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18
votes
8 answers
Why is 两 used for quantities of two rather than 二?
I understand that 两 is used instead of 二 when dealing with quantities of two. However, my question is - why? What are the historical reasons behind this?
I looked at Wikitionary but it only had historical information for when 两 is used to mean the…
Jimmy S
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Learning how to use measure / count words properly
Chinese has measure (or count) words like “个” (一个人), “部” (三部车), etc.
These always get me confused, and there way too many of them. Are there any general rules that can help me memorize them?
Also, I've been told it's generally acceptable to use the…
Orion
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18
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Why 纹 is the wrong character to write for tattoo?
I've only ever known tattoo (wénshēn) to be written as 纹身.
I was reading an article from 凤凰财经 yesterday called 猪躺着也能挣：一张纹身猪皮值百万.
What struck me, though, were all the comments on the article saying things…
Mou某
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17
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家: why is a home a place for pigs?
The character 家 is a bit of a joke: it describes a dwelling (宀) for pigs (豕). Why is this strange construction used? Were pigs somehow important for homes in the past?
说文解字 describes 家 as 从宀，豭省聲 - that is, it uses 豭 (jiā) as phonetic. But then this…
congusbongus
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17
votes
4 answers
Does 多 always come after the measure word？
I've realized that I still don't fully understand the placement of "多“ a relatively common word. Can you never place 多 before a measure word?
A friend recently corrected my "四多快美金“ into 四块多美金” but does that apply for all measure word
比如， 三十多条蛇…
Stephen
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17
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What are the rules in Chinese for adjective order when multiple adjectives describe a noun
See https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/1155/what-is-the-rule-for-adjective-order for the equivalent question in English. I didn't find any discussion online of the order for multiple Chinese adjectives.
Searching for people asking the…
Simon D
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6 answers
What is the difference between 绿 and 青?
What is the difference between 绿 and 青? Do they refer to different shades of green? I know 青 can be used in many more contexts; it can be used to mean 'young' or 'immature'. I find it boggling how 青 can mean blue too. Do the Chinese differentiate…
user2246
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5 answers
How many characters do Chinese pupils know at different ages?
I'm looking for data that would let me estimate how much written language young Chinese at different ages know, in terms of number of characters they can read/write.
Examples of materials that would help answer this question:
lists of characters…
米好 '-'
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Sheep or goat? 一只羊跑过来
In the sentence:
一只羊跑过来
Would a Chinese person typically assume this is a goat or a sheep?
going
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17
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4 answers
When are "《" and " 》" and other brackets used?
In some texts, I have seen the following brackets:
Caret brackets: 《, 》, 〈, and 〉.
Square brackets: 【, 】, 〖, and 〗.
C-brackets: 〔 and 〕.
L-brackets: 「, 」, 『, and 』.
Some questions:
What are the Chinese names of these brackets?
What are the…
Village
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17
votes
8 answers
How to improve my Chinese handwriting?
When someone has grasped the basic concepts of writing Chinese, there comes a point where handwriting starts to look plain or mechanical. From what I have seen, the lines look very straight and like someone who has just copied directly from a…
going
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17
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6 answers
Why isn't 到 (dào) used in 某天我去北京?
Earlier while chatting, I wrote a sentence and a native speaker told me it was correct. The sentence was:
某天我去北京。= Someday I'll go to Beijing.
(mǒu tiān wǒ qù Běi jīng)
I noticed that no prepositions are used here. It's probably because I'm still…
Alenanno
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17
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7 answers
Is 下个星期三 (xiàge xīngqīsān) = "next Wednesday" ambiguous like in English?
In English, we tend to avoid saying "next Wednesday", etc., because it's ambiguous. It humorously arises in a Seinfeld quote:
Sid: No, next Wednesday, [the] week after this Wednesday.
Jerry: But the Wednesday two days from now is the next…
Becky 李蓓
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17
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2 answers
Difference between 许多 and 很多
What's the difference between 许多 and 很多?
For example, in this sentence I found on Jukuu both terms are used:
After years of teaching, I have many memories to dwell on in idle moments.
过了许多年的教学生涯，我空闲时缅怀的往事很多。
Are both terms interchangeable? One is…
dusan
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votes
3 answers
Why do Chinese translations of English names sound very inaccurate?
I have noticed that most Chinese translation of English names sounds really inaccurate and weird.
For example, the common translation of person's name "Robert Wilson" is "罗伯特·威尔逊", which is not similar to the English pronunciation at all, "若波特·维欧森"…
Howard
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