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1500 questions
10
votes
3 answers
说服: shuìfú vs. shuōfú
I've been trying to find some sort of indication as to the differences between these two pronunciations for 说服: shuìfú vs. shuōfú.
I used to always read it: shuōfú, until I was corrected by a mainlander, who told me it should be shuìfú.
The only…
Mou某
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10
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6 answers
犬子: who's the dog?
犬子 (literally, dog + son) is an archaic, self-depreciatory term to refer to your son (occasionally it's used to insult other people's sons).
This answer raises a question though; who is the dog referred to in the word, the father or son? Both…
congusbongus
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10
votes
7 answers
Is it correct to say “在手机”？
Would it be correct to use the phrase "在手机”/“在手机上” etc. to express that I am doing something on my phone? For example, could I say
我听音乐在我的手机上。
Or can 在 only be used for my actual physical location? If so, how would I express this sort of thing?…
silviezcatz
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5 answers
Searching for characters by parts
Are there any online or computer dictionaries that allow searching for characters by any sub-part of the character? Occasionally it I see a character the parts of which I can already type. But I can't type the full character itself, and it's a lot…
Szabolcs
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3 answers
Is there any difference between 汤 and 羹?
Are 汤 and 羹 used to refer to different kinds of soup or is 羹 merely a part of the full word for soup (汤羹)? For example, is one used to refer to light soups while the other is reserved for heavy broths?
Bjorn
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votes
4 answers
Is 帮忙 and 帮助 interchangeable?
I looked up in the dictionary, 帮 means help, and 忙 means busy while 助 also means help, so is 帮忙 (help busy) and 帮助(help help) interchangeable? Or what is the subtle difference between them? Thanks!
Chinese.Tutor.Frank
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votes
5 answers
When to use "们"
In Chinese, using "们" after a noun is, in some sense, equivalent to adding an "s" after an English word. Yet I find the rules in Chinese of using 们 to be very puzzling; I am a native speaker yet I couldn't figure this out when a good friend of mine…
jiehanzheng
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votes
2 answers
10
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3 answers
What's the pronunciation of 不在乎
All the dictionaries I've checked say
bu4 zai4 hu5
but should it actually be
bu2 zai4 hu5
I get different answers searching for 不对， some dictionaries say bu4dui4 others bu2dui4, but as far as this phrase goes they all say bu4 zai4 hu, so is…
Samuel Parsonage
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10
votes
1 answer
What is the difference between 傻瓜 and 笨蛋?
May sound like a silly question, but is there a difference between 傻瓜 and 笨蛋?
user4356
10
votes
9 answers
Chinese equivalent of "I can honestly say..."
Is there a Chinese equivalent of "I can honestly say".
It's a rather colloquial expression, and I was wondering if there were something equivalent in Chinese to convey the same earnestness of the expression, "I can honestly say..."
I can honestly…
Samuel Parsonage
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10
votes
3 answers
Use of 以 in 臣以弑君、可謂仁呼
I'm not sure what this sentence means. My dictionary lists 以 as having an adverb-like function of indicating purpose or result so my best guess in translation would be "A vassal intending to kill/having killed his lord, can this be called 仁?"
Is…
HAL
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10
votes
4 answers
Origin of beautiful kingdom and hero kingdom
Why in Mandarin chinese, USA is beautiful kingdom and England is hero kingdom?
Pooya
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10
votes
1 answer
Is there a tone sandhi rule that "4 3" changes to "4 0"?
This is a followup to my earlier question about the tones in the word "豆腐":
On their own "豆" and "腐" have the tones 4 and 3: dòu, fǔ
As a two-syllable / two-character word, "豆腐" has tone 4 but "fu" has tone 0 / tone 5 / neutral tone: dòufu. At least…
hippietrail
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10
votes
5 answers
"不客气" (bù kèqì) vs "谢谢你" (xièxiè nǐ)
At home in Australia my neighbouring shop owners are from Shanghai and taught me some Chinese.
From them I learned two ways of responding to "谢谢" (xièxiè):
"不客气" (bù kèqì)
"谢谢你" (xièxiè nǐ)
So I guess these mean roughly "you're welcome", "don't…
hippietrail
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