Tag Archives: colloquial

Top 11 Mandarin Speech Particles

Criteria: common enough to be known by most native speakers, but special enough to only be used in specific situations. 1. 哼 hēng – “humph!” – cute, feminine, expresses disagreement in a pouting (撒娇) tone – 哼,有什么了不起!— Humph! What’s so special about that? 2. 咳哟 hāiyō – “heave-ho!”* – 咳哟,这货物怎么这么沉呢?— Heave-ho! How can these goods […]