Everyday Chinese: Lesson 31 Introduction to the Characteristics of Chinese
作者：
来源：中国国际广播电台
2013-10-26 06:00:00.000
Dialogues
2. 鸡，级，几，寄1. 妈，麻，马，骂
mā, má, mǎ, mà
jī, jí, jǐ, jì
拼音的四个声调
Four tones in the pinyin system
Now over to the pinyin part, there are four tones in the pinyin system: the 1st tone, the 2nd tone, the falling-rising tone and the falling tone. That is to say, the same pinyin can give different voices according to the four tones, and different tones expressing different meanings. For example, 妈 (mā, mother), 麻(má, rough), 马 (mǎ, horse), 骂 (mà, criticize).
And we must point out that different tones indicate different meanings. For example, the first tone,妈(mā), which means mother. 马 (mǎ), third tone, which means horse.
Now over to the pinyin part, there are four tones in the pinyin system: the 1st tone, the 2nd tone, the falling-rising tone and the falling tone. That is to say, the same pinyin can give different voices according to the four tones, and different tones expressing different meanings. For example, 妈 (mā, mother), 麻(má, rough), 马 (mǎ, horse), 骂 (mà, criticize).
And we must point out that different tones indicate different meanings. For example, the first tone,妈(mā), which means mother. 马 (mǎ), third tone, which means horse.
3. 个，条，头，只
gè, tiáo, tóu, zhī
量词在名词的前面
Chinese nouns have classifiers in front of them.
Similar to head of cattle in English, where head is the classifier. But Chinese has many more of them. The most common one is 个 (gè).
We don’t say one person . We say one 个 person, or two个 people. 一个人 (yí gè rén), 两个人 (liǎng gè rén).
Another one is 条(tiáo), used as the classifier of long thin things. So we say one 条road, or avenue. 一条路 (yì tiáo lù), 两条路 (liǎng tiáo lù).
By the way, the classifier for cattle is the same as it is in English. 头 (tóu) means head. So we say, for example, three 头cattle, 三头牛 (sān tóu niú).
Similar to head of cattle in English, where head is the classifier. But Chinese has many more of them. The most common one is 个 (gè).
We don’t say one person . We say one 个 person, or two个 people. 一个人 (yí gè rén), 两个人 (liǎng gè rén).
Another one is 条(tiáo), used as the classifier of long thin things. So we say one 条road, or avenue. 一条路 (yì tiáo lù), 两条路 (liǎng tiáo lù).
By the way, the classifier for cattle is the same as it is in English. 头 (tóu) means head. So we say, for example, three 头cattle, 三头牛 (sān tóu niú).
4. 火车，汽车，电车，公共汽车，自行车
huǒchē, qìchē, diànchē, gōnggòng qìchē, zìxíngchē
复合词
Another feature of Putonghua is that we use a lot of compound words.
So what is one word in English might be two or even three or four words in Chinese. For example, fire vehicles, 火车 (huǒchē), is for a train. Guess what is a fire mountain, 火山 (huǒshān) is volcano. Fire chicken 火鸡 (huǒjī) is a turkey.
A couple more. Steam vehicle, 汽车(qìchē). Electric vehicle 电车 (diànchē) is trolleybus.
So what is one word in English might be two or even three or four words in Chinese. For example, fire vehicles, 火车 (huǒchē), is for a train. Guess what is a fire mountain, 火山 (huǒshān) is volcano. Fire chicken 火鸡 (huǒjī) is a turkey.
A couple more. Steam vehicle, 汽车(qìchē). Electric vehicle 电车 (diànchē) is trolleybus.