Category Archives: Featured Topics
Verb-Object Collocations in Chinese
Both students of Chinese and English alike have probably heard of the term “collocation” (固定搭配), the idea that certain words are more commonly used together than others. What we’re essentially talking about is a relatively “fixed” combination of two or more words. It does not seem terribly difficult to come up with collocations in English. […]
25 Common Abbreviations in Mandarin
I’ve had a number of readers ask me when I’ll be updating Parts 3 and 4 of the Top 100 Chinese Words feature. They’re currently a work in progress; I hope this list of common Mandarin abbreviations can tie you over in the meantime. If you can think of any good ones to add let […]
Carl’s Top 100 Chinese Words – Part 2
Words chosen in this post 26. 搭讪 dāshàn, 27. 走光 zǒuguāng, 28. 默认 mòrèn, 29. 领情 lǐngqíng, 30. 碰头 pèngtóu, 31. 坦率 tǎnshuài, 32. 打量 dǎliang, 33. 拜托 bàituō, 34. 发福 fāfú, 35. 山寨 shānzhài, 36. 靠谱 kàopǔ, 37. 郁闷 yùmèn, 38. 有种 yǒuzhǒng, 39. 臭美 chòuměi, 40. 无奈 wúnài, 41. 陶醉 táozuì, 42. 陪衬 […]
Carl’s Top 100 Chinese Words – Part 1
Here is Part 1 of 100 absolutely fascinating words in Chinese that you really should know. These are quintessential Mandarin words – so quintessential that if you don’t happen to know them I’d say you’re really missing out! I’d say all of these are quite common both in speaking and writing – they’re also highly […]
My 30 Favourite English Words
A random selection here of words I’m really fond of in English. I will write up a Chinese list later. My 30 Favourite English Words In no particular order. 1. cliché [陈词滥调] ORIGIN mid 19th cent.: French, past participle (used as a noun) of clicher ‘to stereotype.’ 2. irony [no exact Chinese equivalent exists […]
Most Common 同音词 (Word-Homophones) in Mandarin
The following is a list I’ve compiled of the most common word-homophones* in Chinese. This may be useful for your general study, since there are so many homophones in Mandarin. *I say “word-homophones” deliberately, since I’m referring specifically to 同音词 (homophones made up of multi-character words), not 同音字 (“character-homophones”, when two characters have the same […]
The Challenges of Protecting the Environment: An English-Chinese Practice Passage
The following is an original text written by me about environmental issues. It can be used as a consecutive interpreting practice, or as study material for IELTS writing or NAATI interpreting training. Enjoy! The Challenges of Protecting the Environment 环境保护的挑战 Carl Gene Fordham 傅君恺 Firstly, it must be said that tackling environmental issues should […]
A Detailed Guide to One-Character Verbs in Mandarin
The following is a comprehensive outline of 90 per cent of the advanced one-character verbs you’ll encounter in written and spoken Mandarin. Criteria for inclusion: 1. The verb must be able to function by itself as one-character or with a complement. Compounds will not be included. 2. The verb must either have both an original […]
12 Basic Cohesive Devices in Formal English Writing (with Chinese translation)
I wrote this blog entry mainly for my Chinese students who have trouble with some basic cohesive devices in English – e.g. firstly/at first, lastly/at last, finally/ultimately, etc. However the word and sentence translations here I’m sure will also be helpful for Chinese learners. This is not supposed to be a comprehensive list of formal […]
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