{"id":11530,"date":"2015-09-14T09:30:37","date_gmt":"2015-09-14T13:30:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/?p=11530"},"modified":"2017-03-14T18:57:01","modified_gmt":"2017-03-14T22:57:01","slug":"chinese-opposite-words","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/chinese-opposite-words\/","title":{"rendered":"Chinese Opposite Words"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\">When I teach English to students in China, I always encourage them to learn opposite words together. That way they double their vocabulary and come to associate the words with each other. The same works when you study Chinese, or any language for that matter &#8211; it&#8217;s good to memorize opposite words to build your vocabulary. To help you out, here are 15 sets of Chinese opposite words that will come in handy in your daily life.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_11532\" style=\"width: 610px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter post-item__attachment\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-11532\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11532\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2015\/09\/1-Harbin.jpg\" alt=\"\u9999\u6e2f\u5f88\u70ed\uff0c\u54c8\u5c14\u6ee8\u5f88\u51b7\" width=\"600\" height=\"429\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2015\/09\/1-Harbin.jpg 600w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2015\/09\/1-Harbin-350x250.jpg 350w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-11532\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">\u9999\u6e2f\u5f88\u70ed\uff0c\u54c8\u5c14\u6ee8\u5f88\u51b7 = Hong Kong is very hot, Harbin is very cold.<\/p><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"p1\">\n<h3>\u65b0 (x\u012bn)\uff0f\u65e7 (ji\u00f9) = new\/old<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"p2\">\n<h3><span class=\"s1\">\u9ad8 (g\u0101o)\uff0f<\/span><span class=\"s2\">\u77ee (<\/span>\u01cei) = tall\/short<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"p2\">\n<h3>\u51b7 (l\u011bng)\uff0f\u70ed (r\u00e8) = cold\/hot<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"p2\">\n<h3>\u4fbf\u5b9c (pi\u00e1n y\u00ed)\uff0f\u8d35 (gu\u00ec) = cheap\/expensive<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"p2\">\n<h3>\u8fd1 (j\u00ecn)\uff0f\u8fdc (yu\u01cen) = near\/far<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"p2\">\n<h3>\u5c0f (xi\u01ceo)\uff0f\u5927 (d\u00e0) = small\/big<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"p2\">\n<h3>\u8f6f (ru\u01cen)\uff0f\u786c (y\u00ecng) = soft\/hard<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"p2\">\n<h3>\u73b0\u4ee3 (xi\u00e0n d\u00e0i)\uff0f\u4f20\u7edf (chu\u00e1n t\u01d2ng) = modern\/traditional<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"p2\">\n<h3>\u5b89\u9759 (\u0101n j\u00ecng)\uff0f\u5435 (ch\u01ceo) = quiet\/noisy<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"p2\">\n<h3>\u9ad8\u5174 (g\u0101o x\u00ecng)\uff0f\u4f24\u5fc3 (sh\u0101ng x\u012bn) = happy\/sad<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"p2\">\n<h3>\u5b89\u5168 (\u0101n qu\u00e1n)\uff0f\u5371\u9669 (w\u00e9i xi\u01cen) = safe\/dangerous<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"p2\">\n<h3>\u80d6 (p\u00e0ng)\uff0f\u7626 (sh\u00f2u) = fat\/thin<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"p2\">\n<h3>\u8001 (l\u01ceo)\uff0f\u5e74\u8f7b (ni\u00e1n q\u012bng) = old\/young<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"p2\">\n<h3>\u6709\u8da3 (y\u01d2u q\u00f9)\uff0f\u65e0\u804a (w\u00fa li\u00e1o) = interesting\/boring<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"p2\">\n<h3>\u5f3a (qi\u00e1ng)\uff0f\u5f31 (ru\u00f2) = strong\/weak<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Interestingly enough, there are quite a few Chinese words that are made from two opposite characters back to back. One of the most famous is the <em><strong>yin-yang<\/strong><\/em> (<span class=\"hanzi\" lang=\"zh\">\u9634\u9633<\/span>\u00a0&#8211;\u00a0<span class=\"reading\">y\u012bn y\u00e1ng) in Chinese philosophy, which explains how opposite forces are actually interconnected. Perhaps that explains why there are so many words formed from opposite characters.\u00a0<\/span>Here are a few examples:<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_11531\" style=\"width: 270px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter post-item__attachment\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-11531\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11531\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2015\/09\/260px-Yin_yang.svg_.png\" alt=\"Yin and yang.\" width=\"260\" height=\"260\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2015\/09\/260px-Yin_yang.svg_.png 260w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2015\/09\/260px-Yin_yang.svg_-150x150.png 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 260px) 100vw, 260px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-11531\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Yin and yang.<\/p><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<h3><span class=\"hanzi\" lang=\"zh\">\u591a\u5c11<\/span>\u00a0(<span class=\"reading\">du\u014d sh\u01ceo) = how many\/how much (many\/few)<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3>\u5de6\u53f3 (zu\u01d2 y\u00f2u) = about\/approximately (left\/right)<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3>\u4e1c\u897f (d\u014dng x\u012b) = thing\/stuff (east\/west)<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3>\u7c97\u7ec6 (c\u016b x\u00ec) = thickness (thick\/thin)<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3>\u5feb\u6162 (ku\u00e0i m\u00e0n) = speed (fast\/slow<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3>\u52a8\u9759 (d\u00f2ng j\u00ecng) = movement\/activity (move\/still)<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3>\u5927\u5c0f (d\u00e0 xi\u01ceo) = size (big\/small)<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3>\u5bbd\u7a84 (ku\u0101n zh\u01cei) = width (wide\/narrow)<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3><span class=\"hanzi\" lang=\"zh\">\u957f\u77ed<\/span>\u00a0(<span class=\"reading\">ch\u00e1ng du\u01cen) = length (long\/short)<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3>\u66f2\u76f4 (q\u016b zh\u00ed) = right and wrong (crooked\/straight)<\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For practice, try making sentences with the opposite words similar to the one I used in the picture above:<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center\">\u9999\u6e2f\u5f88\u70ed\uff0c\u54c8\u5c14\u6ee8\u5f88\u51b7.<br \/>\nxi\u0101ng g\u01ceng h\u011bn r\u00e8, h\u0101&#8217;\u011br b\u012bn h\u011bn l\u011bng<br \/>\nHong Kong is very hot, Harbin is very cold.<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<img width=\"350\" height=\"250\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2015\/09\/1-Harbin-350x250.jpg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image tmp-hide-img\" alt=\"Chinese Adjectives\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2015\/09\/1-Harbin-350x250.jpg 350w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2015\/09\/1-Harbin.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><p>When I teach English to students in China, I always encourage them to learn opposite words together. That way they double their vocabulary and come to associate the words with each other. The same works when you study Chinese, or any language for that matter &#8211; it&#8217;s good to memorize opposite words to build your&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"post-item__readmore\"><a class=\"btn btn--md\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/chinese-opposite-words\/\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":11532,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[403021,272723,402474,11132,303536,69374,402851],"class_list":["post-11530","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-basic-chinese","tag-beginner-chinese","tag-chinese-opposite-words","tag-chinese-vocabulary","tag-chinese-vocabulary-builder","tag-learn-chinese","tag-opposite-words-in-chinese"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11530","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/55"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11530"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11530\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13125,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11530\/revisions\/13125"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11532"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}