.00 in your right and -3.00 in your left, then you may have to buy 2 packets, 1 for each eye.

Chinese Verbs Cheat sheet: H's

My quick guide to some of the most common H-verbs in Chinese!

Halt - 停止 - Tíngzhǐ Handle - 处理 - Chǔlǐ Happen - 发生 - Fāshēng Harmonize - 协调 - Xiétiáo Harvest - 收获 - Shōuhuò Have - 有 - Yǒu Hear - 听- Tīng Heat - 加热 - Jiārè Help - 帮助 - Bāngzhù Hesitate - 犹豫 - Yóuyù Hibernate - 冬眠 - Dōngmián Hide - 隐藏 - Yǐncáng Hire - 雇佣 - Gùyōng Hiss - 嘶嘶声 - Sīsī shēng Hope - 希望 - Xīwàng Host - 举办 - Jǔbàn Hug - 拥抱 - Yōngbào Hunt - 打猎 - Dǎliè Hurry - 快点 - Kuài diǎn Hurt - 伤害 - Shānghài

Class shenanigans #5

We went off topic as per usual and started talking about why we are studying Chinese and the replies varied; from marrying a 帅哥/美女 to randomly ending up with Chinese as a degree at uni by using an online choice generator (??)

Out of curiosity, I'd also be interested to know why everyone else studies Chinese!

I Verbs in Chinese

A guide to some common I verbs in Chinese~

Ignore - 忽视 - hūshì Illuminate - 照亮- zhàoliàng Imagine - 想象 - xiǎngxiàng Imitate - 模仿 - mófǎng Improve - 改善 - gǎishàn Implement - 实施 - shíshī Include - 包括 - bāokuò Incorporate - 合并 - hébìng Increase - 增加 - zēngjiā Indulge - 沉迷 - chénmí ​Inform - 通知 - tōngzhī Innovate - 创新 - chuàngxīn Initiate - 启动 - qǐdòng Inquire - 询问 - xúnwèn Inspire - 启发 - qǐfā Instruct - 指示 - zhǐshì Interact - 互动 - hùdòng Interrupt - 打断 - dǎduàn Intervene - 介入- jièrù Introduce - 介绍 - jièshào Investigate - 调查 - diàochá Invite - 邀请 - yāoqǐng Involve - 参与 - cānyù Invent - 创造 - chuàngzào Invest - 投资 - tóuzī

Life in China: Observations #3

Vitamins/supplements are necessary Especially Calcium and Vit D. Dairy isn't really that big of a thing here (milk boba tea does not count!!), and with cheese being a mythical creature Calcium and vit D are quite useful.

The city never sleeps The big cities at least are always loud and active.

Sugary drinks Sugar is everywhere. From milk-tea to coffee, everything is pretty sweet. Even some of the bread is sweet as I discovered when eating a sandwich.

Interesting flavours Cucumber-flavoured crisps to cheese-flavoured coffee. Whatever flavour combination you deem too outlandish to be true, chances are its real.

Face masks People wear masks for a few main reasons; Fashion, against the cold, against illness and against the air pollution

The aforementioned air pollution It's a thing everywhere. The AQI index thing does not play about. The cold months are the worst, so you'll see people wearing masks very often.

Taobao I mentioned Taobao previously, but seriously. You can buy anything on Taobao. Literally. Clothes, makeup, household items, vitamins. I even saw some people selling rabbits. And other animals, but you get my point.

The New Year isn't that much of a thing here. It's celebrated but not to the extent that the Lunar New Year is celebrated from what I've heard.

The transport/travel system is pretty well connected. Getting around China has little difficulties. The only issue is getting out or into China especially if you're from a european country that doesn't have that many international flights.

J Verbs in Chinese

A quick guide to some common J verbs in Chinese!

Jab - 刺戳 - cìchuō

Jeopardize - 危害 - wéihài

Jog - 慢跑 - mànpǎo

Join - 参加 - Cānjiā

Joke - 开玩笑 -Kāi wánxiào

Jolt - 震动 - Zhèndòng

Jot - 记下 - Jìxià

Journey - 去旅行 - Qùl ǚxíng

Judge - 判断 - Pànduàn

Juggle - 玩杂耍 - Wánzáshuǎ

Jumble - 弄乱 - Nòngluàn

Jump - 跳 - Tiào

Justify - 证明 - Zhèngmíng

K- verbs in Chinese My quick guide to some common K-verbs in Chinese!

Keep - 保留 - Bǎoliú Kick - 去踢 - Qùtī ​Kid - 开玩笑 - Kāiwánxiào Kidnap - 绑架 - Bǎngjià K!ll - 杀 - Shā Kindle - 点燃 - Diǎnrán Kiss - 吻 - Wěn Know - 知道 - Zhīdào Knead - 揉捏 - Róuniē Kneel -下跪 - Xiàguì Knit - 编织 - Biānzhī Knock - 敲 - Qiāo Knot - 打结 - Dǎjié Kowtow - 磕头 - Kētóu

L- Verbs in Chinese

A quick guide of some common L-verbs!

Land - 登陆 - dēnglù Last - 持续 - chíxù Laugh - 笑 - xiào Launch - 推出 - tuīchū Lead - 领导 - lǐngdǎo Learn - 学习 - xuéxí Leave - 离开 - líkāi Lend - 借 - jiè Lift - 举起 - jǔqǐ ​Light - 点亮 - diǎnliàng Like - 喜欢 - xǐhuān Limit - 限制 - xiànzhì Link - 连接 - liánjiē Listen - 听 - tīng Live (in/at a place) - 住在 - zhùzài Locate - 定位 - dìngwèi Lock - 锁 - suǒ Long - 渴望 - kěwàng Look - 看 - kàn Lose - 失去 - shīqù Love - 爱 - ài Lower - 降低 - jiàngdī

M- Verbs in Chinese

My quick guide of some common M-verbs!

Maintain - 保持 - bǎochí

Marry - 结婚 - jiéhūn

Marry* - 嫁 - jià

*This is a different verb used for when women get married due to the historical context, but 结婚 is more commonly used now regardless of gender.

Mark - 标记 - biāojì

Manage - 管理 - guǎnlǐ

Make - 制作 - zhìzuò

Match - 匹配 - pǐpèi

Matchmake - 相亲 - xiāngqīn

Measure - 测量 - cèliáng

Meet - 见面 - jiànmiàn

Mention - 提及 - tíjí

Miss - 错过 - cuòguò

Modify - 修改 - xiūgǎi

Monitor - 监视 - jiānshì

Move - 运动 - yùndòng

Move (houses) - 搬家 - bānjiā

N- Verbs in Chinese

A quick cheat-sheet of chinese verbs begnning with N!

Narrate - 叙述 - xùshù

Navigate - 导航 - dǎoháng

Need - 需要 - xūyào

Neglect - 忽视 - hūshì

Negotiate - 谈判 - tánpàn

Nominate - 提名 - tímíng

Normalize - 正常化 - zhèngchánghuà

Notice - 注意 - zhùyì

Notify - 通知 - tōngzhī

Nourish - 滋养 - zīyǎng

Nurse - 护理 - hùlǐ

Nurture - 培养 - péiyǎng

What textbooks do you use for learning Chinese?

I noticed that my current textbooks at my exchange uni in China are noticeably different from the textbook used back at my home uni, and now I'm interested in knowing whether the content varies drastically overall.

I'm curious to see what are some of the other textbooks that used for learning Chinese and how effective you would consider them to be, so please feel free to share your thoughts!

The V for Ü trick

I only recently discovered that you can type in v to get the letter ü when typing in the pinyin for chinese characters.

Life in China Observations #4

It's been a while since I last did this, so let's go again!

Identity is complicated The question "where are you from" can be just as complicated as it is simple. For many people, their country of birth is where they're from, which is usually the case here. However, if you happen to be born in country A to parents from cultures B and C, immigrated and became a citizen of country D and now attend university in country E and are now on an exchange program in China, the question "where are you from" is not that easily answered. From what some of my friends told me, where you're from is actually the place where your dad was born in even though you may have been born in a different city which is a pretty interesting concept known as the "ancestral home" - 祖籍 (zǔjí) or 籍贯 (jígùan).

You have to make the first step I may have mentioned this in a previous post, but people are constantly doing something and unless you specifically and intentionally reach out and work on your friendship, you may end up drifting apart. Maybe this is a specific thing, but back home I could go a few weeks without really reaching out to my friends and then someone would suggest grabbing lunch together and it would be like no time had passed at all since we last saw each other. Here? Quite different.

Beauty and pop trends There are all sorts of weird and wonderful trends that you can come across in China. From using bread as a study tactic to decorating your workplace with banana plants, I feel like the more I assimilate here, the bigger the reverse culture shock will be when I go back home, and not just for me. dr.candiselin covers some of these trends on Instagram (not a promo post!), and I recommend checking out her content, it's quite brilliant.

Taobao You can buy anything on taobao. Literally. I saw someone selling a house there. I was previously a little shocked to see animals such as cats and bunnies being sold, but after seeing houses and cars being sold I honestly don't know what else is there to surprise me with.

Prepare in advance (foodwise) for the lunar new year During those 8-12ish days during the holdiays a lot of stores were closed. The convenience store outside my campus was open thank God, because otherwise I would have been living on instant porridge and instant soup which was my main food source 2 weeks prior due to being ill and there is only so much instant oatmeal that you can eat before slightly losing it.

Being ill is a nightmare And I mean the mandatory-bed-rest-no-going-out-for-at-least-5-days ill kind. You need to go to the hospital or a clinic to get a note to give to your school otherwise the day's you're absent will be counted, and once they reach a specific percentage you won't be allowed to take the exam (which can seriously mess with your grades, even more if you're there as an exchange student).

The weather can change at the blink of an eye I remember back in December the weather was in the negative digits and then suddenly the next day it was around 20 celcius?? The very next day it went to 3-4, and even now in March it's very all over the place. The weather forecast is not that useful because I'll leave the dorms wearing my coat in the morning only to return carrying my coat, jumper, long-sleeved shirt and wearing only my t-shirt.

More affordable beauty products I saw some products go for around $80 online?? And here on Taobao they cost under $10? I'm assuming it's the shipping costs that drive up the price so drastically, and now I'm pondering whether it would be cheaper to order online or to travel to China every couple of years just to stock up on beauty products.

The 然's

突然，虽然，忽然. and the other 然's can often get mixed up, so here's a quick explanation of some of the most common ones!

突然 (Túrán): This means suddenly or unexpectedly

居然 (Jūrán): This kind of means suddenly, but more in the sense of "surprisingly" or to suggest disbelief at something that happened.

忽然 (Hūrán): This also means suddenly or unexpectedly, but it has a more stronger connotation.

既然 (Jìrán): This is a conjunction meaning "since" or "now that"

既然the weather is great, let's go out!

既然 you aren't busy, let's go watch a movie.

不然 (Bùrán): This means "otherwise" or "or else";

You should study, 不然 you won't do well on the exam.

虽然 (Suīrán): This means although or even though.

虽然 I'm not good at singing, I still like to go to the karaoke.

当然 (Dāngrán): 当然 means certainly or definitely and can be used as a reply:

Can you help me with A? 当然!

自然 (Zìrán): This can mean nature or naturally.

China's 自然 is very beautiful.

She speaks Chinese 得很自然.

仍然 (Réngrán): This can mean "still" or "yet".

I仍然 haven't read that book.

依然 (Yīrán): Similar to 仍然, this also means still" or "yet" but it's usually used in more formal and literary works, whereas 仍然 is more often used in spoken language.

果然 (Guǒrán): 果然 can be used to mean "indeed" or "as expected"

This movie is 果然 interesting.

竟然 (Jìngrán): This is an adverb used to suggest surprise or something unexpected.

He竟然forgot her birthday.

显然 (Xiǎnrán): This means "clearly" or "obviously".

This soup 显然 hot.

偶然 (Ǒurán): This means "accidentally" or "by chance".

We 偶然 met at the same cafe.

How many other 然's do you know about? Drop a comment!