Leftover women

Recently I came across a very interesting article. Apparently, unmarried female who are older than 27 are labeled as ‘leftover women’ in China. Leftover? That’s a harsh word to use.

As we always do, let’s learn how to say the phrase in Chinese language:

剩女 (shèngnǚ): leftover women

I normally use the word leftover when referring to food. So let’s learn how to say that as well:

剩菜 (shèng cài): leftovers

剩饭 (shèng fàn): leftovers

And below is a sentence showing a general use of 剩 (shèng):

还剩多少？

Hái shèng duōshǎo?

How much is leftover?

Jasmine Flower

It’s been a while since we learned a song. So let’s learn a very popular Chinese folk song today. Click here for the full lyrics.

茉莉花 (Mòlìhuā) Jasmine Flower

好一朵美丽的茉莉花,
Hăo yì duǒ měilì de mòlìhuā.
What a beautiful jasmine flower,

好一朵美丽的茉莉花。
Hăo yì duǒ měilì de mòlìhuā.
What a beautiful jasmine flower.

芬芳美丽满枝桠，    
Fēnfāng měilì măn zhī yā,
A spray of fragrance and lovely petals,

又香又白人人夸。  
Yòu xiāng yòu bái rénrén kuā.
Everyone loves your snow-white buds.

让我来将你摘下，   

Ràng wǒ lái jiānɡ nĭ zhāi xià,
Let me pick a jasmine flower,

送给别人家。   
Sòng gěi biérén jiā.
And give it to others.

茉莉花呀茉莉花。  
Mòlìhuā ya mòlìhuā.
Jasmine flowers, jasmine flowers.

Why did I pick this song? Not because this is one of my favorite, but because Celine Dion sang this song in Mandarin for a New Year Gala show. If you didn’t already know, February 10 was the Chinese New year and this is the year of snake. Check this post to learn how to say Happy New Year in Chinese language.

And below is a video of Celine Dion singing the Jasmine Flower song.

You get what you pay for

I flew Ryanair recently and thought of the expression ‘you get what you pay for’. For those who don’t know, Ryanair is a budget Irish airline which is notorious for its service.  Out of curiosity I looked up how to say ‘you get what you pay for’ in Chinese language and this is what I found.

一分钱，一分货
Yī fēn qián, yī fēn huò
One cent money, one cent goods

钱 (qián): money

As you might already know 人民币 (Rénmínbì) is the official currency of China. 人民币 (Rénmínbì) translates to ‘people’s currency’. 元 (Yuán) is the primary unit of 人民币 (Rénmínbì).

1元 (yuán) = 10 角 (jiǎo)
1角 (jiǎo) = 10 分 (fēn)

In everyday Chinese, money is referred as 块 (kuài) instead of 元 (Yuán). So, 100元would be called 一百块 (Yī bǎi kuài). 块 (kuài) is also a measure word for money.

I will love you forever

We just learned how to say ‘I will love you forever’ in Chinese language. Here it is again:

爱你一生一世

Ài nǐ yī shēng yī shì

Love you forever

What are some other ways of saying the same thing?

我会永远爱你

Wǒ huì yǒng yuǎn ài nǐ

I will love you forever

我会爱你一辈子

Wǒ huì ài nǐ yī bèi zi

I will love you forever

So here are few ways of saying ‘forever’ in Chinese language

一生一世 (yī shēng yī shì): for life; forever

永远 (yǒng yuǎn): forever; always

一辈子 (yī bèi zi): all life

Love you forever day

I recently read an article that thousands of couples in China were rushing to get married on January 4, 2013. The reason? In Mandarin, January 4 2013 sounds similar to the phrase ‘I will love you all my life’.

In an earlier blog post, we learned that we always use (year)年 (month)月 (date)日 format when writing dates in Chinese. So January 4, 2013 would be:

2013年 1月 4日

Èr líng yī sān nián yī yuè sì rì

Now take only the parts in bold above, that is only the numbers from the date, and you get:

Èr líng yī sān  yī sì

And this sounds very similar to:

Ài nǐ yī shēng yī shì

爱你一生一世

Love you forever

That is the reason why this day is also known as the ‘Love you forever’ day.

一生一世 (yī shēng yī shì): for life; forever

Check this post to find out on which another date the Chinese couple were rushing to get married.