{"id":8318,"date":"2012-12-19T03:23:06","date_gmt":"2012-12-19T07:23:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/?p=8318"},"modified":"2012-12-19T03:23:06","modified_gmt":"2012-12-19T07:23:06","slug":"10-common-chinese-expressions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/10-common-chinese-expressions\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Common Chinese Expressions"},"content":{"rendered":"
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My old hood in Beijing... you can see why I moved.<\/p><\/div>\n

When learning a language in a country where it’s actually spoken, you’ll start to pick up on certain expressions before long. On the subway, in the shops, at a restaurant, and everywhere in between, you constantly hear people speaking the language. At first, this can be overwhelming and confusing. My first few weeks in China will always stand out in my memory, as I understood absolutely zero Chinese and I lived in an area of Beijing with no foreigners and no real sign of my mother language anywhere, with the exception of the familiar golden arches of McDonald’s about a 15 minute walk from our apartment complex. Being able to understand some of the language and put it to use was a slow and gradual process that took a few months. Once I started studying Chinese, I began to pick up on more and more expressions that I was hearing on a daily basis.<\/p>\n

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To help you in your Chinese studies, I’m going to introduce ten of these common expressions that you will often encounter when using the language:<\/p>\n

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Learn Chinese with Transparent!<\/p><\/div>\n

1. \u5582 – w\u00e9i<\/h1>\n

We all know that “Hello” in Chinese is “\u4f60\u597d” (n\u01d0 h\u01ceo), and that’s almost always used as a greeting here. Listen to any phone\u00a0conversation\u00a0in Chinese, though, and you’ll notice that they don’t usually begin with a “\u4f60\u597d.” When people answer their phone here, the common expression used is “\u5582” (w\u00e9i). It will often be immediately followed by\u00a0“\u4f60\u597d,” so it doesn’t really have any special meaning. To sound more like a native speaker and not a total n00b, try using this whenever you answer your phone.<\/p>\n

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2. \u4f60\u5e72\u561b? – n\u01d0 g\u00e0n ma<\/h1>\n

This expression can be translated as “What are you doing?”, and it is very commonly used in China. It’s not very polite, though, so you wouldn’t use this if, for example, you wanted to ask someone out and needed to know what they were doing that night. It’s more often used in situations like these: a. someone close to you (friend, relative, partner) is doing something strange and\/or stupid; b. you are angry with someone out in public, like if they cut in front of you.<\/p>\n

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3. \u4f60\u6765\u4e86\uff01 – n\u01d0 l\u00e1i le!<\/h1>\n

This one basically means “You’re here!” It’s used as a sort of greeting when someone shows up. For example, our ayi<\/strong> (\u963f\u59e8 – \u0100 y\u00ed)\u00a0at my office always says this when I walk in to start my shift – “Sasha…\u00a0\u4f60\u6765\u4e86!” There’s a bonus expression in this one for you. The word “\u963f\u59e8” means “auntie,” but it’s not only used for actual family members. It can also be used to address a woman older than you, or even as a job title, as most ladies who work as housekeepers\/nannies are simply called “\u963f\u59e8” as well.<\/p>\n

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4. \u597d\u4e45\u4e0d\u89c1 – h\u01ceo ji\u01d4 b\u00f9 ji\u00e0n<\/h1>\n

We all know the expression “Long time no see!”; this is how you say it in Chinese. Use it when you run into someone you haven’t seen for a while, or in my case, use it to joke around with your lazy students who don’t often come to class.<\/p>\n