Happy Saint Patrick’s Day

I know I am a bit late but Happy St Patrick’s Day everyone (Sorry I was too busy celebrating myself). Or as you would say in Chinese language:

圣帕特里克节快乐
Shèng pàtèlǐkè jié kuàilè
(To learn other kuai le sentences, please check this post)

St. Patrick’s Day is an Irish cultural and religious holiday. It is celebrated on March 17 each year. The major activities include visiting church, parades, wearing green and drinking alcohol.

Below are some useful St. Patrick’s Day words:

爱尔兰 (Ài'ěrlán): Ireland
三月十七日 (sān yuè shíqī rì): March 17
绿 (lǜ): green
喝酒 (hē jiǔ): drink alcohol

Even though it is an Irish festival, it is celebrated all over the world and China is not an exception. Below is a picture of St. Patrick’s Day parade in Beijing that I found on the internet:

Distant water won’t quench your immediate thirst

It’s been a while since we learned a new Chinese proved. So why not do it today? There is a Chinese proverb I would like to share, and this is how it goes:

远水解不了近渴
Yuǎn shuǐ jiě bù liǎo jìn kě
Distant water won’t quench your immediate thirst

远 (yuǎn): far; distant
近 (jìn): near; close

As it is pretty obvious, this proverb implies the need to come up with an immediate solution to a problem. Now let’s see how it can be used:

远水解不了近渴，我今天急需钱。
Yuǎn shuǐ jiě bù liǎo jìn kě, wǒ jīntiān jíxū qián.
Distant water won’t quench immediate thirst, I badly need the money today.

The 还 (hái) words of Chinese language

Earlier we looked at the 好 (hǎo) words of Chinese language. Now let us look at the 还 (hái) words.

In one of the earlier posts, How to say Hello in Chinese?, we learned that one way of responding to the question “How are you?” is 还好 (hái hǎo). 还好 means Okay.

The adverb 还 means “rather; fairly”, implying that something is neither too good, nor too bad. Let’s look at some other 还 words of Chinese language:

还行 (hái xíng): not bad

还可以 (hái kěyǐ): Okay

还不错 (hái bùcuò): not bad

还凑合 (hái còuhé): not too bad

As you can see above, all of these 还 (hái) words mean either Okay or not bad. Now you can also use one of the above instead of 还好 (hái hǎo) you have been using.

How do people park in China?

We all know parking is a problem everywhere, and China is not an exception. So what is the solution? Here is one:

车 (chē): car

开车 (kāi chē): to drive a car

我开车去北京

Wǒ kāichē qù Běijīng

I drove to Beijing

停车 (tíng chē): to park a car

If you don’t want to deal with parking, why don't you take the public transportation then?

地铁 (dìtiě): subway

我是坐地铁来的

Wǒ shì zuò dìtiě lái de

I took the subway here

地铁站 (dìtiě zhàn): subway station

火车 (huǒchē): train

Can you guess how to say train station?

火车站 (huǒchē zhàn): train station

飞机 (fēijī): airplane

机场 (jīchǎng): airport

机票 (jīpiào): plane ticket

出租车 (chūzū chē): taxi

You might find the above in textbooks but the more common way of saying taxi is

打的 (dǎ di): taxi

自行车 (zìxíngchē): bicycle

我骑自行车上班

Wǒ qí zìxíngchē shàngbān

I ride my bike to work

And here is my favorite public transport in China. It might not be fun to ride but it is definitely fun to say.

公共汽车 (gōnggòng qìchē): bus/public bus

Some Chinese proverbs

入乡随俗

rù xiāng suí sú

入 (rù) = enter

乡 (xiāng) = village

随 (suí) = follow

俗 (sú) = custom

When in Rome, do as the Romans do

Meaning: When in a new place, follow the customs of the locals.

今朝有酒今朝醉

jīnzhāo yǒu jiǔ jīnzhāo zuì

今朝 (jīnzhāo) = today; the present; now

有 (yǒu) = have; possess

酒 (jiǔ) = alcohol; wine

醉 (zuì) = drunk

Get drunk while there is still wine

Meaning: indulge oneself for the moment without caring about the future

The 好 (hǎo) words of Chinese language

好 (hǎo) means good in Chinese language. You must have already seen it in 你好 (nǐ hǎo), which means Hello.

你 (nǐ) = you

你好 (nǐ hǎo) = you good = Hello

As shown above, 好 (hǎo) can be combined with other characters to mean different things. One very common combination is 好 (hǎo) + Verb. Below are some common 好 (hǎo) + Verb words:

好吃(hǎo chī)

吃(chī) = eat

好吃(hǎo chī) = good eat = tasty; delicious

我妈妈做的饭很好吃

Wǒ māmā zuò de fàn hěn hào chī

The food my mom cooks in delicious.

好听(hǎo tīng)

听(tīng) = listen; hear

好听(hǎotīng) = good listen = pleasant to listen

这个音乐很好听

Zhège yīnyuè hěn hǎotīng

This music is very pleasant.

好看(hǎo kàn)

看(kàn)= see; look at; watch

好看(hǎokàn) = good see = fine; nice; good looking

我的女朋友很好看

Wǒ de nǚ péngyǒu hěn hǎokàn

My girlfriend is very good looking.

But 好 (hǎo) + Verb is not the only way 好 (hǎo) can be used. Here are few other 好 (hǎo) words:

好心(hǎo xīn): good intention

好像(hǎo xiàng): look like; seem like

好多(hǎo duō): many; plenty

Chinese Proverb: Easier said than done

Below is the Chinese language version of the English proverb “Easier said than done”.

说起来容易，做起来难

(Shuō qǐlái róngyì, zuò qǐlái nán)

Here is the breakdown of individual characters:

说(shuō): to say

容易(róngyì): easy

做(zuò): to do

难(nán): difficult

As you might be able to tell by now, 起来 (qǐlái) is used to indicate impressions. Here are couple other examples:

看起来不错(kàn qǐlái bu cuò): Looks ok

听起来好玩儿(tīng qǐlái hǎowán er): Sounds fun

看(kàn): to see

听(tīng): to listen