昏 (hūn) Origin: 甲骨文“昏”字像太阳落到了人的手臂的高度,表示“到了天暮的时候”,这就是字的本义。引申为“昏暗”、“糊涂”等义。
On oracle bones inscriptions, the character “昏” looked like the sun falling into a man’s arms. It meant “the time of sunset,” which then extended to “dim,” “confused,” and more.
Category: Chinese Grammar
Chinese grammar:Continuation with 还 “hai”
If you "still" need help on how to use "还" (hái), then this is the page for you.
Write 解(jiě)(separate) in Chinese character
解(jiě) Origin: 甲骨文的字形由“牛”、“角”和两只手组成,意思是用手解剖牛角,所以“解”的基本意思是“分开”、“打开”。
On ancient oracle bone inscriptions, “解” is made up of the characters representing a cow, ox horn and two hands, which together mean to dissect ox horns by hand . As such, the original meaning of “解” was to separate or unfold.
Write 队(duì)(line) in Chinese character
队(duì)
Origin: “队”是“坠”的本字,甲骨文的字形是一个孩子从土山上坠落下来的状况,现在“队”的意思主要是“行列”、“军队”。“队” is the original version of the character “坠.” On ancient oracle bone inscriptions, “队” looks likes a child falling down a hill. Now, it mainly means “row” or “military.”
Chinese grammar: Asking about degree with “duo”
In this article, we review how to ask about degree with "多"(duō), which is one of the many uses of this character.
Chinese grammar: Basic comparisons with “yiyang”
As well as with "比"and "没有", there is a third way to make basic comparisons: with "一样" (yīyàng).
Rather than expressing that two things differ regarding a particular quality, 一样 is used to express that two things are the same in some way.
Write 句 (jù)(sentence) in Chinese character
句 (jù)
Origin: “句”字由“口”和“丩”(“纠”的本字)组成。“口”的原意是方钉,“丩”像两根绳子纠结在一起。所以“句”的本意是“弯曲”。现在“句”多用来表示完整的话。The character “句” was composed of “口” and “丩” (the original version of “纠”). “口” used to mean nail, and “丩” looks like two intertwining ropes. Thus, the original meaning of “句” was “winding.” Now,it means a complete sentence.
Chinese grammar: “Both A and B” with 又”you”
The character "又" (yòu) can be used to attribute two qualities to something. This is like saying that something is "both … and … " in English.
Write 公 (gōng)(general) in Chinese character
公 (gōng)
Origin: 这个字的上部“八”是分的意思,下部的“口”表示所分的物品,用平分东西表示“公平”。
The upper of this character is “八”,which means to separate, and the lower part is “口”, which represents the goods being divided. Likewise, the word “公平” means to divide things equally.
Chinese grammar: “Not very” with 不太 “bu tai”
You may be familiar with using "太"(tài) to express "too" in the sense of "too expensive." There's a similar pattern in the negative, which just means "not very" or "not so" (literally "not too"). Note that this pattern does not normally use "了" (le).