Metaphors in Chinese

We learned the comparison structure "像...一样" in the previous blog. We can use this phrase in metaphors. For example, 

她像玫瑰一样漂亮。
 Tā xiàng méiguī yiyàng piàoliang.
She is as beautiful as the rose. 

You can also create metaphoric constructions by 
1. Using 像 (xiàng): 
　她的眼睛像黑钻石。 (tā de yǎnjīng xiàng hēi zuànshí) Her eyes looks like black diamonds. 
2. or without metaphor words: 
　她是天使，他是雄狮。 (tā shì tiānshǐ, tā shì xióngshī) She is an angel and he is a lion.


Please read the following sentences and identify the metaphorical usages in them.


曲曲折折的荷塘上面，弥望的是田田的叶子。叶子出水很高，像亭亭的舞女的裙。
Qū qūzhé zhé de hétáng shàngmiàn, mí wàng de shì tián tián de yèzi. Yè zǐ chūshuǐ hěn gāo, xiàng tíngtíng de wǔnǚ de qún.
All over this winding stretch of water, what meets the eye is a silken field of leaves, reaching rather high above the surface, like the skirts of dancing girls in all their grace. 


微风过处，送来缕缕清香，仿佛远处高楼上渺茫的歌声似的。
Wéifēngguò chù, sòng lái lǚlǚ qīngxiāng, fǎngfú yuǎn chù gāolóu shàng miǎománg de gēshēng shì de.
A breeze stirs, sending over breaths of fragrance, like faint singing drifting from a distant building. 


这时候叶子与花也有一丝的颇动，像闪电般，霎时传过荷塘的那边去了。
Zhè shíhòu yèzi yú huā yěyǒu yīsī de pō dòng, xiàng shǎndiàn bān, shàshí chuánguò hétáng dì nà biān qùle.
At this moment, a tiny thrill shoots through the leaves and lilies, like, a streak of lightning, straight across the forest of lotuses. 

(selected from  《荷塘月色》, Moonlight over the Lotus Pond, by 朱自清 Zhu Ziqing. )


Reference:
http://language.chinadaily.com.cn/2015-10/12/content_22160614.htm

When 在- phrases come after the verb

As we know, 在- phrases should come before the verb in Chinese sentence constructions to indicate where the action happened. For example, 

我在家里学习。

Wǒ zài jiālǐ xuéxí.

I study at home.

But you might also hear Chinese people say 
我住在北京。
Wǒ zhù zài běijīng. 
I live in Beijing.


Normally 在- phrases should come before, but with verbs that indicate position, movement or placement, it should come after. There are also specific verbs that nearly always appear in this structure. The most common ones are 住 (zhù, to live), 坐 (zuò, to sit), and 放 (fàng, to place or to put).

For example, 

我出生于东京，但现住在柏林。

Wǒ chūshēng yú Dōngjīng, dàn xiàn zhù zài Bólín.

I was born in Tokyo, but now I live in Berlin.

请你坐在这里。

Qǐng nǐ zuò zài zhèlǐ.

Please sit here.

放在桌子上。

Fàng zài zhuōzi shàng.

Put it on the table.

Please say the following sentences in Chinese:

1. Where does he live?
2. I used to live in Thailand, but now I live in Russia.
3. Where were you born?
4. Don't put dirty clothes on the bed!
5. Can I sit here?

reference
https://www.chineseboost.com/grammar/zai4-after-the-verb/

https://www.italki.com/question/164000

https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Resultative_complement_%22zhu%22

http://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/469/how-is-住-used-as-a-suffix-in-a-verb-phrase

练习

1. 女儿 讨厌 打针 特别 
2. 有效 这种药 对 头疼 很
3. 内容 那本杂志 的 十分 丰富
4. 下雨 很湿润 后 空气
5. 非常 大 影响范围 这场降水 的
6. 南方 的 湿润 气候 很
7. 老师 报名 我们 马上 叫
8. 派 公司 我 决定 去 访问 美国
9. 这个消息 高兴 人 令 真
10. 回家 不 我 警察 让
11. 使 他 信任 很多人 诚实 他的
12. 老师 让 我 去 办公室
13. 我 发表了 在杂志上 一篇文章
14. 中国经济的 超过了 西方国家 发展速度 一些
15. 精彩的 演讲 教授 改变了 我的想法
16. 签订 已经 了 王经理 合同
17. 给 老板 打了 我 一个电话 刚才
18. 他 一所 考上了 美国 大学 终于
19. 反映 了 向 游客 这个问题 大使馆
20. 他 睡了 只 两个 晚上 昨天 小时

Go Shopping 买东西 Mǎi dōngxī

In this lesson, you are going to learn the essential phrases you are going to use when you go shopping. 

Please translate the following phrases into Chinese:

1. How much...? 
2. Shirt 
3. Red shirt 
4. That red shirt
5. How much is that red shirt?
6. Too expensive!
7. This sweater is too expensive!
8. Can you lower the price?
9. How much would you like to offer?
10. A pair of black pants
11. A pair of brown shoes
12. A pair of white socks
13. A grey suit
14. A blue jacket
15. Half kilograms
16. One yuan for one jin
17. One jin of tomatoes
18. To buy
19. Want to buy two jins of apples
20. Bought two jins of strawberry
21. Total
22. How much in total?
23. Fifty cents
24. Twenty yuan and twenty-two cents

－－－－－

ANSWER KEYS:

1. How much...? ...多少钱Duōshǎo qián
2. Shirt 衬衫chènshān
3. Red shirt 红色的衬衫hóngsè de chènshān
4. That red shirt 那件红色的衬衫nà jiàn hóngsè de chènshān
5. How much is that red shirt? 那件红色的衬衫多少钱？ Nà jiàn hóngsè de chènshān duōshǎo qián? 
6. Too expensive! 太贵了！Tài guìle!
7. That sweater is too expensive! 那件毛衣太贵了！Nà jiàn máoyī tài guìle!
8. Can you lower the price? 便宜一点儿，可以吗？Piányí yīdiǎn er, kěyǐ ma?
9. How much would you like to offer? 你想给多少钱？ Nǐ xiǎng gěi duōshǎo qián?
10. A pair of black pants 一条黑色的裤子yītiáo hēisè de kùzi
11. A pair of brown shoes 一双棕色的鞋yīshuāng zōngsè de xié
12. A pair of white socks 一双白色的袜子yīshuāng báisè de wàzi
13. A grey suit 一件灰色的西装yī jiàn huīsè de xīzhuāng
14. A pair of blue jeans 一条蓝色的牛仔裤yītiáo lán sè de niúzǎikù
15. Half kilograms 一斤yī jīn
16. One yuan for one jin 一块一斤jin yīkuài yī jīn
17. One jin of tomatoes 一斤西红柿yī jīn xīhóngshì
18. To buy 买mǎi
19. Want to buy two jins of apples 要买两斤苹果yàomǎi liǎng jīn píngguǒ
20. Bought two jins of strawberry 买了两斤草莓mǎile liǎng jīn cǎoméi
21. Total 一共yīgòng
22. How much in total? 一共多少钱？Yīgòng duōshǎo qián?
23. Fifty cents 五毛wǔmáo
24. Twenty yuan and twenty-two cents 二十块两毛二èrshí kuài liǎng máo èr

Cultural Notes:

Why Chinese people say buy “east-west” instead of “north-south”?

by Lewei Shang

In ancient China, people thought that the universe is made from five elements: 金木水火土.

In English, these are: Gold, Soil, Water, Fire, and Wood.  The five elements are located in five directions:  东西南北中. In English, these are: East, West, South, North, and Center.  Gold is in the East, Wood is in the West, Fire is in the South, Water is in the North, and Soil is in the Center, right under our feet.

However, Gold doesn’t mean gold only. It includes everything which is made from metals, or contains metals, such as a knife, car, gun, pan or plow.  Similarly, Wood includes everything which is made from wood, and everything from plants, such as furniture, houses, grains, vegetables and fruits.   In ancient times, all of these were merchandise, and people had to buy them.  But South, North, and Center, or in English, Fire, Water, and Soil were free at that time.  No one paid for those.  Therefore, people in ancient times bought “East-West”, not “North-South” and Center.  Even though Fire, Water, and Soil became valuable, and people eventually had to pay for them, “buy east-west” has become a standard phrase for Chinese.


Reference:

http://rufodao.qq.com/a/20140328/010898.htm
https://leweishang.blogspot.com/2016/02/why-chinese-say-buy-east-west-instead.html

At the Bank 在银行 Zài yínháng

In this lesson you are going to learn the fundamental expressions used when you are at banks, such as deposit/withdraw money, different kinds of currencies, etc.

Please translate the following phrases into Chinese:

1. At the bank
2. Go to the bank
3. Go to the Citi bank
4. Want to go to the Citi bank
5. Go to the bank of China
6. Would like to go to the bank of China
7. USD
8. RMB
9. GBP
10. EUR
11. The exchange rate between USD and RMB
12. Service fee
13. Without service fee
14. Account
15. Open an account
16. Close an account
17. Current deposit account
18. Term deposit account
19. Current deposit account or term deposit account?
20. Deposit or withdraw money?
21. Interest rate or exchange rate?
22. Citibank or Bank of America?
23. Is that an ATM?
24. Exchange some money
25. Deposit some money
26. Withdraw some money
27. Want to deposit some money
28. Want to go to Bank of America to deposit some money
29. Would like to withdraw some money
30. Would like to go to bank of China to withdraw some money

－－－－

ANSWER KEYS:

1. At the bank 在银行zài yínháng
2. Go to the bank 去银行qù yínháng
3. Go to the Citi bank 去花旗银行qù huāqí yínháng
4. Want to go to the Citi bank 要去花旗银行 yào qù huāqí yínháng
5. Go to the bank of China 去中国银行qù zhōngguó yínháng
6. Would like to go to the bank of China 想去中国银行xiǎng qù zhōngguó yínháng
7. USD 美元／美金měiyuán/měijīn
8. RMB 人民币rénmínbì
9. GBP 英镑 yīngbàng
10. EUR 欧元ōuyuán
11. The exchange rate between USD and RMB 美金和人民币的汇率měijīn hé rénmínbì de huìlǜ
12. Service fee 服务费 fúwù fèi
13. Without service fee 没有服务费méiyǒu fúwù fèi
14. Account 账户zhànghù
15. Open an account 开一个帐户kāi yīgè zhànghù
16. Close an account 关一个帐户guān yīgè zhànghù
17. Current deposit account 活期账户huóqī zhànghù
18. Term deposit account 定期账户dìngqī zhànghù
19. Current deposit account or term deposit account? 活期账户还是定期账户？ Huóqī zhànghù háishì dìngqī zhànghù? 
20. Deposit or withdraw money? 存钱还是取钱？Cún qián háishì qǔ qián?
21. Interest rate or exchange rate? 利率还是汇率？Lìlǜ háishì huìlǜ?
22. Citibank or Bank of America? 花旗银行还是美国银行？Huāqí yínháng háishì měiguó yínháng?
23. Is that an ATM? 那是一个取款机吗？Nà shì yīgè qǔkuǎn jī ma?
24. Exchange some money 换钱huànqián
25. Deposit some money 存钱cún qián
26. Withdraw some money 取钱qǔ qián
27. Want to deposit some money 要存一些钱yào cún yīxiē qián
28. Want to go to Bank of America to deposit some money 要去美国银行存钱 yào qù měiguó yínháng cún qián
29. Would like to withdraw some money 想取一些钱xiǎng qǔ yīxiē qián
30. Would like to go to bank of China to withdraw some money 想去中国银行取一些钱xiǎng qù zhōngguó yínháng qǔ yīxiē qián

Cultural notes:

中国的中央银行是中国人民银行。

The central bank of China is the People's Bank of China.

Zhōngguó de zhōngyāng yínháng shì zhōngguó rénmíng yínháng.

在中国有“四大”国有银行，它们是中国银行，中国建设银行，中国农业银行，还有中国工商银行。

Zài zhōngguóyǒu “sì dà” guó yǒu yínháng, tāmen shì zhōngguó yínháng, zhōngguó jiànshè yínháng, zhōngguó nóngyè yínháng, hái yǒu zhòng guó gōngshāng yínháng.

In China there are "big four" state-owned banks, the Bank of China (BOC), the China Construction Bank (CCB), the Agricultural Bank of China (ABC), and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC).

Quiz:

1. What is name of China's Central bank?

2. Which of the following is not one of the "big four"?

• 中国银行
• 中国农业银行
• 中国工商银行
• 中国交通银行
• 中国建设银行

练习

Please put the words given in right sequence:

• Sbj + Tme + Mnr + Plc + Neg + Aux + Vrb+ Cmp + Obj
• subject, adverbials, negative, auxiliary verb, verb, complement, object

1. 我，去，要，上海，明天
2. 在这里，请，我，你，等
3. 他，看书，认真地，在图书馆
4. 他，吃饭，在食堂，慢慢地
5. 他，一共，买了，鱼，三条，在这家商店
6. 他，东西，买完，以后，回家了，高兴地
7. 会，他，不，说，西班牙语
8. 应该，你，告诉，这件事，他，不，现在
9. 能，不，在这儿，你，抽烟
10. 他，三个月，在上海，住了，去年冬天
11. 他，中文，学习，用互联网，常常
12. 软件，这种，对，有帮助，学习，中文，很
13. 他，很，中文，说，说，得，流利
14. 小猫，鱼，把，吃了 
15. 他，收拾，屋子，干干净净，把，得

references:

https://eastasiastudent.net/china/mandarin/word-order/

练习

Please rewrite the sentences by following the example: 

他每天看报看一个小时。

他每天看一个小时的报。

1. 他每天弹钢琴弹一个小时。

2. 他每天睡八个小时。

3. 他每天游泳游一个小时。

4. 他每天跑步跑半个小时。

5. 他做作业做了两个小时。