Speak Mandarin like a Chinese by repeating certain words (Part 2)

We often use 白白胖胖 (báibái pàng pàng fair-skinned and fat) to describe a chubby baby with cheeks that invite an affectionate pinch. And, 高高兴兴 (gāo gāoxìng xìng glad, gladly) is usually the first phrase that comes to mind when we want to describe being in a good mood.

上图显示著一些大大小小的纽扣.
Shàng tú xiǎnshì zhe yīxiē dà dà xiǎo xiǎo de niǔkòu.
The above picture shows a handful of buttons of various sizes.

Theoretically, you could apply this AABB pattern for any Chinese adjective or adverb. However, many adjectives and adverbs are customarily not repeated in this way. For example, I’ve never heard “美美丽丽” for 美丽 (měilì beautiful), or “悲悲伤伤” for “悲伤 (bēishāng sorrowful)”, or “小小气气” for 小气 (xiǎoqì stingy).

Following are a number of adjectives and adverbs that are commonly duplicated, usually for emphasis.

快快乐乐 (kuài kuàilè lè) happy, happily
和和气气 (hé hé qì qì) polite and amiable, in good spirits
轻轻松松 (qīng qīng sōng sōng) relaxed, easily, without effort
痛痛快快 (tòng tòng kuài kuài) open and direct, without hesitation, with alacrity
大大方方 (dà dà fāng fāng) generous, gracefully
方方正正 (fāng fāngz hèng zhèng) square or upright
高高低低 (gāo gāo dī dī) uneven in height
普普通通 (pǔ pǔ tōng tōng) ordinary
稀稀疏疏 (xī xi shū shū) sparse
朦朦胧胧 (méng méng lóng lóng) hazy
疯疯颠颠 (fēng fēng diān diān) crazy, deranged, erratic
昏昏沉沉 (hūn hūn chénchén) groggy, dizzy and sleepy
慌慌张张 (huāng huāng zhāng zhāng) in a hurry-scurry
恍恍惚惚 (huǎng huǎng hū hū) vaguely, confused, as if in a trance
窝窝囊囊 (wō wo nāng nāng) cowardly
舒舒服服 (shū shū fú fú) comfortable, comfortably
服服贴贴 (fú fú tiē tiē) docile and obedient
安安稳稳 (ān ān wěn wěn) safe and sound
邋邋遢遢 (lā lā tà tà) sloppy, slovenly
踏踏实实 (tà tà shí shí) down-to-earth
地地道道 (dì dì dào dao) authentic, to the core
仔仔细细 (zǐ zǐ xì xì) in great detail, thoroughly, (checking) carefully
清清楚楚 (qīng qīng chǔ chǔ) very clearly
浩浩荡荡 (hào hào dàng dàng) in a grandiose way, said of an army or a large crowd of people

Hungry for more? Here are a bunch of Chinese idioms containing duplicated characters.

气势汹汹 (qìshìxiōngxiōng) aggressive, overbearing
喜气洋洋 (xǐqìyángyáng) full of joy
洋洋大观 (yángyángdàguān) spectcular, extensive
比比皆是 (bǐ bì jiē shì) can be found everywhere, great in number
落落大方 (luòluò dàfāng) graceful, at one’s ease
多多益善 (duōduōyìshàn) the more the merrier
格格不入 (gégébùrù) not fitting in or out of place (said of people)
苦苦哀求 (kǔ kǔ āiqiú) to entreat piteously
赫赫有名 (hèhè yǒumíng) very famous, illustrious
楚楚动人 (chǔchǔ dòngrén) lovely and enchanting (said of delicate women)
卓卓有余 (zhuō zhuó yǒuyú) more than sufficient, having enough to spare
姗姗来迟 (shān shān lái chí) jokingly or sarcastically said of people who arrive late
沾沾自喜 (zhānzhānzìxǐ) to feel smug
津津有味 (jīnjīnyǒuwèi) with keen interest or with relish (as in reading a book)
津津乐道 (jīnjīn lè dào) to talk abut something with enthusiasm.
谦谦君子 (qiānqiānjūnzǐ) a modest gentleman
代代相传 (dài dài xiāngchuán) passed down from generation to generation
头头是道 (tóutóushìdào) clear and logical, well argued, making good sene
口口声声 (kǒukǒushēngshēng) saying repeatedly
家家户户 (jiājiāhùhù) each and every family

四月通常有很多雨天.
Sì yuè tōngcháng yǒu hěnduō yǔtiān.
The month of April generally offers many rainy days.

你听到外面下雨的声音了吗?
Nǐ tīng dào wàimiàn xià yǔ de shēngyīnle ma?
Do you hear the sound of rain outside?

这些自然声音已被证明有助于放松心情.
Zhèxiē zìrán shēngyīn yǐ bèi zhèngmíng yǒu zhù yú fàngsōng xīnqíng.
Such nature sounds have been shown to help relax the mind.

放松下来; 让雨声帮助你集中精力学习这些成语.
Fàngsōng xiàlái; ràng yǔ shēng bāngzhù nǐ jízhōng jīnglì xuéxí zhèxiē chéngyǔ.
Relax; let the sound of rain help you focus on studing these idioms.

Learn Chinese word radical – Literature

文 (wén) means literature, language, writing, culture or civil and refined. Literature is called 文学 (wénxué). 文明 (wénmíng) is civilization, and 文化 (wénhuà) covers civilization, culture, education and literacy in general.

文字 (wénzì) refers to writing, scripts or languages. 文法 (wénfǎ) is grammar.

外文 (wàiwén) means foreign languages, such as 法文 (fǎwén French), 德文 (déwén German) and 日文 (rìwén Japanese).

文件 (wénjiàn) are documents. Official documents are called 公文 (gōngwén).

文具 (wénjù) means stationery.

The character 文 (wén) occurs in its original form as the “literature” radical in a number of words.

纹 (wén) are fine lines, such as 指纹 (zhǐwén fingerprints)
and 皱纹 (zhòuwén wrinkles).

斑 (bān) are specks or stripes. A zebra is called a striped horse in Chinese – 斑马 (bānmǎ), and a crosswalk is called 斑马线 (bānmǎ xiàn zebra crossing).

蚊子 (wénzi) is a mosquito.

吝啬 (lìnsè) means stingy or tightfisted. Stingy people are also said to be 小气 (xiǎoqì stingy or petty).

The traditional Chinese character for 变 (biàn change) is 變 (biàn), the lower portion of which is the modified “literature” word radical. This radical is found on the right side in many Chinse words. Last week we came across the words 改变 (gǎibiàn) and 政治 (zhèngzhì), both of which feature this “literature” radial. Following are a few additional examples.

收 (shōu) is to receive, to collect, to gather, to put away, to restrain or to put an end to, whereas 放 (fàng) is to let go, release, give out or leave alone.

他收养了两个孩子.
Tā shōuyǎng le liǎng gè háizǐ.
He adopted two children.

他把行李放下.
Tā bǎ xínglǐ fàngxià.
He put down his luggage.

故 (gù) is a reason, a cause or an incident. It is the formal word for hence, consequently, former, or to die.

对不起, 我不是故意的.
Duìbùqǐ, wǒ bùshi gùyì de.
Sorry, I didn’t do it on purpose.

我的汽车故障了.
Wǒ de qìchē gùzhàng le.
My car broke down.

做 (zuò) is to do, to make or to be used as.

效果 (xiàoguǒ) is an effect or a result.

这样做效果不错.
Zhèyàng zuò xiàoguǒ bùcuò.
Doing it this way gives pretty good results.

微 (wēi) means tiny or to a slight degree, as in 微风 (wēifēng gentle breeze).

傲 (ào) means proud or haughty.

这个人太骄傲了.
Zhègè rén tài jiāoào le.
This person is too arrogant.

He happy?

“A woman wife is my sharp.”

I see you scratching your head. You know every word in this sentence, but this line simply doesn’t make sense – until you unscramble it to read: “My wife is a sharp woman.” This goes to show that, to make a meaningful statement, it’s quite important to put the words in the proper order. Shooting out the words any which way just won’t cut it.

Over the ages, each population sharing the same language has arrived at a concensus about what “sounds right”. When you are learning a new language, it is natural to want to apply the language rules with which you are familiar. This is why pidgin English was prevalent among the coolies who came over from China in the 19th century and early 20th century to earn a living. To make the statement: “He is happy.”, someone might say:

他快乐.
Tā kuàilè.

Therefore, to put it in English, he would say, “He happy.” This sounds perfectly all right to the Chinese ear.

In a similar way, if you simply superimpose English grammar onto Chinese words, your statements may become jumbled and difficult to understand. I think this is a good time to caution you against trying to translate your English statements into Chinese verbatim. Instead, please focus on the meaning you wish to get across and put the relevant Chinese words and phrases into the proper Chinese sentence patterns.

Fortunately, human minds work more or less alike, and you will be pleasantly surprised that many sentence patterns are similar in English and Chinese. Last week we learned two simple sentence patterns. To make them more concise, we will employ the names of the parts of speech, such as nouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, etc. You know that the name of anyone or anything you can see or feel or think about or talk about is considered a noun. We will let the term “Noun” also represent noun phrases such as “my beautiful wife”. A word or phrase that describes a noun is an adjective. A word or phrase that modifies an adjective or a verb is an adverb. I will rewrite the first two sentence patterns as follows:

I. Noun + Adjective

她的眼睛大.
Tā de yǎnjing dà.
Her eyes are large.

Please note that the “be” verb is omitted in this Chinese sentence pattern, which is commonly used when one wishes to express one’s feeling or opinion about someone or something.

If her eyes are large and bright, you would say:

她的眼睛大又亮.
Tā de yǎnjing dà yòu liàng.
Her eyes are large and also bright.

又 (yòu) means “also” or “again”. It may be used singly or in a pair, such as in: 又大又亮 (yòu dà yòu liàng large and bright as well).

Listen to the song “Lift Your Veil” by clicking on the link below, and see if you can pick out the sentences that follow the above sentence pattern. This song is fully annotated in “Learn Chinese through Songs and Rhymes” to illustrate the use of adjectives.

Lift Your Veil (video)

Hummingbird

You may insert an adverb to qualify the description. For example, 很 (hěn) means “very”, and 太 (tài) means “exceedingly”.

蜂鸟很可爱.
Fēngniǎo hěn kěài.
Hummingbirds are very lovely (cute).

我的女友很漂亮.
Wǒ de nǚyǒu hěn piàoliàng.
My girlfriend is very pretty.

他太小氣了!
Tā tài xiǎoqì le!
He is too stingy!

II. Noun + 是 (shì) + Noun

他是校长.
Tā shì xiàozhǎng.
He is the school principal.

我先生是一位老师.
Wǒ xiānsheng shì yī wèi lǎoshī.
My husband is a teacher.

我太太是个伶俐的女人.
Wǒ tàitai shì gè línglì de nǚrén.
My wife is a quick-witted woman.

This sentence pattern works the same in English as in Chinese. The noun phrases may contain optional adjectives. To show respect to teachers, we use 一位 (yī wèi) instead of 一个 (yī gè)

How would you describe yourself? Also find some nice words to describe your family and your friends. As for the people you don’t like, there are plenty of appropriate words in your dictionary for them as well.