春联 (Chūnlián) – Chinese New Year Couplets

春联 (chūnlián) are traditional Chinese New Year couplets. They are usually written on red paper and placed around doors during Chinese New Year.

春 [chūn] → spring

联 [lián] → couplet

The sentences usually express good wishes for the new year, such as happiness, good luck, health, and prosperity.

New HSK 3 Lesson 1 Grammar 3 Multiple Attributives

In Chinese, we can use several words or phrases to describe the same noun. Remember: Descriptions come before the noun.

TIME/LOCATION → ACTION/STATE → DESCRIPTION → NOUN

漂亮的女孩

piàoliang de nǚhái

a pretty girl / una chica guapa

穿红衣服的女孩

chuān hóng yīfu de nǚhái

the girl wearing red clothes / la chica que lleva ropa roja

 

昨天穿红衣服的漂亮女孩

zuótiān chuān hóng yīfu de piàoliang nǚhái

the pretty girl who wore red clothes yesterday / 

la chica guapa que ayer llevaba ropa roja

New HSK 2 Lesson 1 Grammar 3 Pivotal Sentences

Sometimes, we use 请 [qǐng], 让 [ràng], or 叫 [jiào] to ask or tell someone to do something.

Subject 1+ 请 / 让 / 叫 + Subject 2 + Verb

我请他吃饭。

Wǒ qǐng tā chī fàn.

I invite him to have a meal.

Yo le invito a comer.

New HSK 2 Lesson 1 Grammar 2 是...的 [shì...de] Sentence

The “是……的” pattern helps us give extra information about something that happened. We can use it to say when, where, how, who, or why something happened. In positive and question sentences, we can sometimes leave out 是. But in negative sentences, we must use 是.

PAGE 5 EXAMPLES

1. 我们是来旅游的。

    Wǒmen shì lái lǚyóu de.

    We came here to travel. / Hemos venido a hacer turismo.

2. 苹果在哪儿买的？

    Píngguǒ zài nǎr mǎi de?

    Where did you buy the apples? / ¿Dónde compraste las manzanas?

3. 我们不是坐出租车去的。

    Wǒmen bú shì zuò chūzūchē qù de.

    We didn't go by taxi. / No fuimos en taxi. 

 

New HSK 2 Lesson 1 Grammar 1 Modal Particle 吧 [ba] (2)

吧 [ba] goes at the end of a sentence in a question when we are not 100% sure and we are making a guess or an estimation. 

"..., right?"

"..., isn't it?"

"I guess..., correct?"

New HSK 1 Lesson 4 Grammar 4 Measure Words

We use measure words when counting people or things in Chinese.

Usamos palabras de medida para contar personas o cosas en chino.

四口  sì kǒu  four people (in a family) / cuatro personas (en una familia)

四口人 sì kǒu rén  a family of four people / una familia de cuatro personas

两个 liǎng gè  two (general measure word) / dos

两个学生  liǎng gè xuésheng   two students / dos estudiantes

New HSK 3 Lesson 1 Review Activity

以为 [ yǐwéi ]	像 [ xiàng ]
长 [ zhǎng ]	身高 [ shēngāo ]
米 [ mǐ ]	瘦 [ shòu ]
接 [ jiē ]	行李 [ xíngli ]
丢 [ diū ]	箱子 [ xiāngzi ]
号码 [ hàomǎ ]	好像 [ hǎoxiàng ]
重要 [ zhòngyào ]	着急 [ zháojí ]
护照 [ hùzhào ]	服务台 [ fúwùtái ]
应该 [ yīnggāi ]	站 [ zhàn ]
中间 [ zhōngjiān ]	短 [ duǎn ]
头发 [ tóufa ]	年轻 [ niánqīng ]
发现 [ fāxiàn ]	不见 [ bújiàn ]
带 [ dài ]	帮助 [ bāngzhù ]
照片 [ zhàopiàn ]

New HSK 3 Lesson 3 Grammar 1 看上去 / 看起来

看上去 / 看起来 describe the appearance or condition of a person or an object.

Interrogative pronouns in Chinese

 

什么 [shénme]  what  qué

谁 [shéi]  who  quién

哪儿 [nǎr]   where  dónde

哪里 [nǎlǐ]  where  dónde

哪(一)个 [nǎ (yí) ge]  which  cuál

什么时候 [shénme shíhou]  when  cuándo

怎么 [zěnme]  how  cómo

怎么样 [zěnmeyàng]  how about it  qué tal

为什么 [wèishénme]  why  por qué

New HSK 1 吗 [ma]

吗 [ma] is placed at the end of a sentence to turn it into a Yes/No question. 

Subject + Verb + Object + 吗？

Se coloca 吗 [ma] al final de una oración para convertirla en una pregunta de Sí/No.

Sujeto + Verbo + Objeto + 吗？

New HSK 1 是 [shì] / Verbo 是 [shì]

他是医生

Tā shì yīshēng. 

He is a doctor.

Él es médico.

HSK Review Activities

HSK 1

· Lesson 1
· Lesson 2

· Lesson 3

· Lesson 4

· Lessons 1-4

· Lesson 5

New HSK 1 的 [ de ] possessive / Posesivo con 的 [ de ]

的 [ de ]

我的书。
Wǒ de shū.
My book(s).
Mi(s) libro(s).

四是四，十是十 — The “S” vs. “Sh” Tongue Twister

四是四，十是十，十四是十四，四十是四十。

Sì shì sì, shí shì shí, shísì shì shísì, sìshí shì sìshí.

Chinese 绕口令 (rào kǒu lìng) / Trabalenguas en chino

Qī jiā yī, zài jiǎn yī, jiāwán jiǎnwán děngyú jǐ? Jiāwán jiǎnwán hái shì qī.

七加一，再减一，加完减完等于几？加完减完还是七。

New HSK 1 Lesson 2 Grammar 1 Basic Word Order in Chinese

Simple sentences in Chinese are very straight-forward. The order is:
Las oraciones simples en chino son muy sencillas. El orden es:

Subject + Verb + Object

Sujeto + Verbo + Objeto

Ma Tongue Twister Chinese / Trabalenguas chino "Ma"

妈种麻，我放马。马吃麻，妈骂马。

Mā zhòng má, wǒ fàng mǎ. Mǎ chī má, mā mà mǎ.

Chinese expression 光说不练 [ guāng shuō bú liàn ]

 

光说不练

guāng shuō bú liàn

Literally: “only talk, don't practise”.  

Literalmente: "sólo hablar, no practicar".  

It is often used to criticize someone who makes promises, gives advice, or talks about their abilities without doing anything.

La expresión critica precisamente la falta de acción después de hablar.

HSK 1 Chinese Official Papers Test H11552

往 [wǎng] towards / hacia

往 [wǎng]

toward(s), in the direction of

hacia, en dirección a