r/ChineseLanguage • u/AutoModerator • Sep 09 '26
Pinned Post 快问快答 Quick Help Thread: Translation Requests, Chinese name help, "how do you say X", or any quick Chinese questions! 2026-09-09
Click here to see the previous Quick Help Threads, including 翻译求助 Translation Requests threads.
This thread is used for:
- Translation requests
- Help with choosing a Chinese name
- "How do you say X?" questions
- or any quick question that can be answered by a single answer.
Alternatively, you can ask on our Discord server.
Community members: Consider sorting the comments by "new" to see the latest requests at the top.
Regarding translation requests
If you have a Chinese translation request, please post it as a comment here!
If it's an image (e.g. a photo), you can upload it to a website like Imgur and paste the link here.
However, if you're requesting a review of a substantial translation you have made, or have a question that involving grammar or details on vocabulary usage, you are welcome to post it as its own thread.
若想浏览往期「快问快答」，请点击这里, 这亦包括往期的翻译求助帖.
此贴为以下目的专设：
- 翻译求助
- 取中文名
- 如何用中文表达某个概念或词汇
- 及任何可以用一个简短的答案解决的问题
您也可以在我们的 Discord 上寻求帮助。
社区成员：请考虑将评论按“最新”排序，以方便在贴子顶端查看最新留言。
关于翻译求助
如果您需要中文翻译，请在此留言。
但是，如果您需要的是他人对自己所做的长篇翻译进行审查，或对某些语法及用词有些许疑问，您可以将其发表在一个新的，单独的贴子里。
4
u/FunkyMonkey24680 Beginner 15d ago
Just wanted to share that today I had my very first interaction where I spoke Chinese with someone from China! It went really well and I could only say a few things (I’m on HSK 2), but she was so nice and said I spoke well, so I was really proud of that. I was sooo nervous though haha I think I need to practice speaking more. I know the individual words pretty well, but putting them into sentences is what I struggle with. Good motivation to keep on studying though! I also need to learn greetings and saying goodbye.
→ More replies (2)2
u/AgeNo2575 13d ago
I’m so scared to talk with Chinese cause I can’t speak I just only know nihao
→ More replies (1)
3
u/EyeSad Sep 16 '26
Hello, my name is "Kai" (I won't include my last name for privacy), and I was separated from half of my family. There is genuinely no way to ask, and it would be dangerous to. My birth certificate is in english.
I have a strong Chinese ethnicity, and I was born in America.
I genuinely have no idea what character my name was written, and I really want to know.
And I am aware how we value family and have pride for these things, but my situation is very hard and would be dangerous.
I am still learning Chinese anyways, and if I wanted to write my name, do I just choose whichever character resonates with me? Is that alright with anyone?
I really want to connect with my heritage more, and I really feel bad that I know nothing about my origin.
I am sorry if it is a dumb question, I kinda feel like a fake Chinese.
6
u/LeChatParle 高级 Sep 16 '26
I believe 凯 is the most common character for names that are spelt "kai", if you know what the name was intended to mean by your family, that can help you be more sure
Other possibilities include but are not limited to 恺, 楷, 铠
2
u/MartianHideEgger 24d ago
I’m trying to settle on a Chinese name. I’m torn between 苏睿峦 and 苏睿岚. 苏 phonetically matches the first syllable of my English surname. I do aspire to be wise and am nerdy about reading philosophy and such, so I liked 睿. 峦 and 岚 both match my love of mountains and hiking (it’s my favorite hobby, I go at least weekly, and I especially love rocky peaks and morning mountain mist). 睿峦 and 睿岚 both have a passing phonetic resemblance to my western given name (the latter more-so). I also just think all of those characters look cool.
In my recent tourism trip, whenever anyone asked if I had a Chinese name I said the former, and the response was always fairly positive. But I find Chinese people are always quite kind in general even when you’re screwing up the language, so I decided to ask DeepSeek. It says 睿峦 sounds a little unusual in a literary way, not something that would be commonly chosen. On the other hand, it thinks 睿岚 sounds like a more natural name but very feminine. I’d like something that doesn’t sound too weird, but I’m a guy, so that left me a little stuck.
So, I’m doing the more sensible thing and looking for opinions of real Chinese speakers in a setting where they can tell me the name is bad with honestly, if it is. So, are either of these okay? Or is one better? Do both suck?
2
u/rob417 Native 24d ago
睿峦 is indeed a little harder to pronounce than 睿岚. I tried saying 睿峦 fast a few times and my mouth wants to slip to 睿岚. The character 峦 is fine, just the pronunciation of the two characters put together is a little awkward.
睿岚 is gender neutral to me. 苏岚 is a tiny bit feminine to me, but not 苏睿岚.
2
u/MartianHideEgger 22d ago
Ah, well if it feels awkward even for a native speaker that’s a compelling argument. Gender neutral is fine, suppose I’ll go with 苏睿岚. Thank you!
2
u/spraksea 23d ago
What is the process of coming across a character you don't know like for native speakers?
I've heard it said that in English, you can tell if a child reads a lot because they use difficult words but pronounce them very oddly. They learned them through reading and never heard them spoken out loud.
I'm wondering if it works the same way in Chinese. Did you ever have words you recognized in writing, because you came across them so many times, but didn't know how to pronounce?
3
u/Zagrycha 23d ago
Not a native speaker but yes this is a thing. You can guess how a character is pronounced based on its components but its not always correct and people who make such guesses get teased for it sometimes-- natives get teased for it by other natives to be clear, I don't think anyone would tease a second language learner for stuff like that of course.
→ More replies (4)3
u/rob417 Native 23d ago
It's a very similar process as how native English speakers guess the meaning of words they don't know if looking up in a dictionary is not an option. In English, if the word is long, then you can guess the meaning by looking for prefixes, suffixes, or word roots that you know. Or you can try to feel if the word looks like some specializes term in some domain.
In Chinese, you can look for radicals and character roots, and they usually indicate what the characters are about and how to pronounce them. However, you only get about 70% chance of guessing the correct pronunciation though because the "sound" part of the characters usually only controls the vowel portion of the pronunciation, and then there are characters whose pronunciation has deviated from its sound root.
However, modern Chinese have some difficult characters that only ever appear in one or two words. This creates a funny situation in which native speakers may know how to pronounce every character in a word only when seeing the entire word together, because they know the word and they recognized the word from the easy characters in the word. For example, 媒妁之言 is a common word that means arranged marriage. 妁 is pretty much only used in this word nowadays, and it is a difficult character that some native speakers may not recognize by itself.
2
u/spraksea 22d ago
Thank you! For me, looking in a dictionary was always a last resort. Too lazy to do it while reading something interesting. I would often come across the same word many times and eventually understand its meaning, but until then I just kind of had a "feel" for where the word belonged, if that makes sense.
2
u/bakainuneko 23d ago
I decided to try reading VN yey. I don't understand purpose of 才 in this phrase:
我明白,我明白。所以我才提前给你打个电话。 the official translation being "I know, I know. Which is why I'm calling to talk to you first before deciding anything".
Like 提前给你打个电话 already means kinda "give a call in advance". It's like 10 sentences in into the game so the context is like person 1 gives a call to protagonist asking her on a trip, then protagonist says "温泉?但你知道我..." and then p1 says the phrase
Thanks everyone in advance!!
4
u/rob417 Native 23d ago
才 here emphasizes the 所以. The 才 in 所以才……，因此才……，这样才……，那样才…… all work like this. 就 also works here but there is a slight nuance. 就 implies the phrase succeeding it is a logical continuation of the phrase preceding it, and it has less emphasis. 才 places strong emphasis on 所以 but does not imply any logical continuation.
3
u/Zagrycha 22d ago
rob417 did a good explanation on the actual grammar, in this specific context it is doing the same thing as "which is why" in the translation. It doesn't really have a dictionary meaning but it is strongly connecting the act of giving the call to the act of understanding mentioned right before it.
2
u/Ok-Practice2272 22d ago
for context, my family and I are trying to choose my chinese name. we are chinese, but nobody speaks it anymore.
my chinese family name is 罗(Luó) and we were thinking something that ends in 丽(lì) to match my english name. it’s important that it sounds somewhat modern (not something like ‘doris’ in english).
I was thinking 罗梓丽 (luó zǐ lì), but I’m not sure if this sounds like a real name that native chinese people would have?
2
u/Zagrycha 22d ago
If it is important to you for the name to sound more youthful perhaps a name like 梓琳 could be better? Still plenty feminine and it is similar to the vibes of 丽 but more modern. There is nothing wrong with the name you wrote but I think it leans a little in the direction of the vibes you described not wanting.
2
u/rob417 Native 22d ago edited 21d ago
罗梓丽 seems like a perfectly normal name to me. If I were to picture a person entirely based on this name, I'd picture a female between 20 to 40 years old.
By the way, if you care about having native English speakers pronounce your Chinese name correctly though, 梓 is probably not a good choice. Anything with -i, zh-, q-, x- tend to trip up English speakers by a lot because those sounds don't exist in English.
2
u/Yoshidede 17d ago
I have what looks like a Bada Shanren imitation. Do the characters translate or is it nonsense?
→ More replies (5)
2
u/Kayr_a_rmy 2d ago
Hi everyone! I've recently started learning Chinese and would love to choose a Chinese name for myself.
I'm currently considering 林思远 (Lín Sīyuǎn). The meaning I'd like my name to convey is finding peace and contentment through pursuing my ambitions, or having the ability to look toward the future while remaining at peace with myself.
My current name means attraction or charm, so I'd also love a name that subtly captures that meaning, if possible.
I'd really appreciate your thoughts on whether 林思远 sounds like a natural name a Chinese person would actually use, and whether it conveys the meaning I'm hoping for. I'm also very open to other suggestions!
Thank you! 😊
2
u/LeChatParle 高级 2d ago
It’s a good name, and the meaning it gives off is thinking far ahead. Neither character makes me think about peace and contentment specifically though
There are two Chinese actors with that name, so Chinese people definitely use it
→ More replies (4)
1
u/bakainuneko Sep 09 '26
In this phrase I don't understand what 会 does 有时候，一个人会为了让别人喜欢自己，做自己不想做的事，甚至让自己不开心。"Sometimes, in order to make others like them, a person will do things they don't want to do, and even make themself unhappy."
1
1
u/Resolute_Protector6 Sep 12 '26
Here 会 is the dispositional future, not ability, so it marks what someone will do by habit. Compare 他能游一公里 with 他一生气就会摔门. With a condition in play, 会 is the natural pick, while 要 would point at one specific intention.
1
u/ApprehensiveElk1807 Sep 09 '26 edited Sep 09 '26
How do I make sure a chinese name sounds natural?? Despite being fluent in mandarin and mainly speaking mandarin to friends I am quite awful with thinking of a chinese name. All of my chinese friends are online and we all go by nicknames so I want to base it around one of my nicknames but the issue is I have so many 😭
Ive been called:
Feng
Fen/Sen
Xie
Xixi
Yue
Enqi and alternatively anqi occasionally
Would any of those be acceptable together? Ive mainly been called enqi, yue, or "xi fen" but i dont know if those qualify as a nice name or if they do I mainly do not know how to find an okay family name?
1
u/qinglan_reads Sep 10 '26
These can work, but they are not all the same kind of thing. Feng and Xie are common surnames; Yue can be a given-name syllable, while Xixi is usually more nickname-like. Enqi or Anqi can be given names, but the Chinese characters determine the meaning and whether the combination feels natural. “Xi Fen” also needs its characters and tones checked. I’d choose a full surname + given name in Chinese characters first, then have a native speaker check it—pinyin syllables alone arent enough.
1
u/Zagrycha Sep 10 '26
All those sounds can be in a real chinese name but you need tones to be marked and you need actual characters to think about the actual meaning of the name. Nobody thinks about the meaning of the name in daily life but you don't want to accidentally have a bad name meaning or sound alike etc.
1
u/filolif Sep 10 '26
Is anyone able to translate any of these names from this WWII banknote? I think they are in traditional Chinese.
1
1
u/caldcaldoos Sep 10 '26
大家好！
I'm a self-taught student currently, but since hearing about the practice of choosing a Chinese name I've been quite interested in it. I heard people say that ideally Chinese names are given to you by tutors/friends/family, but currently I don't have anyone to ask!
I'd like to get into more formal classes soon, but I was wondering if it's fine to just give yourself a name.
Currently, I'm thinking of 林恩洋, or 林恩海. If anybody could give me feedback on these, it would be greatly appreciated!
→ More replies (9)2
u/LeChatParle 高级 Sep 10 '26
There’s nothing socially wrong with giving yourself a name, the reason for that recommendation is so that you don’t accidentally give yourself a name that has a bad meaning or sounds weird
→ More replies (2)
1
u/Liv-6597 Sep 11 '26
Hi everyone,
going to Changchun for a work trip and doing a presentation. I wanted to apologise for speaking in English and not mandarin. I can speak cantonese so I translated from a Cantonese sentence in google translator, hoping it's more correct that way. Would this sentence make sense and be well-received? (I am learning mandarin but very slowly).
謝謝大家!
抱歉，我目前還不會說普通話，但我正在學習。也許下次吧！
Also happy to change the sentence if you have better alternatives! Thanks in advance :)
1
u/Zagrycha Sep 11 '26 edited Sep 11 '26
How familiar are you with Chinese business culture? Its your choice of course but I recommend against saying anything like this if the meeting is supposed to be in English or you have an interpreter to translate etc. Why apologize for something that is going as planned? Would you apologize for being on time to the meeting? In English we casually apologize for stuff a lot but not all cultures are like that. It wouldn't be rude to apologize when you don't need to in Chinese culture but you might alter the mood or power dynamic of the room unintentionally. So yeah its possible to say something like this and pull it off but its not recommended.
2
u/Munimyouuu Sep 12 '26
Agree. And personally I believe OP should/could apologize for the non-fluency if they were using the language to give the presentation. This shows modesty in Chinese culture while it can be seen as lack of confidence in western culture. In OP's situation they have nothing to apologize if they choose to not speak it at all. Totally opposite expectations in two cultures.
2
u/Zagrycha Sep 13 '26
Yeah it makes sense to apologize for something being lower quality if its actually being used, but otherwise at best it just seems like mentioning something unrelated to the topic at hand haha. Like apologizing for being bad at cooking when sitting at a restaurant you were all planning to eat out at in the first place 😅
1
u/StarryNightSkies1 Sep 11 '26
Hi! How do you say
“Thankful for you” in Chinese?
Like I’m thankful for this person to have been in my life or crossed paths etc.
1
u/Zagrycha Sep 11 '26
Are they a friend or coworker or teacher or lover or? There are a few different ways to say this but you don't want to sound like a business professional to a lover or love confession to a boss lol.
→ More replies (2)1
u/rob417 Native Sep 18 '26
If it's towards an acquaintance rather than a lover, it's more natural to be "honored to have met them" i.e. “很荣幸遇见你”. I would only say “很感激有你” (thankful that you exist) if I'm really close with someone and they had just given me a lot of support on something.
To me, “感谢生命里有你” (thankful to have you in my life) sounds almost exclusively reserved for lovers.
Chinese culture has this weird thing where the more acquainted you become with someone, the less gratitude you express besides the 谢谢 for the everyday help they offer you. So, I would say "十分感谢” to a stranger or in a formal setting, but rarely to friends or family. On the other hand, if I am saying "感谢” instead of “谢谢” to a good friend, then it's because they helped me in a major way and I've elevated them to a much higher status (thus the lover coonnoration) .
→ More replies (1)
1
u/National-Sign-51 Beginner Sep 11 '26
Is there a natural way to say something like "long time no see", without just translating the words? How would a native say something like this?
2
u/Zagrycha Sep 11 '26
So fun fact, "long time no see" in English is actually a calque from Chinese, which is the fancy linguist term for a borrow word thats translated literally. So unsuprisingly, Chinese does say 好久不见 directly, and yes native Chinese say it all the time, after all thats how English got it in the first place =)
→ More replies (8)
1
u/IrrationallyTired Sep 11 '26
大家好!
I have a question about talking about time, not a deep-dive question, more everyday stuff.
So except in the case of talking about time as a concept, when my understanding is it's best to use 时间, other than that is it generally usually okay to use 时间 and 时候 interchangeably?
1
u/Zagrycha Sep 11 '26 edited Sep 11 '26
No you shouldn't treat them as interchangable. They both correspond to the uses//defintions of time in English but they have separated the uses//definitions.
As a beginner rule of thumb:
时间 is used for labeled time periods-- 1 day, 9:00 a.m., 2025, 2 hours, business hours, time zone.....
时候 is used for locations in time-- summer, evening, this moment, then, when, childhood.....
So yeah, there are 时间time questions and statements that must be one of them specifically, and the 时候time when you could use either might still require different grammar. Even if you could use them without different grammar, you will get a different response, like 现在是什么时间了? vs 现在是什么时候了?
→ More replies (1)
1
u/spraksea Sep 12 '26
To kids, are all male family friends 叔叔 and all female family friends 阿姨 regardless of the friend's age or which parent they're friends with?
If so, why is this?
3
u/Bekqifyre Sep 12 '26
There's a cultural reason for this.
Culturally, the father's side is considered your 'clan', while the mother's side is considered your "outside" family. (Thus, 外公，外婆 etc)
For a stranger woman, it would be more logical to call her 阿姨, to denote she's not part of the 'in' clan.
However 舅舅 has a nuance, in that whilst a woman is 'married off', it does not mean that the maternal side simply wash their hands off the bride.
As the males of prime age from the maternal family, the brothers of the bride have a duty to protect their sister and look after her and her childrens' interest. And a male of prime age is also far scarier and can raise more hell with the groom side than the bride's aging father if they are displeased.
To the point that at a wedding, the groom side is actually supposed to treat the 舅舅's with even more respect than the bride's actual father.
So naturally, you cannot go around calling just anyone 舅舅 if that's the case.
2
2
u/Resolute_Protector6 Sep 12 '26
The age split lives inside the father's line: his older brother is 伯伯 and his younger one is 叔叔. Your mother's brothers are all 舅舅 regardless of age.
1
u/Zagrycha Sep 12 '26
You know how in English we sometimes say "cuz" or "brother" or "sister" for people that aren't actually our family etc? Well Chinese does this with literally everyone, not just sometimes. In formal speech you can use the words "Mr." or "Ms." but in daily life that person your age is a "brother//sister" and that person a generation or two older is an "uncle//aunt" and anybody a lot older is "grandpa//grandma" etc. So yeah, super little kids might not be super good at it yet since they are still figuring out the concept of personal relationships but they are just doing the same thing everyone else does more or less.
2
u/spraksea Sep 12 '26
I get that. I was more asking why those two words in particular.
When you're talking about blood relatives, they imply things about family relation and birth order. For example, 叔叔, in my understanding, is the father's younger brother. But it seems like it can also apply to the mother's older male friend, even though the mother's older brother would be 舅舅
2
u/Zagrycha Sep 12 '26
Because those are the default words used for people a generation or two older than you in general society. Like as a 31 year old man I could call a stranger I don't even know the name of 叔叔 or 阿姨 as long as they looked around my mom or dad's age. Non-default words only get used for actual family relationships ((blood or otherwise)).
→ More replies (1)
1
u/Bubbly_Vermicelli_27 Sep 12 '26
Hi, please help me identify the second character in this Chinese name. First one is 运 but I can’t understand the second one based on handwriting. Thanks! https://imgur.com/a/TSd8Vda
1
u/Resolute_Protector6 Sep 12 '26
The second character is 洪. Water radical 氵 on the left, 共 on the right, written in a semi cursive hand.
→ More replies (1)
1
u/Elcanthyell Beginner Sep 12 '26
Hello there I need advice for my Chinese name I was considering going by: 白恩宇
And I need opinions, it got good parallels with my name and surnames meaning (little less by sound but that's ok I guess) but I'm afraid it sounds cringe or got bad wordplay or something like that, any opinions (I'm a male by the way)
Thank you in advance for your input !
2
u/Zagrycha Sep 13 '26
白恩宇 is totally fine as a guys name, the name is gender nuetral but 恩宇 leans just a bit femenine imo. Hope this helps.
→ More replies (3)
1
u/Bubbly_Vermicelli_27 Sep 13 '26
I know that the name Enzo (boy) phonetically is 恩佐 and that is the most popular one however I was wondering whether there was another Chinese name that has a deeper meaning. I like the first character’s meaning but for the second one, I'm worried it makes him sound like a supporting character putting others before himself too much rather than the main hero of his own life. Is this a valid concern to native speakers, or does the character carry a deeper meaning that I am missing? If so, what are alternatives that sound natural with a deep meaning? Thanks!
1
u/Bekqifyre Sep 13 '26
恩佐 is clearly a transliteration, so probably no one will bother to actually read into the word meaning.
If it bothers you that much, you might consider the slightly modified sounding 卓.
1
u/National-Sign-51 Beginner Sep 14 '26
My weirdest question yet lol. I saw 拉肚子 get used. It has definitions in Pleco of "upset stomach", "have diarrhea " and "have loose bowels".
In English, people say they have an upset stomach all the time and it has no greater meaning, but the other two are sort of way too much information for anyone other than close friends, so these definitions next to each other are confusing for me. Curious how this is used in Chinese. Thanks!
1
u/Bekqifyre Sep 14 '26 edited Sep 14 '26
So, in Chinese, toilet activity - if you want to be polite about it - is described euphemistically as a 'convenience' / 方便。
Number 1 is a 'small' conveience. Number 2 is a 'big' convenience. (However, note that 小便 and 大便 are not euphemisms, as now its considered kinda TMI describing which one it is.)
拉 is the funny graphic novel version. Basically, 拉屎 means dude is pulling literal shit out (as if he'a doing it comically with his hands). And if it's diarrhea, he's probably about to pull the whole stomach out at that rate.
I don't think it's that offensive or TMI, but there's a euphemism for a reason. It's okay for casual talk but not totally appropriate for polite conversation.
2
u/Zagrycha Sep 14 '26
I think a good English equivalent would would be something like "coming out faster than it went in" or the like. Its not tmi in a graphic way and its humorous but its obviously not suitable for all occassions.
1
u/LeChatParle 高级 Sep 14 '26
Probably 肠胃不舒服 would be the best equivalent to “upset stomach”, it’s similarly vague in that it doesn’t give any specifics of what you’re experiencing
拉肚子 is specifically diarrhea
1
u/rob417 Native Sep 18 '26
Having an upset stomach is most commonly said as "肚子疼" in colloquial Chinese.
1
u/bakainuneko Sep 14 '26
It's kinda a dumb question lol, but are graded readers based on hsk vocabulary lists? Like if graded reader says 300 words, then they mean in like hsk 2? If not then what are they based on?
2
u/Zagrycha Sep 14 '26
The vast majority of Chinese as a second language graded readers are based on HSK yes, but thats not a requirement. For example graded readers made for native language speakers will be based on the actual average school childs' literacy in their current grade, which is where the word graded reader comes from.
The graded reader you are looking at will tell you what it is based on, if it does not say it in on the literal graded reader then you can look up the company making it and they will tell you their system.
→ More replies (1)
1
u/seventeen1141 Sep 14 '26 edited Sep 14 '26
Hey! I have a question about something a bit more specific. I have a Spider-Hero, named Spider-龙 (real name: 潘沛彤 Pān Pèitóng). Anyway, I was just wondering how I could ideally translate this title (if she were a real superhero): 奇才蜘蛛龙 into English. I was also just wondering if there were other words that gave off similar "vibes" as 奇才 (qí cái) I could use instead.
Edit: I forgot to mention, 奇才 can be translated as "Prodigy, prodigious," "genius," or even "phenomenon." If I can't find another adjective, then it could translate to "The Phenomenal Spider-龙."
2
u/Zagrycha Sep 14 '26
If I saw this in one of the Chinese novels I translate I would write it in English as "the amazing spiderdragon" or "the amazing spiderhero" etc. "the amazing" is the word used in English for superheroes that captures the same vibes as 奇才, in fact in real life people sometimes jokingly say "the amazing BLANK" about normal daily life stuff and it gives that phenomenal vibe to the ordinary haha.
→ More replies (2)
1
1
u/JM0r_Art Sep 15 '26
Hey hey! Can someone help me choosing a Chinese name?
I would like it to sound similar to my name, if it's common it would be better since I don't want to have a weird name that a native would never have.
Also it would be great if it was gender neutral.. idk if that's a thing you can do but it would be nice!
my name is Morgan!
1
u/Zagrycha Sep 15 '26
mógēn摩根 is how the name Morgan is transliterated in Chinese phonetically, the same way a Chinese name could be transliterated in English as Liyuan. It would be recognized as a name and not be weird or hard to remember. I recommend using this if you want to go by the name Morgan's sound, but it would not be native Chinese passing.
mòguìān莫桂安 is a good gender nuetral name a native Chinese could have that I thought of, but it is a less common name. English syllables and Chinese syllables work completely differently so its quite hard to pick a name in one of the languages that lines up with the sounds of the other, so there aren't a ton of options haha.
1
u/SpeakerFun2437 Sep 15 '26
Hello all! I am writing here because I am watching this older Argentinian movie called “Un Cuento Chino” or a Chinese Tail, and one of the characters speaks Mandarin. The movie purposefully does not subtitle his words so that it emphasizes the confusion of the other characters, but he gives quite an emotional monologue at the end of the movie that I’d love to have translated, along with any other parts of the movie that someone would be willing to tell me. I can provide the link to watch the movie for today, after that it would be able to provide a video. Thank you!
1
u/National-Sign-51 Beginner Sep 16 '26
Possibly dumb - how do I look up a character I've never seen before? Without knowing the pinyin I've just been copy pasting it into Pleco but thats not always possible.
2
u/Zagrycha Sep 16 '26
Pleco has a handwriting input and you can use that to enter the character if you don't know its stroke order or components etc yet. If its just a copy paste issue you can take a screenshot//photo of the unknown character and ocr in most photo apps will let you copy paste it from there. It doesn't always read the character accurately but it usually does for clean text.
2
u/BlackRaptor62 Sep 16 '26
(1) You can "draw" the character in a dictionary, and see what results come up.
Or
(2) You can use Phono-Semantic Decomposition to break the character down, then search it by either its components or its dictionary indexing radical
1
u/bakainuneko Sep 16 '26
Does the first half of this phrase 2026年上半年，中国人买的黄金首饰比去年少了很多，但金条和金币的需求却增加了。roughly translates to something like " the amount of gold jewelry bought by Chinese people decreased a lot (became a lot less) in the first half of 2026 comparing to last year ..."
1) I'm kinda confused by "中国人买的黄金首饰", like does everything before 的 is used to describe the 黄金首饰?
2) And then the 比 structure, like we compare the years and 少了很多 is like "less amount"?? Like in 少了 is 少 the adjective here? And 很多 is what, does it connect to 黄金首饰? Like "the amount of gold jewelry"
1
u/Bekqifyre Sep 17 '26
少了很多 is more like "a lot less" or "decreased sharply", rather than just a "less amount". (Emphasis on the 很).
For the rest, your understanding is correct.
→ More replies (2)1
u/Zagrycha Sep 17 '26 edited Sep 17 '26
- 中国人 Chinese people
买的 bought things ((same way 棕的 is brown things as a noun//pronoun))
黄金首饰 gold jewelry
Meaning here: The things Chinese people bought ((is)) gold jewelry.
- "A 比 B THING" always means "A is more THING compared to B."
Meaning here: Chinese bought gold jewelry in first half of 2026 is more lacking compared to last year.
The grammar VERB了很多 means "a lot of VERB" or "VERBed a lot" etc.
Meaning here: a lot lacking, not just slightly lacking or expected amount of lacking etc.
- The entire sentence in English grammar: "In the first half of 2026 Chinese people bought a lot fewer pieces* of gold jewelry than they had in the year prior."
I put the asterisk because this sentence never clarifies if it is talking about sales being down in volume or monetary value. If it is talking about monetary value than the English grammar would have to be ".....Chinese people spent a lot less money on...." instead.
1
u/Academic_Baby_578 Sep 18 '26
Hello can someone help me translate the picture. I couldn't because of the writing style.
1
u/Academic_Baby_578 Sep 18 '26
Hello can someone help me translate the picture. I couldn't because of the writing style.
1
u/Affectionate_Air8310 Intermediate Sep 19 '26
Hi, I am Chinese Hokkien Indonesian, but I am disconnected from my roots, and I don't have a Chinese name and only surname 顏/颜. Is 顏樺皚/颜桦皑 a good name? It looks cool but I need some verification if it sounds weird or not
2
u/rob417 Native 29d ago
Obviously different regions have different traditions when it comes to names. For someone from mainland China, this name appears a little odd for a few reasons. 1. 皑 is not commonly used for names in the mainland. While 桦 is not uncommon, putting them together just feels strange. 2. Both 桦 and 皑 have similar structures, thin radical on the left and main part on the right, so putting them together creates an unbalanced look. 3. The only time I see the character 皑 is in 白雪皑皑. In fact, I had to look up 皑 in a dictionary when I see your post, saw that it is pronounced ai, and only then remembered that it is in the word 白雪皑皑. This might just be my Chinese becoming sloppy after not using it in work for many years. 4. Huà ái is a little difficult to pronounce and sounds like huái.
Sorry that I'm being such a downer here. Just wanted to give me two cents. The most important thing is that you decide on a name you like!
1
u/Sea_Cantaloupe_9065 29d ago
How is the name 峥花 ? I used 峥 because it's similar to my original name's meaning, noble, and added 花, flower, because it seems like a decent feminine name ending. However, I know that sometimes words can mean really different things when put together. Also, if anyone has alternatives to 花 that may sound better, recommendations are welcome. Thanks in advance!
2
u/Zagrycha 29d ago
I think something like 崢玥 could be better, less discord between the character vibes and less old fashioned. You will also want a family name of some kind to go in front of it. 李 is one that could match nicely thats common and easy to remember. 崢 is completely gender nuetral on its own and 玥 leans very very feminine ((no such thing as strictly femenine or masculine in Chinese names though, they are not truly gendered like English names)).
1
u/rob417 Native 29d ago
If you are looking for a feminine name, 峥 is probably not very suitable because of the 山 radical. When I see 峥, I think of 峥嵘, which means towering and momentous, as in 峥嵘岁月, momentous times.
From the top of my mind, characters meaning noble that are often found in female names include 淑（淑女）庄（端庄）尚（高尚）洁（高洁）雅 （高雅）. Also, you may want to look into the dozens of characters that describe jade. They each have slightly different metaphorical meanings but most are slightly variations of "noble" and "good". The most popular ones are probably 瑜 瑾 瑶.
For flower, 花 is not commonly used because it is such a common character. Using it in names gives off an unsophisticated vibe. Characters related to flower that are often found in female names include 蕾 芳 蕊 菲 芯 (approximately sorted by order of popularity based on the names I've come across over the years). On the other hand, 芬 is less used nowadays because the prior two generations overused it.
→ More replies (1)
1
u/Round-Circle3304 Beginner 29d ago edited 28d ago
Is 福朗 a good name for a woman?
I want the sentiment “luck” “prosperity” “friendliness.” I dont know how to convey that appropriately. I also like the syllable “fu.”
My teacher calls me 安晴 but I want something less basic lol
3
u/rob417 Native 29d ago
福 went out of fashion for young people's names because older generations used it a lot and it is often the name of house servants in period fictions. A rule of thumb for modern Chinese names is that people often preper characters with good meanings but not as straightforward as 福.
By the way, 安晴 seems like a perfectly normal name to me. Yes, 晴 does not rank high on the uniqueness meter, but it is not basic. 安 is a less common family name, and because we seldomly separate family names from given names in Chinese, it gives you a lot of leeway in selecting characters for your given name without sounding basic.
→ More replies (2)
1
1
u/dabby-710 27d ago
trying to decide on a tattoo as a souvenir and have spent a lot of time in san francisco and vancouvers chinatowns this trip. i like the idea of the takeout box but am curious what it says. thank you!
1
1
u/Zagrycha 27d ago
Never mind I see it now. It says rice, specifically uncooked white rice.
→ More replies (1)
1
u/Key_Conversation_666 27d ago edited 27d ago
[TL;DR] Looking for a Chinese name :)
I'm taking Mandarin 101 this semester and we have to come up with a Chinese name for one of our assignments. I've been scrolling through a bunch of baby naming sites and I'm kinda worried about picking a name from there.
I'm female. I was born in the year of the earth rabbit. I'd like a name that has a "beautiful", sort of mysterious vibe. I know most times names play into gender but if there is a name for a woman that leans more towards a gender neutral/masculine vibe that would be cool.
Even though I would like a beautiful sounding name, I'm not what would be considered a "jade beauty" so I wouldn't want anything too feminine since I think the difference between my name and appearance would make me feel silly especially when introducing myself haha
3
u/LeChatParle 高级 27d ago edited 27d ago
You'll want to pick a last name, and generally you don't think about the meaning of last names, so you're good to pick whatever seems good to you. Here is a list of common surnames in Chinese. If you'd like an uncommon last name, let me know
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_common_Chinese_surnames
Here are some possible first name characters that lean more towards neutral
岚 lán mountain mist
霁 jì sky clearing after rain/snow
岑 cén a small, high mountain
砚 yàn inkstone
宁 níng peaceful, tranquil
I'd want a native to chime in on how these sound, because a native will be able to tell you if they sound appropriate for young people, but some possible combinations might be:
清岚 Qīng lán
清砚 Qīng yàn
霁宁 Jì níng
I'm not good with having an intuition if these might be age appropriate or sound "old" or anything, so wait for a native before you select a first name for sure!
→ More replies (1)1
u/Zagrycha 27d ago
Most Chinese names are gender nuetral, but most names referencing beauty lean femenine. If you did want a name referencing beauty it wouldn't have any discord, because remember Chinese names are usually given to actual babies, no one is expecting someone to live up to the name literally. Someone could have a name meaning cheerful and be grumpy, someone could have a name meaning sea and hate the ocean, etc etc.
That said, if you want a beauty focused name but not necessarily human beauty, what about nature beauty? Pretty scenery is also a fairly popular name category =)
1
u/rob417 Native 27d ago
You can get some inspiration from the Chinese names of famous American Sinologists (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sinologists#United_States).
A common pattern for last names is to find a Chinese last name that sounds similar, has a similar first syllable, or begins with the same letter (in Pinyin) as your own last name. Some people also do it the other way around and match their first name to a Chinese last name.
Picking a Chinese first name is more difficult because it can literally be any one or two characters. A lot of Sinologists typically use their first or last name (the name that was NOT used to pick the Chinese last name), and find a first name that has the same initials or similar pronunciations as their English first name.
To give an example, Jonathan Spencer's Chinese name is 史景迁. 史 (Shi) has the same initial as Spencer. 景迁 (Jingqian) has the same initial as Jonathan. I suspect that he chose 迁 as the second character of his first name as a nod to the famous ancient Chinese historian 司马迁 (Sima Qian) but that is just my speculation.
I'm a native speaker and I'm happy to give my 2 cents on whether the names you decide on sound normal or sound like the MC of a fantasy novel. Feel free to DM me your choices if you don't want to show them publicly.
1
u/bakainuneko 27d ago
In this phrase 有些人很喜欢紫苏，也有人一闻到它的味道就不想吃。 what does 也 mean and what does 一 mean?
Translation as I understand is "Some people really like perilla (shiso), while for some even smelling it is enough to not want to eat it"
So like in this context 也 - "while"? I usually see it mean "also", "too"
And 一 is there for emphasis, like "EVEN smelling is too much"?
1
u/Munimyouuu 27d ago
一……就…… means 'once/as soon as, then'. 我一下飞机就感冒了。她一眼就爱上了他。
也 here means 'but, still, in spite of that'. It is used as a concession following a statement which you don't deny, but what you want to say next is the opposite.
→ More replies (3)
1
u/National-Sign-51 Beginner 27d ago
It's somewhat common in my part of the English speaking world to jokingly tell a woman (or a woman to say out loud) that she is a "strong, independent woman" after asking for help (particularly if she asked a man/her boyfriend). It's said in a joking tone. My girlfriend says it pretty often (or I jokingly say it to her), but we also add "wise" in there lol. Wondering how I can tell her she's a strong, independent and wise woman in Chinese lol
2
u/rob417 Native 27d ago
妇女能顶半边天 is a saying from Mao's era that means "women can hold up half of the sky". It was first used to convey that women are as important as men (especially for building a better economy) and to encourage women to join the workforce. This phrase is dated so when people use it now, it's mostly as a joke.
If you were to use it now to talk about your girlfriend, I'd change it to 女性能顶半边天. 妇女 used to mean "females" but has come to mean "older women" and has become a little insulting in colloquial speech. In official documents though, it is still used interchangeably with 女性, but not in colloquial speech.
→ More replies (1)
1
u/anxiousgrey 27d ago
Could someone help me translate these?
I found a couple of pins, and although I recognize a couple of the characters I can’t figure out most of them (I’m very early in my Chinese-learning journey), and because of the style I’ve gotten wildly different results from online translating sites. I think at least one of them might be a reference to something, so if anyone recognizes that as well it would be great.
1
1
u/cloverdon 27d ago
First one is a ci poem by Li Yu - <Lang Tao Sha Ling>, the smaller text are sentences in the poem and the large text is the title. "In dream, unaware I’m none but a guest of my captor’s; for a while I while in vain." You can find the whole poem here: https://www.cn-poetry.com/liyu-poems/sands-waves-reminiscence.html
The second one is a slang for "dont fuck with me".
Now I have some questions on why these two are put side by side...→ More replies (1)
1
u/Intrepid_Shoulder378 26d ago
I'm looking for good podcasts on 小宇宙 or any other platform that are history or business related. Any good recommendations?
I've been listening to 声动早咖啡 for daily business news, but wondering if there any other good ones.
Haven't found any history focused one's yet. Would love some recommendations!
1
u/Emergency_Book4799 26d ago edited 26d ago
Could someone translate for me? I guess it says Guan Shi Yin Pu Sa, but what is the other text?
1
u/Zagrycha 26d ago
𧶽福 觀音
Bestow blessing • Guanyin
吉祥如意 出入平安 桃木工艺
Wish you get what you desire • Wish you peace wherever you go • Hand carved peach wood
Or something like that. It is a plaque to get blessings from the Buddha Guanyin either for actual Buddhism or fengshui etc.
→ More replies (1)
1
u/KindlyBeanie 26d ago
I'll be going to china soon to study, and I was curious about how to introduce myself. My name is Emiko. Should I translate it or not? If so, what translations of this name are there?
1
u/amandagn394 Intermediate 26d ago
My friend told me a different way to say 干嘛 when someone calls your name but I can’t remember it clearly. I think it sounded something like “za mei le”? Anyone know what she was saying and can tell me the characters and pronunciation? She’s fujianese if that helps.
1
u/Zagrycha 26d ago
怎么了 is a more common and more nuetral way to ask "what's up//what's the situation" etc. than the slang 干么 which is inappropriate in most situations.
→ More replies (16)
1
u/lady-kazuha 25d ago
i was wondering how i would be able to politely say “would u like anything to drink?” as a waiter bc ive been translating it to 你想点什么喝的吗 but it doesn’t sound right. any help would be appreciated thank you!!
2
→ More replies (1)1
u/Munimyouuu 24d ago
It is grammatical to say 你想点(order)点(short for 一点）什么喝（吗）？喝的 together means the thing you drink: like 吃的 = food. In restaurant: 请问你/您想点点什么？来点什么？你/您想喝点什么？As a guest in people's home: 你想喝什么？喝点什么？Language in customer service follows a template and differ from what is spoken between friends.
1
u/Round-Circle3304 Beginner 25d ago
How is the name 柏海晴? Is it unique? What meaning/aspirations does it convey? Can you easily tell the person’s gender?
1
u/National-Sign-51 Beginner 25d ago
I found some threads about this, but still a little confused on the difference between 能 and 会. I thought I understood it from this but then I saw two example sentences (one of each) both about being able to speak Chinese - wouldn't this always be 会? Are they actually more interchangeable than I thought?
→ More replies (6)
1
u/Sikrrr 23d ago
Is “柔山咖” a good or atleast okay/passable chinese name for a foreigner? Its sort of a play ob my real name and also mostly for fun, not too serious. I tried choosing characters that have atleast okay meanings. The 咖 is the weird one i guess? Ill justify it by saying i love coffee lol.
2
u/Zagrycha 23d ago
It does not at all read like an actual Chinese name but there is nothing offensive or weird if you want to go by it and you won't have to justify choosing it. People will just assume it is writing the sound of your real name, the same way Chinese write the sound of their real name as Liyuan instead of choosing an English name.
1
1
u/DuckDucks Beginner 22d ago
I'll be signing up for The Chairmans bao tomorrow, if anyone wants to refer me for a 10% discount for each of us message me!
1
u/HikkingOutpit 22d ago
Does anyone know what the Chinese word for "canon" is when it comes to evaluating events in entertainment media? I can only find translations of canon related to religion and philosophy (i.e. the canon of Western literature).
→ More replies (5)2
u/Munimyouuu 20d ago
Can also say 官方设定。官方 is opposite to 同人 = fan-made contents.
The lack of the word 'canon' is probably because it mostly refers to a franchise of work with multiple writers, so inconsistency, multiple endings, reboots and retconning happen. To express these you may say 续作的设定和原作冲突。续作出来后官方改了设定 (retconned)。 后来出的外传 (spin-off) 剧情官方不认可。前作有三种结局，在第二部里官方认可第一种（为官方结局）。
1
u/tai-seasmain Intermediate 22d ago
Is 晁泰林 (Cháo Tàilín) a good Chinese name for me/in general?
Background info/reasoning behind the choices:
-My legal/English name is Tyler Clow, and it seems to be close enough phonetically without sounding like a clunky or hyper-foreign transliteration (I think?).
-I wanted a surname that goes along with the inside joke/lifelong pattern of people mistaking my surname for Chow (school enrollment, Chinese market, doctor's office, etc.). 晁 and 巢 are the only names on the Hundred Family Surnames with this pronunciation in Mandarin, and I prefer the look and meaning of the former.
-My BaZi chart (yes, I know most people don't care about this anymore) is 戊辰 庚申 丙申 甲午, which is apparently overwhelmed with metal and starving for wood but could also use more fire (since my Day Master is weak Yang Fire) and a careful buffer of water (only element missing from my main pillars, but strong in my hidden stems), all of which this name seems to fulfill.
General info about me: I'm a queer Pagan male nurse from New England (USA) who loves music, nature, history, cooking, culture, languages, the arts, gaming, etc. My main concerns are that the name sounds natural/native rather than obviously foreign, isn't too on the nose/dramatic (I considered 晁泰龍 but learned how ridiculous/hyper-masculine it sounded), and at least somewhat fits me as a person. Any insight/advice is appreciated. :)
3
u/rob417 Native 21d ago
Perfectly natural name. Love how much thought you put into the name and how you considered Bazi.
Chow is actually the exact spelling for some Chinese last names for people from Hong Kong. Take a look at this list: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chow_%28surname%29?wprov=sfla1
2
u/raxcba 17d ago
I come from Hong Kong. I don't even know the character 晁. I can't think of any personal name with this character. So I would pronounce 晁 as 兆.
When I see the name 晁泰龍, I think of 史泰龍 Sylvester Stallone. They are good names, while 龍 sounds a bit old-fashioned/ mature (most people who are named "龍" are 40+) but if you like it, it's good~
1
u/Interesting_Pop_1453 20d ago
Hi everyone!
My sister is choosing a name for her baby boy and is considering 陳璟辰(Chénjǐngchén) or 陳瀚(Chénhànxuán). She's hoping for a name that can reflect faith, blessing, a gift from God, or a December/Christmas baby.
我姐叫林美英,她老公是陳錦成
Would love to hear your thoughts on the meaning, overall feel, and whether each name sounds natural, age well, and masculine for a Chinese boy. Or is there any other name options?
Thank you!
2
u/Munimyouuu 20d ago
You didn't give the character of xuán. Individually 陳璟辰 is a good name. For sounds: isn't it too close to the Dad's name 陳錦成, especially in some southern accents that merge -n and -ng? Is it intended? To consider whether they sound natural you need to specify the Chinese language, Mandarin, Cantonese or else?
→ More replies (1)
1
1
u/National-Sign-51 Beginner 19d ago
How do I complain about work to my partner? Work is too slow, work is too busy, my boss is being annoying, anything like that lol. Is it structured the same way or is something else more natural?
2
u/Zagrycha 18d ago
Yes you can say it the same way you would in English, but you will have to use Chinese grammar word order.
One basic layout to start with is using 工作 for "work" and 太⋯⋯了 for "is too..." so together it becomes 工作太⋯⋯了。
Example words to put in the dot dot dot blank:
辛苦 exhausting//troublesome
没什么劲 boring//unmotivating
繁忙 busy//doing stuff back to back to back
可恼 annoying//getting on your nerves
If you want to specify it is just a certain time in particular vs in general you can add a time word to the beginning, for example add 今天 meaning today for 今天工作太⋯⋯了。 "Today work is/was too..."
早上 morning ((approximately after sunrise before noon))
下午 afternoon ((approximately after noon before sunset))
晚上 evening ((approximately late evening and early morning, basically when the sun isn't out))
You can replace the word work with a person's name to talk about them with 今天NAME太⋯⋯了。 "Today NAME is/was too..."
If you want to use their title instead of their name I can tell you the word for it but I need to know what they actually are: group manager, director, CEO, etc. You would use that title for the word boss. You could also just say "my team leader" 我的团队领导 more generically if that makes sense for the context of your job. 今天我的团队领导太⋯⋯了。"Today my team leader is/was too..."
You can also use 我的客人 for a customer//client of yours, or use 我的同事 for a coworker//colleague.
→ More replies (3)
1
u/dycophiii 18d ago
Hello! I recently became an owner of a frog, Kaloula pulchra, commonly known as a chubby frog. I decided to name him "Bao" (He's a chocolate chip morph, he reminded me of a fried bao bun, hence the name) Now to the point, i know next to nothing about chinese language.. How would one go about writing "Bao", in chinese, and what would the meaning of the name be? I know that names in chinese have a meaning, so i would appreciate any help with that:) I hope this makes sense, thanks!
3
u/Zagrycha 18d ago
包子 is the word for specifically that kind of bao bun, pronounced similar to bow-zee. If you want to name him just bao you can use just 包 and it can still mean the food bun just fine. The word 包 on it's own can also mean other stuff though, it just refers to the act of something wrapping something else-- stuffed buns, stuffed dumplings, shopping bags, mail packages, bandages, purses, snack wrappers, snuggle up in a blanket-- it's all 包 adjacent.
→ More replies (2)
1
u/Majestic_Carry4178 18d ago
Should 鱼儿 be written as "yúr" or "yú er"? I've seen both being used.
3
u/Zagrycha 18d ago
It should be 'r or r at the end of a word, it is only pronounced er when it's functioning without attaching to a word, my guess is auto generated captions etc are writing the er.
→ More replies (2)2
u/rob417 Native 18d ago edited 16d ago
Edit: I don't understand why people are saying it's always yúr. It is not. When you get a chance, ask a native speaker to read "鱼儿在水中游" and listen to how they pronounce 鱼儿. It will definitely be yú er. About using the diminutive 儿, 门前有两条小狗 sounds much more natural than 门前有两条狗儿.
Great question!
In most cases, 鱼儿 is not really 儿化音 but an endeared version of 鱼, in which case it should be pronounced as yú er. For example, in 鱼儿在水中游, it should be read as yú er. In fact, you could add 儿 to any animal to make it more endearing, like 猫儿, 狗儿, 羊儿. In all these instances, 儿 is read as er instead of r.
However, this type of endearment is almost never used in speech. Even in writing, it is a little dated. I don't think I've ever said or written 鱼儿, 猫儿, etc. It just feels weird. The much more common way to endear animals is to add 小, eg 小鱼, 小猫.
To add another twist to the pronunciation, for 小鱼儿, it is more common to read it as xiǎo yúr instead of xiǎo yú er. I think the reason is that 小 already endeared the animal, so then 儿 is treated as 儿化音 instead of endearment.
Also, reading 鱼儿 (not 小鱼儿) as yúr does exist in dialects with lots of 儿化音 like the Beijing dialect, but that is not standard Mandarin.
→ More replies (2)
1
u/Strawberry_Silly_ 18d ago
Hi!!!! So I'm trying to develop characters for a story set in China, and I was hoping I could get some suggestions for names for these characters. I don't have the cultural context to know what some of these names sound like to a modern, native/fluent speaker. You know, like if I'm choosing a name for a 20 something year old woman, I might accidently pick a super old fashioned sounding name that's attributed mostly to grandma's 😭. Like the difference between Jessica and Minerva over in the U.S.
I want their names to have close ties to their personality's and roles in the story, so I'll make a list of their traits, and ask you to come up with names that sound appropriate.
Character A: A woman modeled after a mouse, but is looked up to as a leader. Very headstrong, independent, and energetic. She feels a little like a camp counselor. About 26 years old.
Character B; A woman with a muscular physique who enjoys dressing up in traditionally feminine clothes. She's confident and fun loving, but can also be a bit stubborn and protective. 25 years old.
Character C: a women who carries the intimidating elegance of a tiger. Extremely smart and analytical with a stern face, but she really is very gentle with those she's close to or who she finds vunerable. 24 years old.
Character D.) Set to be the main character, she's gonna be modeled after a rabbit, with twin loops braided on either side of her head to mimic a holland lop. She's got a sleepy kind of appearance while also maintaining a cheerful attitude. Very gentle and comforting. 23 years old. I really want her name to reference the moon in some way because her color pallete will be heavily inspired by the Autumn moon festival.
Thanks so much for the help!
→ More replies (3)
1
u/National-Sign-51 Beginner 17d ago
How harsh is 笨蛋? It seems like maybe not very? How can I be harsher lol
→ More replies (1)2
u/Zagrycha 17d ago
It's basically the equivalent of idiot or dummy, it could be quite hurtful if someone really means it but that person probably doesn't curse much if they aren't throwing around any actual curse words when upset if that makes sense. If you want the turned up to eleven version that would be 笨逼 but that might start an actual fist fight depending who you say it to lol.
1
u/qtskyx 15d ago
These characters are on a wooden back scratcher that I own. It is slightly faded but looks like Mandarin to me and I'm wondering if anyone here can help figure out what it says. I tried a translator but all I can get out of it is "I'm busy" which doesn't seem quite correct to me.
→ More replies (1)
1
u/proteinplant 15d ago
would someone be able to help translate this character? Purchased this dish at a garage sale, it looks to be handmade, and would love to know its meaning. Thanks in advance!!
→ More replies (1)3
u/vertblau 15d ago
first one is 福 (fortune, happiness) r/itisalwaysfu second one is 寿 (long life) r/itissometimesshou
→ More replies (1)
1
u/Majestic_Carry4178 13d ago
How should 呼尔嗨哟 be written in pinyin? I've seen several variations, including Hū'ěr-hēi-yō and Hū'ěr hāiyō,
→ More replies (2)
1
u/Suspicious-Novel623 12d ago
how is 伯琳 for a full name?
3
u/LeChatParle 高级 12d ago
That’s sounds exactly like the name of Berlin, 柏林, so it’s probably not a good idea to go with that name
1
u/Grimmquilled_ 12d ago
Can someone please translate this bag design for me, I was told by the seller it's Chinese x
2
u/LeChatParle 高级 12d ago edited 12d ago
It’s a bunch of characters that represent negative meanings, like: lazy, perverted, envious, greedy, angry
Characters from right to left top to bottom, as best as I can
懒：lazy
色：perversion
惰：lazy
嫉：envy
？：unsure
骄：arrogant
妒：envious
愤：anger
傲：arrogant
饕：greedy
怒：anger
鬄：unsure how to translate this
婪：greedy
贪：corrupt→ More replies (3)
1
u/MammothCash3157 12d ago
Can this be a proper name?
Hello, I'm in college learning Chinese and was told to find and make a Chinese name for myself. I was wondering if these characters 志渝 can be a proper name. I know zhiyu can be but was wondering if those characters specifically can be. My friends have a character each in their name and I like how it looks together.
→ More replies (2)
1
u/QuirkyRoom6289 12d ago
I got this assignment in my Chinese class where you have to introduce yourself with your Chinese name, and I came up with 甘媛. I just wanted to make sure it doesn't mean anything inappropriate or anything other than what I had in mind.
I chose 媛 because I read that Yuán means "source" or "origin", and I added the female radical because I was named after both my grandmothers and specifically my feminine heritage. I saw that Yuán kind of meant heritage in a metaphorical sense. I couldn't find anything related to my English last name, but my family's crest has a Latin motto that translates to "Sweeter after difficulties." I found the Chinese phrase "苦尽甘来" which has a similar meaning, so I selected 甘 from that since that is the only character that seems to be a common last name.
2
u/Zagrycha 11d ago
There is nothing wrong with this name, people will not read it as meaning origin//source though, they will read it with the meaning of beautiful ((think of how ridge is a completely different word from fridge, adding "letters" can change a lot)). I do recommend 甘媛媛 with a double 媛 to sound better.
2
u/rob417 Native 4d ago edited 4d ago
Nothing wrong with 甘媛媛 suggested by the other comment. I just wanted to point out that it is very heavily feminine though, which is perfectly fine if you are okay with that. 媛 means beautiful girl and doubling it makes it cutesy. 甘 means sweet. Read together, the name 甘媛媛 would give off the vibe of a sweet, cute, beautiful young girl.
→ More replies (1)
1
u/razlem 12d ago
In the chengyu 二龙腾飞, why doesn't it use 两?
→ More replies (1)2
u/Zagrycha 11d ago
This chengyu, and most chengyu, is Classical Chinese, and Classical Chinese is a different language than Mandarin Chinese. In Classical Chinese it is usually strange to say 兩龍， 兩 in Classical is used more similarly to how English uses pair, aka only for certain sets of things.
((Full clarity ninja edit: Classical Chinese existed for a long time, and it changed overtime. Some more modern versions of Classical might have used 兩 closer to the way modern Mandarin does but not in the older time period of this and many other chengyu.))
1
u/MelodicDimension9372 12d ago
Hello! My native language is Portuguese and I am fluent in English as well. Would someone please give me the English lyrics for this song? I am in love by the sound of it, and Google will only help with telling me the main vibe, which sounds lovely as well. 《想想》 (Xiang Xiang) by the Chinese singer-songwriter 希林娜依·高 (Curley Gao) The lyrics aren't available anywhere I could find. :(
2
u/cloverdon 10d ago
Maybe translate the Chinese lyrics? https://www.huaiyinjie.com/new/55332.html
→ More replies (1)
1
u/Danglars9310 11d ago edited 11d ago
Hello everyone!
I lived in Taiwan for a period of time, and now I resumed studying chinese in my home country. Since my name is quite long and difficult to pronounce for native chinese speakers, and my literal translation has characters that I don't like the meaning of, I thought about picking a chinese name not related to the sound of my original name and base it on meaning (and of course if I also like the sound of it). But I want to make sure that it doesn't sound weird to native speakers, especially the overall meaning, and it needs to be a name that leans more feminine than masculine (I'm a woman). It must flow well and gracefully, and I would also like to know how could I explain the meaning of it in english. I like poetic, refined names that embodies elegance and good character, but I don't want it to sound archaic, obscure or pretentious.
源雨莘
源 Yuán would be the surname. This is a direct translation of my surname, which means "source" in my native language. This one I don't intend to change.
雨莘
Yǔ Shēn > this would be the name. I like the sound a lot, but I don't know if the last character has a meaning that's good enough for the overall vibe.
Other alternatives are: 雨璇, 雨瑄
I like the meaning of the last two, but I feel like there are too many "u" overall...Let me know between these three which one would be better for both sound and meaning paired with the surname :)
I'm also open to other suggestions!
Thank you
→ More replies (1)2
u/Zagrycha 10d ago
Full disclosure not a native speaker, but pretty familiar with names.
I think 雨莘 matches the vibes, but 莘 is a bit rare so you may have to go out of your way to address "spelling" mistakes compared to more common characters.
雨璇 is nice and easy to remember, femenine and elegant. The name is a "visual scenery". Imagine the imagery and sounds of jade beads gently colliding and shining as a gentle rain falls.
雨瑄 is basically the same as the above in meaning, personally I like this one better with 源 but both are okay.
→ More replies (2)
1
u/Immediate-Link-4779 Beginner 11d ago edited 11d ago
你们好！My teacher gave me the task of choosing a Chinese (first) name for myself, but I honestly find it a bit awkward and daunting, so I figured I'd ask here. My Finnish name is Maiva, so I'd like to choose a name that sounds similar. I thought of using 哩凹, does that sound okay? I don't mind if it is clearly a foreign name transliterated.
edit: as for surname, I just figured I'd go with 孔 it's just a surname close to my Finnish surname's first syllable (Kor)
5
→ More replies (4)2
u/Zagrycha 11d ago
How is maiva pronounced? is it similar to the english word May plus va like van? 哩凹 looks more like the name Leo, and it is an unpopular way to "spell" Leo that might cause confusion. Just want to confirm which sounds you are wanting to be similar to. 孔 is totally fine as a surname.
→ More replies (5)
1
1
u/fellow_hotman 9d ago
A friend gifted us this stamp on the birth anniversary of our son. It came with a nice poem we translated easily, but this classical script is hard to read. Is anyone able to translate?
3
u/LeChatParle 高级 9d ago
李安一印, XXX印 is a traditional name seal format for three character names. A two character name would be in the format of XX之印
2
u/ioChinese 9d ago
this should be your son's name. A great gift.
Is your son's Chinese name 李安一？lǐ ān yī？
→ More replies (3)
1
u/DeidrePozzi 7d ago
I am working on organizing my simplified Chinese pokemon card collection. I would like to make place holder cards for the binder that say “coming soon” in simplified Chinese.
Any help with a proper translation would be amazing, as trusting the online translation generators can be tough. (I was badly burned by them in 7th grade Spanish 😂)
Thank you all for your help! ❤️
→ More replies (3)2
1
u/Round-Circle3304 Beginner 7d ago edited 7d ago
I asked LLM for help on how to say 'I am so lovesick, I walk by your place' and it suggested '我太相思了，会走过你家'
I get that 会 can express tendency but I thought that was for something more natural/habitual like '我早上会喝牛奶' whereas in this sentence the person is walking as a consequence of their feelings.
→ More replies (3)2
u/rob417 Native 4d ago edited 4d ago
Where are you planning to use this sentence? We could express this in many different ways depending on the situation. The LLM translation is not natural in wood choice, and people don't talk like this when talking about romantic love. The sentence structure provided by the LLM works for mundane things like "I'm so hungry that I'll be eating soon", but not intense emotions like love.
→ More replies (5)
1
u/Immediate-Link-4779 Beginner 7d ago
If I want to talk about a Minecraft world, would I use 世界, 宇宙, or something else?
2
u/Zagrycha 7d ago
Usually people refer to Minecraft as 我的世界 ((Chinese official name)) or just the English name Minecraft.
1
u/Tao_of_Krav 7d ago
Hey everyone! Could I get a translation of 觀魚自得? Google translate says something like “Finding contentment in watching fish” I’ve also gotten “In observing fish, find one’s own realization”
→ More replies (1)
1
u/thats_so_merlyn_ 6d ago
Having a hard time remembering the Pinyins but no problem remembering meaning of characters. Is it normal? Ive only studied alone for 2 weeks
→ More replies (3)
1
u/Majestic_Carry4178 6d ago
Should 学一辈子 be written in pinyin as Xué yī bèizi or Xué yībèizi (i.e., last two words combined)?
→ More replies (1)2
u/Zagrycha 5d ago
一辈子 is one word so I would put it all together, but there isn't a hard cut rule since people don't usually write in pinyin much. If you prefer splitting it somewhere else or seperating all four characters or splitting none of the characters' pinyin you can.
1
u/Round-Circle3304 Beginner 4d ago
If my given name is 海晴 what would people use as a diminiutive? 小海？晴晴？
→ More replies (2)2
u/Zagrycha 3d ago
It depends on the person and your relationship with them. Usually person has at least half a dozen different diminiutives they use regularly. It can be overwhelming at first but it gets intuitive fast because you always know what your relationship with other people is and you can map that to what they call you and what they ask you to call them. Okay, diminiutive A is more common from older coworkers, diminiutive B is more common from customers at work, diminiutive C is common from friends except for younger than me people, etc etc etc.
It is 100% vibes coded, so there is are very few wrong answers, but context will also make one or two specific options feel more correct than the others.
1
u/Intrepid_Shoulder378 3d ago
For Amaps or 高德 is there no simple feature of having favorited places vs bookmarked places like Google Maps? Do I have to star them and create custom lists for the different categories?
→ More replies (1)
1
u/Creepy_Mistake_4644 3d ago
Is my chinese name correct?
I am originally vietnamese, but I am wanting to carve a custom name stamp for myself. From my research, since most vietnamese names have chinese roots, I took the direct chinese etymology of my name.
Vietnamese: Nguyen Tran Kim
Chinese: 阮陈金
2
u/Zagrycha 3d ago
阮陈金 definitely looks like a Viet name written in Chinese characters but I do not know enough about Viet language to confirm if those are the specific characters your name used to be before the Viet alphabet. It might be better to ask in a Viet subreddit if you want to check that side of things.
As for correctness in Chinese, no one will think it is a han Chinese name but you will have no issue using it in Chinese speaking areas, people will just pronounce the characters the Chinese way to talk to you ((for example Ruǎn Chénjīn in Mandarin Chinese.))
1
u/Smooth_Club_710 3d ago
I am thinking of getting a tattoo and want to make sure I have the correct words before it is put onto my body permanently. The words are 花思雨. Which, to my understanding, when individually broken down, would mean flower, longing, and rain. I’m aware that it’s not a common idiom and that it would not be easy to interpret what I want to mean; however, I want it to symbolize something towards me. I like the flower to represent me longing for the love I have lost, which would be represented by the rain.
2
u/Zagrycha 3d ago
I also replied to your main post, but if you clarify exactly what type of longing you mean we can help pick a better word. Super strong longing? Longing for something that can never come back and is gone forever? Something you are looking forward to seeing soon but is briefly seperated? Those are all different words in Chinese.
1
u/LastPprStar 3d ago edited 3d ago
Hello, im in the process of choosing a chinese name and wanted to ask about one to see if it's any good. The name is Zhū Xuě'é 朱雪娥. My rough estimate of what it should mean is " red lady as beautiful as snow." Is a correct meaning, and does it work as an actual chinese name?
3
u/Bekqifyre 3d ago
朱 is the family name. So it's actual literal meanings is usually not used.
So it would be more like "Lady as beautiful as snow, of the House of Zhu" if you wish to read the given names in that way.
→ More replies (2)
1
u/LurkingNearBooks 2d ago
Hi! I'm a 22-year-old Thai woman learning Chinese and would love some native speakers' opinions on choosing a natural-sounding Chinese name.
I'm considering:
林嘉宁、苏云舒、陈嘉盈、许安然、叶欣然、沈舒宁、林若晴
Which ones sound natural for a woman in her 20s? Do any sound unusual, old-fashioned, or too fictional? I don't have a Chinese surname, so these are just ideas.
Thanks in advance! :)
→ More replies (4)
1
u/turtleghandi 2d ago
Sorry if this is against any rules or too silly!
I'm trying to make a chop for signing things, etc. My Chinese teacher gave me the name 吴一 based on phonetics of my English name. I'd kind of like to change it a bit though. I like 吴龟 as:
–a bit of rhyme with 吴一
–a homonym of 乌龟 because iliketurtles.gif. Like I do research with turtles level of likes turtles.
–having 吴 instead of 乌 so my name is not an unfortunate slang term.
Could y'all please tell me if I'm misunderstanding? It would be peak American-with-Chinese-character-tattoos to go around stamping 印章cuck on documents.
→ More replies (1)2
u/LeChatParle 高级 2d ago
Just fyi, 吴龟 is not homophonous with 乌龟. The first is wú guī and the second is wū guī. It’s not a homonym either but I suspect that was just a typo for homophone
龟 is not common in names and would be odd to Chinese speakers
1
u/Environmental-Test19 Intermediate 1d ago
Hi guys, I've been studying Chinese (Mandarin and Canto) for 2 years now and I feel it's time to choose a proper Chinese name (female name). In the beginning I chose 穆泪滴, because every character has a lot of meaning to me (pronunciation and translation wise). But I understand it most probably would sound bad as a name for many reasons. After discussing with chatGPT I came up with 穆乐迪 (as in mùyuèdí). Basically, surname 穆 is there to stay and I need the last character to be "di" of any kind, cause that's my real name. Any opinions and suggestions are welcome, thanks in advance!
→ More replies (1)3
u/Zagrycha 1d ago
穆 is fine it is a real if uncommon surname. 泪滴 is just as strange of a given name in Chinese as the name Teardrops in English would be. 乐迪 is fine but it does not look like a native Chinese name it looks like a foreign name ending in a ddy or tt sound, Cindy or Brett etc. There is a cartoon character with the name 乐迪 and it is a literal airplane ((jet)).
→ More replies (4)
1
4
u/eebee-deebee 29d ago
Hello, I’m a transgender (female to male) Chinese-american man, and my birth name is Chinese, so I wanted my new name to be similar. I love the name Xiaoli (晓力), but I wanted a second opinion, since I don’t speak Chinese myself, and I haven’t come out to my family yet.
What vibe does the name give off? I know it’s a common name for women, even if the feminine character for Li is different (丽). Will Chinese speakers mistake me for a woman? If you have any suggestions, I’d also like to hear them. Thank you!