Deconstructing Chinese

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Tim Ferriss 13 (8) Sentences for Chinese

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Chinese Chengyu, Sayings and Idioms

Chinese are patient, also in business. This idiom expresses the notion that success is not achieved overnight: 一蹴而就 Literally it means one step then success The idiom is most often used with a negation in front. I like the idiom especially today used about the Belt and Road Initiative which has the word "road" in its name. The idiom contains the word step 蹴 and thus goes well to describe the Belt and Road initiative which definitely is not something you can achieve overnight. It requires patience and effort and cooperation to get there. It is therefore not 一蹴而就。Learning Chinese is exactly the same. The result will emerge following many sustained steps.  ------------- This idiom will impress your business partner but especially so if you use China in the sentence 举足轻重 It means pivotal, important, significant, decisive role For example, you can say (...) 中国占有举足轻重的地位 (.. in our industry/company/country) China plays a pivotal role China probably also plays a piv...
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13 Mandarin Chinese Grammar Patterns and Structures We Love to Hate

The conventional wisdom is that Mandarin Chinese grammar is easy. After all, the hard parts are Chinese tones, characters, and chengyu , right? If you’re no longer a newbie, you might be cursing that conventional wisdom right now. Because we all know that intermediate or advanced Chinese grammar is actually really hard. Here are tips on Chinese grammar patterns and structures that I wish I’d heard when I started learning Chinese grammar. Why Chinese Grammar Patterns and Structures Are So Hard Before digging in, let’s discuss some of the reasons why Chinese grammar is difficult. First, the word order in a sentence is different from English, and this requires getting used to. (But not always – here is a simple introduction to some Chinese sentence structures ). Second, there are new concepts that have no real counterpart in English (eg. 了) – and these can throw you in for a loop because there is no analogue. Third, there are Chinese grammar patterns and structures whic...
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