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04/13/2017
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Bówén biāotí 04/13/2017 liú xià pínglùn zhè shì yī piān éwài de zhàn wèi wénzhāng. Diǎnjī “biānjí” liànjiē xiūgǎi huò shānchú gāi wénzhāng, huòzhě kāishǐ zhuànxiě xīn wénzhāng. Rúguǒ nín yuànyì, kěyǐ tōngguò zhè piān wénzhāng gàosù dúzhě nín chuàngjiàn cǐ bókè de yuányīn yǐjí nín dǎsuàn shǐyòng tā zuò xiē shénme.
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04/13/2017
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CHINESE EMPHATIC STRUCTURE “是……的”
05/25/2017
Some students don’t understand very well the rule to make an emphatic phrase, in this article, I am going to tell how to use Chinese emphatic structure “是……的”
One of my students told me: she doesn’t understand very well the rule to make an emphatic phrase “是……的”, she sent me this question together with pictures as below:
First of all, let me tell you the meanings of sample sentences.
Translation of sample sentences on textbook are as below:
1 我是在北京学的汉语。 Wǒ shì zài běijīng xué de hànyǔ.
Its translation into English: It was in Beijing that I studied Chinese.
2 是何塞给我打的电话。 Shì hé sài gěi wǒ dǎ di diànhuà.
Its translation into English: It was Jose who called me
3 他是昨天晚上来的。 Tā shì zuótiān wǎnshàng lái de.
Its translation into English: It was yesterday night that he came.
Concerning “是……的”，it can lay emphasis on time/ method/way / objects /place/ purpose/ the person who gives the action , its complete structure is as below:
Subject + 是 + time/ method/way / objects /place/ purpose/ the person who gives the action + verb (+object) + 的 (+object)
I show you samples of its applications as below one by one:
1 你是什么时候去的？ Nǐ shì shénme shíhou qù de?
Its translation into English: When did you go there?
This sentence lays emphasis on time
Possible reply: 我是去年去的（Wǒ shì qùnián qù de）
It was last year that I went there.
2 你是怎么去的？ Nǐ shì zěnme qù de?
Its translation into English: How did you go there?
This sentence lays emphasis on method/way
Possible reply: 我是坐飞机去的（Wǒ shì zuò fēijī qù de）
It was by plane that I went there
3 你是和谁一起去的？ Nǐ shì hé shuí yīqǐ qù de?
Its translation into English: With whom you went there?
This sentence lays emphasis on objects
Possible reply: 我是和家里人一起去的（Wǒ shì hé jiālǐ rén yīqǐ qù de）
It was with my family that I went there
4 你是在哪里买的这个包？Nǐ shì zài nǎlǐ mǎi de zhège bāo?
Its translation into English: Where did you buy this bag?
This sentence lays emphasis on place
Possible reply: 我是在商店里买的这个包（Wǒ shì zài shāngdiàn lǐ mǎi de zhège bāo）
It was in the shop that I bought this bag
5 你是来做什么的？ Nǐ shì lái zuò shénme de?
Its translation into English: What’s your purpose of coming here?
This sentence lays emphasis on purpose
Possible reply: 我是来上课的（Wǒ shì lái shàngkè de）
It is to have class that I come here.
6 这盆花是谁送的？ Zhè pénhuā shì shuí sòng de?
Its translation into English: Who sent this flower?
This sentence lays emphasis on the person who gives the action
Possible reply: 这盆花是老师送的（Zhè pénhuā shì lǎoshī sòng de）
It was the teacher that sent the flower
Let’s use Chinese emphatic structure “是……的” to complete exercises of the textbook as below:
用“是……的”回答下列问题（Yòng “shì……de” huídá xiàliè wèntí）
Use “是……的”to answer the following questions.
马丁的生日晚会是几点开始的? Mǎdīng de shēngrì wǎnhuì shì jǐ diǎn kāishǐ de?
马丁的生日晚会是晚上7点半开始的。Mǎdīng de shēngrì wǎnhuì shì wǎnshàng qī diǎn bàn kāishǐ de.
你是什么时候去的王老师家? Nǐ shì shénme shíhou qù de wáng lǎoshī jiā?
我是昨天上午去的王老师家。Wǒ shì zuótiān shàngwǔ qù de wáng lǎoshī jiā.
王大伟是在哪儿学的西班牙语? Wángdàwěi shì zài nǎ’er xué de xībānyá yǔ?
王大伟是在北京大学学的西班牙语。Wángdàwěi shì zài běijīng dàxué xué de xībānyá yǔ.
王大伟是属马的吗? Wángdàwěi shì shǔ mǎ de ma?
王大伟是属马的。Wángdàwěi shì shǔ mǎ de.
马丁是不是一九七八年生的? Mǎdīng shì bùshì yījiǔqībā niánshēng de?
马丁是一九七八年生的。Mǎdīng shì yījiǔqībā niánshēng de.
昨天晚上你是几点钟睡觉的? Zuótiān wǎnshàng nǐ shì jǐ diǎn zhōng shuìjiào de?
昨天晚上我是11点钟睡觉的。Zuótiān wǎnshàng wǒ shì shíyīdiǎn zhōng shuìjiào de.
这个办公室是张明的吗? Zhège bàngōngshì shì zhāng míng de ma?
这个办公室不是张明的。Zhège bàngōngshì bùshì zhāng míng de.
这张画儿是谁画的? Zhè zhāng huà er shì shuí huà de?
这张画儿是马丁的朋友画的。Zhè zhāng huà er shì mǎdīng de péngyǒu huà de.
用“是……的”句就划线部分进行提问，并做出回答。（Yòng “shì……de” jù jiù huá xiàn bùfèn jìnxíng tíwèn, bìng zuò chū huídá）
Use “是……的”to ask questions on the crossed part of the sentence, and to answer.
爸爸开车去公司了。Bàba kāichē qù gōngsīle.
A：爸爸是怎么去公司的？Bàba shì zěnme qù gōngsī de?
B：爸爸是开车去公司的。Bàba shì kāichē qù gōngsī de.
我爷爷前天去乡下了。Wǒ yéye qiántiān qù xiāngxiàle.
A：你爷爷是什么时候去乡下的？Nǐ yéye shì shénme shíhou qù xiāngxià de?
B：我爷爷是前天去乡下的。Wǒ yéye shì qiántiān qù xiāngxià de.
他在商业大厦买了一条裤子。Tā zài shāngyè dàshà mǎile yītiáo kùzi.
A：他是在哪儿买的这条裤子？Tā shì zài nǎ’er mǎi de zhè tiáo kùzi?
B：他是在商业大厦买的这条裤子。Tā shì zài shāngyè dàshà mǎi de zhè tiáo kùzi.
我昨天和妹妹一起看电影了。Wǒ zuótiān hé mèimei yīqǐ kàn diànyǐngle.
A：你昨天是和谁一起看电影的？Nǐ zuótiān shì hé shuí yīqǐ kàn diànyǐng de?
B：我昨天是和妹妹一起看电影的。Wǒ zuótiān shì hé mèimei yīqǐ kàn diànyǐng de.
奶奶把伞给小明送来了。Nǎinai bǎ sǎn gěi xiǎomíng sòng láile.
A：是谁把伞给小明送来的？Shì shuí bǎ sǎn gěi xiǎomíng sòng lái de?
B：是奶奶把伞给小明送来的。Shì nǎinai bǎ sǎn gěi xiǎomíng sòng lái de.
So now you already know how to use Chinese emphatic structure “是……的”, when you complete a sentence with this structure, please be sure to know which part you want to lay emphasis, you want to lay emphasis on time? method ? way ? objects ? place? purpose? Or the person who gives the action? Then, according to the complete structure I offered above, put each part in the right position. That’s it! I hope that all of you have understood the rule to make emphatic phrase “是……的”after reading this article.
https://learnchineseeasily.com/blog/page/5/
HOW TO LEARN CHINESE CHARACTERS THAT LOOK ALIKE
06/06/2017
If you are only just starting out learning Chinese characters you may have already come across some Chinese characters that, to the inexperienced eye, look exactly the same. It’s different to get over the idea that they are different and that it is possible, by following some simple rules, to distinguish between these characters.
HOW TO LEARN CHINESE CHARACTERS THROUGH CONTEXT
If you have read some of our other articles, or have been studying Chinese for a while, you may have started learning Chinese with Pinyin. Although there are several drawbacks to only studying Pinyin as a method of learning Chinese, it can be used at the beginning of your studies to not only perfect your Chinese pronunciation, but to also learn the different pronunciations for one single character.
Sometimes, one Chinese character may have multiple pronunciations and meanings. For example, the character 好 you may already know means ‘good’ with the hǎo pronunciation. However, this character has a second, although less common pronunciation, hào. If you are reading Chinese, how do you know whether the character is the hǎo or the hào version of the character? Most of the time, the answer simply lies in the context or nature of the conversation. For characters like this, when one pronunciation is used much more than the other, the context of the conversation would allow you to choose the hǎo pronunciation.
For example, if you were to see this sentence, 这种菜很好吃。(zhè zhǒng cài hěn hǎo chī.) it would be pretty difficult to mistake the pronunciation or meaning as hào, meaning ‘to be fond’.
HOW TO LEARN CHINESE CHARACTERS WITH BIGRAMS
Sometimes, there are also characters that have 2 or more pronunciations that are frequently used, and context may not be sufficient enough to know which pronunciation to use.
Let’s look at the character 还. 还 has two pronunciations and two meanings. The first pronunciation is (hái) meaning ‘still’ and (huán), meaning ‘to return’.
If you have learned this character, you may know some of the common ways in which the character can be found in a sentence. In the sentence below, for example, the 还 (huán) character is followed by 给 (gěi) meaning ‘to give’. Even if you have never learned this combination of characters before, you might be able to guess what 还给 (huán gěi) means, if 还 (huán) is ‘to return’ and 给 (gěi) is ‘to give’.
他给她打开门锁，并把钥匙交还给了她。(tā gěi tā dǎ kāi mén suǒ, bìng bǎ yào shi jiāo huán gěi le tā.)
He unlocked her car door, and gave her back the key.
还给 (huán gěi) is an example of a 2 character combination that we call a bigram. Bigrams can be found in many languages, including English. They can be letters or words that are commonly found together to create a specific sound or meaning. In this case, the bigram 还给 (huán gěi) means ‘to give back’. It would be less likely (although not impossible) to find the 还 (hái) pronunciation of the character in proximity to the 给 (gěi) character especially based on the context of the sentence. Deciding which character to choose in this case is a combination of context and learning bigrams.
Learning bigrams instead of struggling with single characters is a way in which you can learn to distinguish between characters that look very similar. There are some characters that just plain look alike. They may have an extra line, or an additional sticky-out bit, but to the beginner, they can quickly be mistaken for the wrong character. This is why learning bigrams, especially as a beginner of the Chinese language, can reduce such mistakes, because you are not focusing on one single character, but on the common 2 character combination.
If you get stuck when reading a character in a sentence look to the next character. If you’re studying bigrams, chances are the second character will remind you of the first character.
Below are some examples of character that look similar, but because of the common bigrams that they are found in, will make it easier to tell them apart.
In this next section, I will refer to specific character ‘strokes’ or lines that are used when writing characters. You may wish to refer back to our article, Chinese Character Strokes, but here is a quick review of the ones I will mention most often:
横 (héng) – horizontal line
竖 (shù) – vertical line
撇 (piě) – downward curving stroke to the left
捺 (nà) – downward curving stroke to the right
力/刀 (LÌ/DĀO) POWER/ KNIFE
1-e1466158958266
Difference: The balance of these characters is slightly different, as the 刀 (dāo) character is larger and takes up the whole ‘space’. The 横 (héng) stroke of the 力 (lì) character should begin lower, allowing for the downward curving stroke, known as 撇 (piě), to begin above the horizontal stroke.
Examples of 力 (lì):
努力 (nǔ lì) – to try hard
压力 (yā lì) – pressure
Examples of 刀 (dāo):
刀子 (dāo zi) – knife
剪刀 (jiǎn dāo) – scissors
午/牛 (WǓ/ NIÚ) 11 A.M.-1 P.M/ COW
2-e1466158896372
Difference: The tip of the vertical stroke on the 牛 (niú) character, known as 竖 (shù), begins slightly above the first horizontal stroke, 横 (héng).
午 (wǔ) is rarely used on its own, and often found in time phrases like in the following:
Examples of 午 (wǔ):
下午 (xià wǔ) – afternoon
上午 (shàng wǔ) – morning
Examples of 牛 (niú):
牛肉 (niú ròu) – beef
牛奶 (niú nǎi) – cow’s milk
已/己 (YǏ/ JǏ) ALREADY/ SELF
3-e1466158756421
Difference: Two of the more difficult characters to distinguish between, 已 (yǐ) and 己 (jǐ) are almost identical apart from a tiny extra line in the 已 (yǐ) character. The 竖 (shù) stroke begins above the second horizontal stroke.
Examples of 已 (yǐ):
已经 (yǐ jīng) – already
早已 (zǎo yǐ) – a long time ago
Examples of 己 (jǐ):
自己 zì jǐ – oneself
知己 zhī jǐ – to know oneself
HOW TO LEARN CHINESE CHARACTERS WITH MNEMONICS
With some characters, creating mnemonics can help with distinguishing between similar looking characters. A mnemonic can be a story or pattern of letters that can help you to remember something longer or more complex. A Chinese character mnemonic can help remind you of as many elements of the character as you want, meaning, tone, pronunciation etc.
买/卖 (MǍI / MÀI) BUY / SELL
mai-e1466158635503
A simple mnemonic to distinguish between 买 (mǎi) and 卖 (mài) is that if you ‘sell’ 卖 (mài) something you will receive money (maybe ten 十 (shí) ?). The character 十 (shí) can be seen added to the top of the 买 (mǎi) character to make 卖 (mài).
You can apply a mnemonic to any character to remember it. You can visit our Online Dictionary and view existing mnemonics or even post your own ideas.
HOW TO LEARN CHINESE CHARACTERS WITH RADICALS
Radicals are the ‘building blocks’ of Chinese characters. They are most often on the bottom or the left side, and indicate the ‘meaning’ of a character. For example, the character 口 (kǒu) is also used as a radical and means ‘mouth’. Therefore, the radical 口 (kǒu) is often found in words that relate to the mouth, such as 叫 (jiào), meaning to shout or 吃 (chī) meaning to eat. In order to learn Chinese characters properly, it’s a good idea to start acclimatizing yourself with some of the basic radicals.
You can learn about some of the more common Radicals here. You can find the radicals for all the characters you learn by checking them in the Written Chinese Dictionary, both online and in themobile app. Just search for the character and you will a ‘Radical Breakdown’ for that character.
For a more comprehensive list of radicals, take a look at the radical feature in our Written Chinese Dictionary app.
Radicals can be one of the best ways to distinguish between Chinese characters, especially as the right hand side of the character often refers to (but not always) the pronunciation of a character.
Let’s look at these characters for example:
线/钱 (XIÀN/QIÁN) LINE/MONEY
xian-e1466158526941
Both characters contain the same part: 戋 (jiān). It would be very easy to mix up these characters, if you did not pay attention to their specific radicals.
Both characters, 线 (xiàn) and 钱 (qián) , take their pronunciation from 戋 (jiān) that we see on the right hand side. The meaning of the first character 线 (xiàn), is ‘line’ or ‘thread’ and is dictated by the radical on the left hand side, 纟(sī), which represents a bolt of silk. The second character, 钱 (qián), has the radical for ‘gold’ ,钅(jīn) which tells us that the meaning of the character is ‘money’ or ‘coins’.
Here are some other examples of characters that look alike, but can be differentiated by their radicals.
那/哪 (NÀ/NǍ) THAT/HOW
6-e1466158135453
The character 哪 (nǎ) features the 口 (kǒu) radical, meaning mouth. The 口 (kǒu) radical, as mentioned above, is often used for characters relating to the mouth. It is also used in some question words including 吗 (ma) and 哪 (nǎ).
眼/跟 (YǍN/GĒN) EYE/WITH
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The right hand part of the character is 艮 (gèn) and provides the pronunciation for 眼 (yǎn) and跟 (gēn). The radical for the 眼 (yǎn) character is 目 (mù), meaning eye. The radical found in the跟 (gēn) character is 足 (zú) or foot. The foot radical is used here because the full meaning of 跟 (gēn) is ‘close behind’ or the ‘heel’ of a foot.
EXERCISES
If you want to test your character recognition, complete these simple exercises and we’ll post the answers later!
- Add another stroke to the 日 (rì) character to make new ones (hint: you can make around 9 characters).
- Find the ‘wrong’ character in the sentences.
- 我己经吃过饭了。(wǒ jǐ jīng chī guò fàn le.) I have finished the meal.
- 下牛去看电影好吗？ (xià niú qù kàn diàn yǐng hǎo ma?) How about going to the cinema this afternoon?
- 妈妈没有告诉我他去哪儿了。(mā ma méi yǒu gào su wǒ tā qù nǎr le) Mom didn’t tell me where she was going.