The Chinese Way to Use ‘make’
When I learned English, ‘make’ was a verb, which always confused me. For me, there are too many meanings of ‘make’ and some of them are quite different in Chinese.…
Basic Verbs that are Different in Chinese and English
When I learned English, I always made some mistakes which known as ‘Chinglish’ where I would use English in a Chinese way. Now as a Chinese teacher, I know the…
How to Make Our Communication in Chinese Better? – Annoying ‘好吧’
As a Chinese teacher, I always enjoy teaching Chinese in my class with the standard curriculum. However, I also notice there are multitudes of small pieces of information which wouldn't…
How To Use The Structural Particle “地” In Chinese Grammar
The Structural Particle 地 contains 土 (tǔ) and 也 (yě) and acts like the -ly suffix in English. It changes adjectives into adverbs by going at the end of them.…
Come Again? Mastering repetition in Chinese with 又, 再, and 还
Have you ever struggled to understand the difference between the Chinese adverbs 又(yòu), 再(zài), and 还(hái), all of which can be translated into English as "again"? It's easy to get…
A Beginner’s Guide to Asking Questions in Chinese: Particles and Sentence Patterns
Asking questions in Chinese is not only a vital component of language learning but also a fundamental skill for effective communication. Mandarin, being a tonal language, requires more than simply…
Expressing Location and Existence in Chinese: Using 在, 有 and 是
When describing the position of an object or person in a sentence, Mandarin Chinese commonly uses three verbs: 在(zài), 是(shì), and 有(yǒu). These verbs convey different nuances and can be…
The Common Chinese Homonyms in Daily Life
“Do you believe my tears can tear up the world?" As a native English speaker, you may not notice anything strange about this sentence. However, for an English learner, it…
The Usage of Chinese Location Words
Direction word such as 东/西/南/北/前/后 /左/右/上/下/里/外 are often used in conjunction with suffixes such as 边/面. Together they form a location word (place word). For example: Direction word such as…