Tuesday, August 23, 2011

I am starving to death

How hungry are you? Well, if you are really hungry then you should definitely learn this.

我饿死了 (Wǒ è sǐ le): I am starving to death

And now that you have eaten a lot:

我吃饱了 (Wǒ chī bǎo le): I am full

As you might have noticed in the first sentence, 死了 (sǐ le) is used to reflect an extreme situation. You need one more example? Here you go:

我累死了 (Wǒ lèi sǐ le): I am dying of exhaustion


How else can you show an extreme situation? How about 极了 (jí le)?

好极了 (hǎo jí le): wonderful; great

This can be your response next time someone asks you “How are you?” Below is one more example:

阿拉斯加冷极了

Ālāsījiā lěng jí le

Alaska is extremely cold


And you can use 腻了 (nì le) when you are sick or bored of doing something.

这道菜我天天吃,都吃腻了

Zhè dào cài wǒ tiāntiān chī, dōu chī nì le

I eat this dish every day, I am sick of it.


Remember 死了 (sǐ le), 极了 (jí le) and 腻了 (nì le).

5 comments:

  1. I love these phrases and use them all the time. It's the "extremeness" of them that appeals to me.
    Deb Fallows
    "Dreaming in Chinese: Mandarin Lessons in Life, Love, and Language"
    www.deborahfallows.com

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  2. I agree with you Deb. I love the "extremeness" too.

    And your book looks really interesting.

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  3. These phrases are really helpful! (As a side note, I'm teaching English here in China and have brought along the Dreaming in Chinese book to read in my spare time. It's great so far - very insightful!) Love this blog, too! :)

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  4. After the comment above by Deb, I checked out the book, and it is very insightful indeed.

    I just checked out your blog. Seems like you are having a great time in China.

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