When Chinese learners reach the intermediate or advanced stage, they encounter synonyms and have to navigate the nuances between them. Differentiating between these words is crucial to improving mastery of…
A huge bulk of the words in Chinese are compound words, consisting of two or more characters put together. Even if you’re already aware of the fact that Chinese characters…
A real question many Chinese learners will encounter early is how to express future events. In Chinese, we have a series of time words to address that: “将来”(jiānglái), “未来”(wèilái), “以后”(yǐhòu)…
Chinese Chengyu (成语, Chéngyǔ) plays an important role in Chinese culture. They are the collected wisdom from ancient Chinese people; and they contain deep insights into human life. Behind the…
You may have hit a wall in the study of Function words in Chinese. Maybe you have mastered Function words like “着”, “了”, “过”, but the next step is to…
What is a Chinese idiom/Chéngyǔ? Briefly speaking, Chengyu (成语, Chéngyǔ) are Chinese idioms that are normally made up of four Chinese characters. Chengyu are usually handed down from way back…
What are the differences between Chinese, Japanese, and Korean (collectively called CJK, for short)? Are Chinese characters (hànzì) the same as Japanese kanji and Korean hanja? You are not alone…
If you're learning Chinese, you might have come across two words that both mean "always": "总是(zǒngshì)" and "一直(yīzhí)". While these two words share a similar meaning, they are not interchangeable…
Chances are, students who have been studying Mandarin Chinese will not find the following words/phrases in regular books. You might encounter these words when watching Chinese TV series or the…