Do you like watching movies? (你喜欢看电影吗? nǐ xǐ huān kàn diàn yǐng ma). Talking about movies is a great way to practice your Chinese and American movies are quite popular in China. In fact, thousands of young Chinese people work together to translate American TV shows and movies for the Chinese audience. Just check this NPR article out to learn more. Of course, this is not always easy work – there are plenty of English words, sayings, and idioms that simply have no direct Chinese equivalent. Seeing how some famous American movie quotes have been translated into Chinese can be a fun way to do a little studying. In this post we’ll take a look at 20 famous movie quotes in Chinese.

我会开出一个他无法拒绝的条件
wǒ huì kāi chū yī gè tā wú fǎ jù jué de tiáo jiàn
“I’m going to make him an offer he can’t refuse.” – The Godfather

托托，我感觉我们已经不在堪萨斯了
tuō tuō, wǒ gǎn jué wǒ men yǐ jīng bù zài kān sà sī le
“Toto, I’ve got a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.” – Wizard of Oz

这就看你的了，宝贝
zhè jiù kàn nǐ de le, bǎo bèi
“Here’s looking at you, kid.” – Casablanca

愿原力与你同在
yuàn yuán lì yǔ nǐ tóng zài
“May the force be with you.” – Star Wars

你在跟我说话?
nǐ zài gēn wǒ shuō huà
“You talkin’ to me?” – Taxi Driver

我喜欢早晨汽油弹的味道
wǒ xǐ huan zǎo chen qì yóu dàn de wèi dào
“I love the smell of napalm in the morning.” – Apocalypse Now

E.T.打电话回家
E.T. dǎ diàn huà huí jiā
“E.T. phone home.” – E.T.

邦德，詹姆斯·邦德
bāng dé, zhān mǔ sī·bāng dé
“Bond. James Bond.” – Dr. No

拿钱给我看
ná qián gěi wǒ kàn
“Show me the money!” – Jerry Maguire

妈妈总是说，生命就像一盒巧克力，你永远不知道你会得到什么
mā mā zǒng shì shuō, shēng mìng jiù xiàng yī hé qiǎo kè lì, nǐ yǒng yuǎn bù zhī dào nǐ huì dé dào shén me
“Mama always said life was like a box of chocolate. You never know what you’re gonna get.” – Forrest Gump

你担当不起真相
nǐ dān dāng bù qǐ zhēn xiàng
“You can’t handle the truth!” – A Few Good Men

我会回来的
wǒ huì huí lái de
“I’ll be back.” – Terminator

给我来份和她一样的
gěi wǒ lái fèn hé tā yī yàng de
“I’ll have what she’s having.” – When Harry Met Sally

你应该问自己一个问题：‘我感到幸运吗？’你觉得呢，痞子
nǐ yīng gāi wèn zì jǐ yī gè wèn tí:’wǒ gǎn dào xìng yùn ma? ’ nǐ jué de ne, pǐ zi
“You’ve got to ask yourself one question: ‘Do I feel lucky?’ Well, do ya punk?” – Dirty Harry

我是世界之王
wǒ shì shì jiè zhī wáng
“I’m the king of the world!” – Titanic

贪婪，找不到比这更好的词了，是件好事
tān lán, zhǎo bù dào bǐ zhè gèng hǎo de cí le, shì jiàn hǎo shì
“Greed, for a lack of a better word, is good.” – Wall Street

向我的小朋友打个招呼吧
xiàng wǒ de xiǎo péng yǒu dǎ gè zhāo hū ba
“Say hello to my little friend!” – Scarface

棒球运动里没有哭泣 – bàng qiú yùn dòng lǐ méi yǒu kū qì
“There’s no crying in baseball!” – A League of Their Own

罗宾逊夫人，你在勾引我，是吗
luō bīn xùn fū rén, nǐ zài gōu yǐn wǒ, shì ma
“Mrs. Robinson, you’re trying to seduce me, aren’t you?” – The Graduate

世界上有那么多小镇，那么多酒吧，她偏偏走进了我这家
shì jiè shàng yǒu nà me duō xiǎo zhèn, nà me duō jiǔ bā, tā piān piān zǒu jìn le wǒ zhè jiā
“Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine.” – Casablanca

 

To hear some of these famous movie quotes in Chinese along with a few others, check out this funny video from the guys at Off the Great Wall:

I should note that talking about American movies with Chinese people can be hard, as they often do not know the English name of the film. Although many people will tell you that they like to watch American movies to practice English, most just listen to a version dubbed in Chinese or simply follow the Chinese subtitles and block out the English. To help you out a bit, the website MTime is a Chinese language version of IMDB. You can use it to find the Chinese translations of movie titles, as well as the Chinese names given to American actors and actresses.

Before we go, I just have one question for our readers. Leave a comment in Chinese below to let us know your answer!

你最喜欢的电影是什么?
nǐ zuì xǐ huān de diàn yǐng shì shén me?
What’s your favorite movie?