This character does bear a striking resemblance to a doorway, doesn’t it? Here are a couple more uses of this character: This I-beam character appears in many work-related terms as well. 人马 (rén mǎ) - troops, literally “men and horses” 10. Here are two more common uses of this character: It went through several iterations throughout history. The horse character resembles an animal with running legs and a long neck. Here are two examples of how to use this character: This character kind of looks like a lady with her legs crossed. Check out its interesting evolution throughout history. Here are some common phrases that use this character: The character for “mouth” looks just like an opening. On another note, 小姐 (xiǎo jiě) means “lady.” 7. When we talk about small amounts, we say 少 (shǎo). Can you guess what “elementary school” is in Chinese? It’s 小学 (xiǎo xué) or “little school.” Since we learned “big,” we have to learn its opposite, 小. University is called 大学 (dà xué), literally “big school.” 6. This, of course, is also the name of famous Chinese-speaking comedian Mark Roswell. You could describe a big mountain as 大山 (dà shān). When we combine 大 with another character we just learned (人), we get 大人 (dà rén) meaning “adult,” or literally, “big man.” However, do note that a child isn’t called a “little man.” See how the character for “big” looks like a person with arms and legs spread wide? The character 画 (huà), meaning “painting” or “drawing,” looks like a little picture in a frame! 5. Therefore 山水画 (shān shǔi huà) refers to a landscape painting. For example, when combined with the character for “water” or 水 (shǔi), you get 山水 (shān shǔi), which means “landscape.” When combined with other characters, it means even more things related to nature and scenery. 山 (shān)Ĭan you tell that this character looks like a mountain range? Check out the ancient script, and you’ll see that it has a much closer resemblance. In counting, all the teen digits use ten as the base, like so:įurthermore, 20 is 二十 (èr shí) or “two tens,” 30 is 三十 (sān shí) “three tens,” 50 is 五十 (wǔ shí) and the pattern continues like this until you reach 90, which is 九十 (jǐu shí).īut just so you know, 100 is not “ten-tens,” it’s 一百 (yī bǎi). For example, 十分 (shí fēn) means “very much.” 人人都爱喝可乐。 (rén rén dōu ài hē kě lè.) - Everyone loves drinking soda. When you put two of these characters together, producing 人人 (rén rén), the meaning is “everyone. The character looks like a person with legs apart. The Chinese character for “man” is two simple strokes. One is also used when ordering or purchasing items. 我一个人来。 (wǒ yí gè rén lái.) - I came here by myself. One in Chinese is used in references to the singular, such as a single person 一个人 (yí gè rén). Incidentally, the characters for two 二 (èr) and three 三 (sān) are also simple horizontal strokes. One, two and three are quite easy to remember, since one is one stroke, two is two strokes, etc. The character for “one” in Chinese is simply one horizontal stroke. This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that youĬlick here to get a copy. You’ll find them easy to remember as well, since some of the characters actually resemble their meaning. What are the easiest Chinese words you can pick up as you begin your Mandarin learning journey?īelow are some of the most basic, commonly used characters in Chinese, with the least number of character strokes.īecause they have so few strokes, these are some of the simplest words to write in Chinese.
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