Regrets in Chinese

In my humble opinion, the Italian composer (意大利作曲家 Yìdàlì zuòqǔ jiā ) Enrico Toselli’s Nightingale Serenade is one of the most beautiful melodies that can pull on your heartstrings and stir your soul. Whether played on the violin or on the piano, it can convey to you a feeling of the regret of lost love and the yearning for what is no more. The vocal version is more concise and not as repetitive.

Here is my Chinese interpretation, and I think it follows the original lyrics quite closely.

爱的回忆
Ài de huíyì
The reminiscence of love,

像金色的梦,
xiàng jīnsè de mèng,
like a golden dream,

虽已成過去,
suī yǐ chéng guòqù,
although a thing of the past,

但依然深深地刻在心里.
dàn yīrán shēn shēn di kè zài xīnli.
is still deeply engraved in my heart.

依稀看见
Yīxī kànjiàn
I can vaguely see

你那微笑的脸庞;
nǐ nà wéixiào de liǎnpáng;
your smiling face;

无限的欢乐
wúxiàn de huānlè
and the boundless joy

点亮了我们青春的时光.
diǎn liàngle wǒmen qīngchūn de shíguāng.
that lit up our happy youth.

一切瞬间消灭了;
Yīqiè shùnjiān xiāomiè liǎo;
Everything was wiped out instantly;

爱的蜜汁干枯了.
ài de mì zhī gānkū liǎo.
the nectar of love has dried up.

好梦一场
Hǎo mèng yī chǎng
The sweet dream

换来满心痛苦和悲伤.
huàn lái mǎnxīn tòngkǔ hé bēishāng.
left me with a heart full of pain and sorrow.

前途多晦暗!
Qiántú duō huì’àn!
What gloom lies before me!

教我懊悔不堪.
Jiào wǒ àohuǐ bùkān.
It makes me regret unbearably.

岁月不返,
Suìyuè bù fǎn,
Time doesn’t return,

独自愁肠断.
dúzì chóu cháng duàn.
and I’m alone and heartbroken.

你是我唯一良伴.
Nǐ shì wǒ wéiyī liáng bàn.
You are my only ideal companion.

没有了你, 这世界多么黯淡.
Méiyǒule nǐ, zhè shìjiè duōme àndàn.
Without you, this world is dark and bleak.

啊！我心爱的阳光！
A! Wǒ xīn’ài di yángguāng!
Ah! My beloved sunshine!

你不再照耀我的前程.
Nǐ bù zài zhàoyào wǒ de qiánchéng.
You no longer illuminate my future

今世, 今生!
Jīnshì, jīnshēng!
in this life, ever.

一场 (yī chǎng) means a bout, a scene, an episode or an occurrence of some event. 一场好戏 (yī chǎng hǎo xì) means a good show. When spoken sarcasticaly, it refers to some funny or scandalour incident.

悲伤 (bēishāng) can be used as a noun (sorrow), a verb (to be sad) or adjective (being sad).

前途 (qiántú ) and 前程 (qiánchéng) both mean the road ahead. These words refer to the future or what lies ahead.

消灭 (xiāomiè) means to destroy, eradicate or to perish.

晦暗 (huì’àn) and 黯淡 (àndàn) both refer to a dim and gloomy condition.

后悔 (hòuhuǐ), 懊悔 (àohuǐ), and 悔恨 (huǐhèn) are different ways of saying regret or remorse, increasing in intensity.

后悔来不及.
Hòuhuǐ láibují.
Too late to regret.

愁肠寸断 (chóu cháng cùn duàn) is a Chinese idiom describing the extent of one’s sadness, likening it to having one’s insides broken into pieces.

陪伴 (péibàn) means to accompany or to keep somebody company. 伴侣 (bànlǚ) are companions. 良 (liáng) and 良好 (liánghǎo) mean good. Therefore, 良伴 (liáng bàn) is a good companion. 爱情 (àiqíng) means feelings of love. Therefore, 情伴 (qíng bàn) and 情侣 (qínglǚ) are lovers.

今世今生 (jīnshì jīnshēng), 今生今世 (jīnshēng jīnshì), or 此生 (cǐshēng) means in this life, or as long as I live.

今生今世我再也不想见到他了.
Jīnshēng jīnshì wǒ zài yě bùxiǎng jiàn dào tā le.
As long as I live, I never want to see him again.

On this Valentine’s Day, I suppose you’d expect to hear something like the following instead:

今生今世我将永远爱你.
Jīnshēng jīnshì wǒ jiāng yǒngyuǎn ài nǐ.
In this life I shall forever love you.

Sing a Love Song in Chinese and English

For Valentines Day this year, let’s learn a few Chinese words from a lighthearted song performed by 风飞飞 (Fēng fēi fēi) and another artist. The lively music of “我的一颗心 (Wǒde Yī Kē Xīn) – This Heart of Mine” was composed by 复临 (Fù Lín ), with lyrics written by 田弘 (Tián Hóng).

Here is the link to the video on Youtube,

and you can find the lyrics here.

Here’s my singable translation of the lyrics:

This heart of mine, I devote to one.
And only he may receive my love.
My dear sweetheart is my valentine.
Only his passion can warm my heart.

And yet, his feelings he doesn’t show.
Whenever he comes by, he seems shy.
Is he really shy?

This heart of mine, I devote to one.
And only he may receive my love.

心上人 (xīnshàngrén) is one way to say sweetheart in Chinese. To address your sweetheart, you would say, “甜心 (tiánxīn)” or “亲爱的 (qīn’ài de – dear)”. 心肝 (xīngān – heart and liver or darling) and 宝贝 (bǎobèi – treasure) are also terms of endearment, but 蜂蜜 (fēngmì – honey) is not. 🙂

献给 (xiàn gěi) is to present to, to devote to, or to dedicate to.

接受 (jiēshòu) is to receiver or to accept.

情人 (qíngrén) are lovers. 多情人 (duō qíngrén) refers to one who has lots of affection and love for another person.

热情 (rèqíng) is passion or enthusiasm.　

温暖 (wēnnuǎn) means warmth or feeling warm, physically or emotionally.

可是 (kěshì) means however or but.

有情 (yǒuqíng) means having affection for someone.

却 (què) means nevertheless.

说明 (shuōmíng) is to explain or to describe. However, in this song, it is an abbreviation for 说明白 (shuō míngbái), which means to say clearly or unequivocally.　　

每一次 (měi yīcì) means each time or every time.

见到了我 (jiàn dàole wǒ) means seeing or meeting me.

是不是 (shì bùshì) means whether or not.

怕羞 (pàxiū) means being shy or bashful.

真 (zhēn) means authentic, true, real, truly or really.

The challenge for you today is to come up with a simple verse following the main pattern of the lyrics of this song, namely five Chinese characters per phrase or sentence. This is a popular form used by Chinese poets. An example is the following poem discussed in Chapter 22 of “Learn Chinese through Songs and Rhymes“.

床前明月光; The moonshine in front of my bed,
Chuáng qián míng yuèguāng;

疑是地上霜. I thought it was frost on the ground.
Yí shì dì shàng shuāng.

抬头望明月, I raise my head to see the bright moon.
Táitóu wàng míng yuè,

低头思故乡. I bend my head and long for my homeland.
Dītóu sī gùxiāng.

Use any theme of your choosing. If you would like to share your poem with the other readers, please post it in a comment. Thank you.

情人节快乐!
Qíngrénjié kuàilè!
Happy Valentines Day!

P.S. If you are looking for additional reading material in Chinese, you could try “Inspiring Stories in Chinese“. Each line of the stories is annotated with pinyin and English, and explanatory notes are provided for selected words and phrases. You will also be asked to do a few exercises to make sentences using some of the frequently used words and expressions.

The paperback copy of “Inspiring Stories in Chinese” is available at amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.

You can get the eBook version from kobo.com, barnesandnoble.com or other eBook outlets.

What happens when you double a unit of measure in Chinese?

You may have noticed that there is not a plural form for characters that represent Chinese nouns or pronouns. To indicate multiplicity, you would usually precede a noun with a quantity (number) or an adjective such as “few” or “many”, or follow a pronoun with the character 们 (men).

There is another way to indicate that there is more than one item involved, viz. to repeat the name of the item or its unit of measure. For example:

时时(shíshí) means often or constantly (not just one momemt).

天天(tiāntiān) means each and every day.

年年(niánnián) means each and every year.

人人(rénrén) means everybody.

家家户户(jiājiāhùhù) means each and every household.

祝你事事如意!
Zhù nǐ shìshìrúyì!
I wish that everything will go smoothly for you.

For many other entities, it is the unit that gets repeated to show that you are talking about each one of the entities in the group.

个个(gègè) means each and every one.

这些运动员个个都强健.
Zhèxiē yùndòngyuán gègè dōu qiángjiàn.
Each and every one of these athletes are strong and healthy.

样样(yàngyàng) means each and every kind or type of things.

这些礼物我样样都喜欢.
Zhèxiē lǐwù wǒ yàngyàng dōu xǐhuān.
I like each and every one of these presents.

斤 (jīn) is a unit of weight that’s about 1 1/3 lbs.

我们不要同别人斤斤计较.
Wǒmén bùyào tóng biérén jīnjīnjìjiǎo.
We should not haggle over every ounce with other people.

情人的眼泪滴滴都可贵
Qíngrén de yǎnlèi dī dī dōu kěguì.
Each and every drop of a lover’s tears is previous.

一片片的叶子掉落下来.
Yī piàn piàn de yèzi diào luò xiàlai.
Several leaves are dropping down.

You can compare the next two sentences to see the effect of repeating a unit:

桌上摆着一盘菜.
Zhuō shàng bǎi zhe yī pán cài.
There is a dish of food on the table.

桌上摆着一盘盘的菜.
Zhuō shàng bǎi zhe yī pán pán de cài.
The table is laid with dishes of food.

Lastly, this saying bears repeating:

条条大路通罗马.
Tiáo tiáo dàlù tōng Luómǎ.
All roads lead to Rome.

By the way, if you mean to say “per unit”, then precede the unit with 每 (měi each), such as in 每磅 (měi bàng per pound) and 每人 (měi rén each person or per person).

This is a good time to review other units of measure discussed in Chapters 6 and 7 of “Learn Chinese through Songs and Rhymes“.