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5 Phrases To Up Your Chinese Game

Laugh and Learn

Lexi Gilman
Sep 02, 2016
University of Hawaii at Manoa
286
5 Phrases To Up Your Chinese Game
Asia Society

Interested in upping your Chinese game - or getting it started to begin with? Great! Here are some phrases I love to use after living in China for a few years . . .and then naively choosing Chinese as my major, thinking it would be a "mei wen ti" four years of college. Oh, you don't know what that means? Well, let me tell you:

1. 麻烦 Mafan

Literally one of the best words of all languages and all time. Mafan, pronounced MAH-fawn, means troublesome or inconvenient. If something is too complicated and annoying and SO irking, then it's mafan.


2. 茄子 Qiezi

CHEE EH ZUH

Qiezi means eggplant. Why exactly would you want to know how to say eggplant? Glad you asked! You know how you say "Cheese!" to get a smile from those random people who asked you to take a picture of them? Well qiezi is the cheese of China. So next time your Chinese friend asks you to take a picture of them, call out, "Qiezi!" and you'll get a great smile.


3. 马马虎虎 Ma Ma Hu Hu

MAH MAH who who

Literally translated, "horse horse tiger tiger." Another very useful and great Chinese phrase. The English meaning would be "so-so, not bad, passable." Like when you procrastinated the entire week and THEN decided around 3:00 am to start your essay that's due the next day at 9:00 am? Yeah, that essay was probably a horse horse tiger tiger essay.


4. 你吃饭了吗？Ni Chi Fan Le Ma?

knee CHIR fawn LUH MAH

It's a bit of a long one, but it's a bit like the initial greeting in English, "How are you?" except that the literal translation is, "Have you eaten yet?" Yes, every time I arrived at work in China and was locking up my bike, my co-worker, my boss, and the shop owner next door would start with, "Have you eaten yet?!" I learned quickly to say "yes" regardless or I found myself stuffed within the next 15 minutes.


5. 真的吗？Zhen de ma?

JUN DUH MA

When in doubt, "really?!" is a great way to get your way through any conversation.

Someone: "My name is this and I'm from there"
Me: "Really?!"
Someone Else: "I've lived here a few months and I'm studying such and such."
Me: "Really??!"
Someone Else: 你听懂我吗？
Me: Zhen de ma?!


Now you're ready to impress with these five "mei wen ti" or no problem phrases next time you get to practice your Chinese.


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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
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