{"id":4601,"date":"2019-11-20T17:27:51","date_gmt":"2019-11-20T17:27:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chinesemoment.com\/?p=4601"},"modified":"2019-11-20T17:27:51","modified_gmt":"2019-11-20T17:27:51","slug":"how-to-use-chinese-idiom-ban-xin-ban-yi-and-ban-tui-ban-jiu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinesemoment.com\/my\/how-to-use-chinese-idiom-ban-xin-ban-yi-and-ban-tui-ban-jiu\/","title":{"rendered":"How to use Chinese idiom \u534a\u4fe1\u534a\u7591 and \u534a\u63a8\u534a\u5c31?"},"content":{"rendered":"
Before we start, can we do a quick quiz first? In today’s world, if you get a piece of im<\/em>portant information from a stranger, what is your thought on the information? Believe it completely? Or don’t believe a single word of it? Or half-believe and half-doubt?<\/p>\n

I believe most of you would choose the last one. So you want to tell your Chinese friend a<\/em>bout a breaking news you overheard from a homeless man on your way home. You want to say you’re dubious a<\/em>bout what you heard.<\/p>\n

Can you describe it in a co<\/em>ncise manner? Yes, you can, use Chinese idiom \u534a\u4fe1\u534a\u7591 (bàn xìn bàn yí). You can use it in the following sentence pattern:<\/p>\n

    w\u01d2 duì t\u0101 shu\u014d dehuà bànxìnbànyí.<\/p>\n

    \u6211\u5bf9\u4ed6\u8bf4\u7684\u8bdd\u534a\u4fe1\u534a\u7591.<\/p>\n

    I’m dubious a<\/em>bout what he said.
    1. ban-xin-ban-yi <\/p>\n

Maybe you’ve notice the appearance of two “\u534a (bàn)” in the idiom. While you’re learning this idiom, it’s a good opportunity to introduce another “half half” idiom – \u534a\u63a8\u534a\u5c31 (bàn tu\u012b bàn jiù).<\/p>\n

\u63a8 (tu\u012b) means “decline”, \u5c31 (jiù) means “compromise”. \u534a\u63a8\u534a\u5c31 (bàn tu\u012b bàn jiù) means “half-decline, half-accept”. It is actually a very “Chinese” word. I can’t find an equivalent word in English. It means to accept other people’s offer or wooing in a hidden way. A person that seemingly to decline, yet deep down wants to accept. Why this person would do this? To pretend he\/she is decent or noble enough to not to accept the offer or wooing.<\/p>\n

Phew! Hope I’ve made it easier for you to understand. Please don’t rely on google translater for this one! Google translator translates it into “half-hearted”, it’s just another joke.<\/p>\n

The following example might help you to better understand this idiom:<\/p>\n

    nà wèi j\u012bngl\u01d0 duì kèhù sòng de l\u01d0 bàn tu\u012b bàn jiù dì sh\u014du xià le.<\/p>\n

    \u90a3\u4f4d\u7ecf\u7406\u5bf9\u5ba2\u6237\u9001\u7684\u793c\u534a\u63a8\u534a\u5c31\u5730\u6536\u4e0b\u4e86.<\/p>\n

    The manager accepted the gift from the client after politely declined first.
    2. ban-tui-ban-jiu <\/p>\n

Got it? If not, feel free to leave your question in the comment area, I will answer you in 24 hours.<\/p>\n

Good night my friend, hope you had a wo<\/em>nderful day!<\/p>\n

See you next time!
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