Hello there, Mandarin learners!
This post comes with a recap of Poll Quizzes☀️
Hope you had fun this week with Q&A – that’s why we had fewer stories than usual!
For your convenience, correct answers are marked as ✅, and wrong as ❌.
1. What Does Her Bag Look Like?
她的手包像一个…
Tā de shǒubāo xiàng yīgè…
✅ 鸡蛋 jīdàn – chicken egg
❌ 鸡腿 jīdàn – chicken leg
“她的手包像一个鸡蛋 Tā de shǒubāo xiàng yīgè jīdàn” (“Her bag looks like an egg”) was the right answer to this Monday’s story. Well done, 86% (1184👤) who chose 鸡蛋 jīdàn (chicken egg 🥚🍳)! The word “chicken leg” also starts with the character “chicken” (鸡 jī), but 腿 tuǐ means “leg”, thigh” – so it refers to the meaty part. (You can also tell that it’s related to meat, because it contains the 月 radical, which is often used as a simplified 肉 – meaning “meat”. You’ll spot it in many characters for organs and body parts.)
(Thanks to @savvamarina_sova for sending this picture in PM📷)
2. “Big” or “small”?
突然下…
Túrán xià…
✅ 大雨了 dàyǔ le – heavy rain
❌ 小雨了 xiǎoyǔ le – light rain
“突然下大雨了 Túrán xià dàyǔle” (It suddenly started raining heavily) was indeed the correct answer, as 90% of you (1271👤) have chosen. Great job! It did indeed start raining heavily. Everyone including me had to hide under a roof of a nearby shop, because umbrellas would make no differnece…
Notice how in English you’d use the word “rain” as a verb: It suddenly started raining heavily, while in Chinese they use it as a noun – “Suddenly-fell-big-rain“! ☔️
3. What Are They Doing With the Ball?
他们在…
Tāmen zài…
❌ 打球 dǎ qiú – play basketball (“beat-ball”)
✅ 踢球 tī qiú – play soccer (“kick-ball”)
“他们在踢球 Tāmen zài tī qiú” (They are playing soccer) was the correct answer to this poll, and 72% (897👤) of you nailed it!
This poll was meant to be a bit tricky on purpose. You might be familiar with the phrases 踢足球 tī zúqiú (to play football) and 打篮球 (dǎ lánqiú) – but not with their shorter, colloquial versions!
Notice that in speech, native Chinese speakers simply refer to these two sports using different verbs – 打 dǎ (“to beat”) for basketball 🏀, and 踢 tī (“to kick”) for soccer/football ⚽️. You can get a clue about the nature of these two verbs if you look at their left radicals: the radical 手 in 打 means “hand”, and you normally beat with hands; while the radical 足 in 踢 means “foot”, and you usually kick using your feet.
(Thanks to @alinkatworek for sending this video🎬)
4. What’s The Boy Doing?
小朋友在放…
Xiǎopéngyǒu zài fàng…
❌ 爆竹 bàozhú – firecracker(s)
✅ 风筝 fēngzhēng – kite
“小朋友在放风筝 Xiǎopéngyǒu zài fàng fēngzhēng” (The little boy is flying a kite) was the right answer to this poll, as 91% (924👤) have voted for. This poll was meant to just show a pretty kite I saw in Fuxing Park – and also, to demonstrate how the verb 放 fàng could be used with different nouns, and change its meaning accordingly (to “set off” firecrackers in the first option; to “fly” a kite in the second. Originally 放 fàng means “to release”.)
Also, notice how you can refer to kids as 小朋友 xiǎopéngyǒu – “little friends”!
5. What Does This Place Specialize In?
They … cars/bicycles here
❌ SELL
✅ FIX
“They fix cars/bicycles here” was the answer to this poll – and 90% (894👤) of you have guessed it right! The character 修 xiū means “to fix”, so “修车 xiū chē” written both on the door and in the ad means “repair/fix cars”.
(Or bicycles – 车 refers to vehicles in general) 🔧
I hope you’re enjoiying taking part in these stories as much as my friends and I enjoy producing them!
You can still watch all the quizzes on @YourMandarin account page from your mobile devices – just click on the Highlight called #Quizzes.
If you have any questions, feedback or ideas – feel free to leave them in comments below.
See you next week on Instagram😉
