3 Common Chinese Words that DON’T EXIST in English | 加油 默契 面子
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- Опубликовано: 28 авг 2024
- 3 Common Chinese Words that DON’T EXIST in English ｜加油 默契 面子
Due to cultural differences, the ways we expressing things are different.
Learning a language not just learn vocabulary and sentences, also you need to get to know the culture so you can think and speak like a native speaker.
In this video, I introduced three words with no English equivalents, and the words I mentioned are all pretty commonly used in daily life.
These three words are 加油、默契、面子. In this video, Not only did I explain their meanings, but also I gave the contexts when you can use them and some examples.
The timecode of the three Chinese words:
00:54 (1) "加油“ meaning, contexts, examples
03:26 (2) "默契“ meaning, contexts, examples
05:30 (3) ”面子“ meaning, contexts, examples
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I'm Singaporean Chinese and we use these words all the time though. Although not entirely close, you can translate the words as:
1. 加油 = all the best
2. 默契 = chemistry / synergy
3. 面子 = face / reputation
I'm Chinese American
1. "break a leg" is the idiomatic equivalent of 加油
2. 默契 is pretty much the exact equivalent of 'chemistry'. i had never heard anyone having trouble with this one.
3. 面子 is probably the only one on the list where there isn't really a real translation for. nobody really says "face" in the same context. reputation is more 聲譽 than 面子, close enough, but not really.
@@user-tz9jh6pv2j Thanks for your elaborations! :)
In a Singaporean context (and I also saw from other comments that in other countries/cultures like Turkey), we actually have equivalents of 面子. In Singapore, at least, we often just directly say "save face" or "lose face"-not sure whether this is used widely in English or Western contexts, or just our local colloquialisms.
I don’t know. Our city just calls it add oil (fully Chinese btw)
漢字是倉頡發明，古文獻稱為「書」、「書契」，漢代稱「漢字」，是世界上現存最古老的文字。它是中華民族的瑰寶。
新中國成立，史達林指示廢除漢字，"漢字拼音簡化"被提上了日程，但幾十年的探索，人們發現中國不適合用拼音文字。英語及拉丁文都是口語的拼音文化，拼音文化只與人的口語變化有關！
華夏漢文字是象形文字，是與文字的圖象本義有關，我(下麵)給你吃，是人性。
簡體字簡化了字義及辨識，失去了文字本性及意涵，我(下面)給你吃，是淫性。
簡體字過度的簡化了文字，已經失去文字的義趣，無法觀字識義，只能由口語來知道表達的意思，麵包，簡體字是面包，"面包"觀字無法識義知道是"麵包"，卻可由口語表達來知道意思是"麵包"，簡體字，變成口語轉用的日常用字，只是低階的口語日常用字，中國人還在用啊？
This is a great video! In English we have a phrase “to save face”, I think face here has the same meaning as you talked about in the video
I wonder if the 'saving face' came originally from the Chinese Expression.
@@gummynoodles9036 Actually I do think the expression was adopted by the English from the Chinese expression.
@@Zz7722zZ Yes, we got it from Chinese.
@@clairee4939 I think so, too. I rarely heard this expression used in the States, but all of my asian friends and coworkers here in Taiwan and Korea use it often.
We borrowed it from the Chinese, of course (the concept of 'saving face' did not exist in English, at least not in the same way). Same with the expression 'long time, no see'.
I always say 辛苦 is difficult to translate because of the cultural context. People use 辛苦 to mean you worked hard/thank you for working hard, but working hard is seen as a good thing. For westerners, I feel like we respond to people working hard by telling them to Take a break, Relax, Take it easy, Don’t work too hard
Actually i would feel that 辛苦 is more similar to "hardship", "going through tough times" or "been through a lot", maybe the word arduous can be used. so people use 辛苦了 (you have suffered/you have been through difficult or tough times), when someone does something for you, 辛苦了 is a form of thanking like you mentioned, showing gratitude that the person has went through some hardship or tire themselves to do something for you. So i feel that working hard may not be the best in this case, because like you said, working hard is good, which should be 勤劳
In Japanese there is a expression お疲れ様です(otsukare-sama desu) which basically means the same as 辛苦
As an American, I don't react that way to someone working hard. More people should work hard. A lazy work ethic is destructive to society just as much as overworking is destructive individually.
@@edennis8578 We all work hard. The difference is not all hard work is valued equally and not all work is even seen as work. And besides, the conversation is about language, not work ethic.
This is very helpful. I like that you slow down and show the characters and pinyin along with the translation. I also like the topic; Chinese has so many great expressions that just can't be communicated in English! My favorite is 随便
Do more of these please!
Popcapcrazy Yes! A lot of words in Chinese don’t have direct equivalences in English. So this is why I think this topic can be helpful! Glad you like it and like the way I teach ;) Thanks for your feedback!
I would like to second Popcapcrazy's comment, and also add that it's really helpful how you give examples of the words in phrases. Context is everything when it comes to learning languages.
Araxie Rose That’s true! I know that if I learned a second language, I’d like to know how to use a word in the right context. So that’s why I share these! Happy that these content help!:)
we use "anything" for 随便 for informal conversations (singapore)
@@jaekheory6006 i dont think "anything" captures the spirit of 随便. 随便 is like, i dont care. in some contexts it can mean anything (if someone is asking you what you want to order at a restaurant) but doing things in a 随便 manner means you're doing it in a lousy manner.
Chemistry is a good word for the second one! Two people who have good compatibility in personality and such and could be a good couple or team or something.
-A person who isn’t studying Chinese (Japanese instead) but clicked on this video for some reason
Yes, but in English, "chemistry" is too often used for romantic/sexual contexts that people automatically think in that direction, whereas there is no such connotation in Chinese.
For 加油, I would use "you can do this" or " you got this"
and sometimes GO GO GO!!
Or fighting
What is Chinese equivalent for the vietnamese word when a child is disrespectful to an elder ?
@@michaelkensington2494 I guess you can use 目中无人（disrespect to everyone)
I think of "Let's Go!" as encouragement but some hype involved
I really love the word 默契 but it's really hard to explain what it means to non-Chinese speakers. Usually, I explain it as mutual understanding... But I know 默契 is more than that. Good explanation!
Isn't it just synergy?
Chemistry
@@Jay-xh1iu yeah i feel like synergy or chemistry is a good translation of that phrase
Or affinity
Connection
I hope to study a Chinese language some day. The grammar seems so complicated, like a puzzle. Studying it may be hard, but I can’t imagine the amount of insight and knowledge one may obtain by studying it. Moreover, it’s a beautiful language 😄
The sentence structure is very similar to English actually. Subject, Verb, Object order. However there are exceptions and it can get a bit confusing. It is however not as difficult as Japanese or Korean which is Subject Object Verb order. Hope that gives you some encouragement!!
Chinese grammar is simpler than Japanese and even English grammar; I don't know much about it but I'm actually learning it a bit by bit by watching a lot of Netflix with the Language Reactor plugin, it's extremely useful
Thanks for teaching 面子 . 你真是很好的老师！非常感谢🙏
我覺得妳把中國語言教的很好喔！你讓我學到了很多我自己從未察覺到中英文對比。而且，妳的英文說的也很棒！
you explain things so slowly and carefully ! - thankyou so much !
Guo 老师好. 您辛苦了! You put in a lot of thoughts and effort into this video and it shows. It is very informative and educational. Again, I enjoy seeing you playing different roles to make the examples more clear and interesting. Having a few expressions / words per lesson is just right. We want quality first, then quantity later in future videos. 学好了这些句子, 说话的时候老师让我们有个好面子. 非常感谢您! 加油老师!
Chen Jun Guang 謝謝你Jun Guang! It’s really great that you can see what I’ve putted into my video and enjoy it:) Really glad you give me these feedbacks to keep me moving forward. I will 加油 for making more good quality videos and also 加油 for you to learn Chinese better! 一起加油;)
我同意! 有老师的帮助我会继续努力学习中文.
One of the few channels where I can just go ahead and like the video before I even watch it; thanks for more awesome content!
I'm really surprised, cuz we use 丢脸 and 给面子 in Turkish as well
Benzin Ekle!!!
@@sen7859 ne?
@@user-zb9rc4hv4w hani 加油 ya o yuzden benzin ekle
@@sen7859 hiç aklıma gelmemişti, hahah
You use Chinese in turkey?
The way you go through the sentences is great! thank you!
This is a helpful video! I've (unfortunately?) already had to make use of 丢脸 shortly after learning it from your video! I found your channel by way of Reddit. Keep up the great content!
aweeks007 Thanks! Haha it’s really funny to know that you used it so quickly after you watched my video:)) Glad my videos help you to express your feelings in Chinese! I’ll keep sharing more. Thanks!
Thanks for the "face" part! I've been learning chinese for years and always heard or read about this expression but in english and never learned how to say it in chinese
我真的喜欢您的教法 我真的很开心如果您
教一教 关于（吧 吗 呗 啊 咯 拉 呀....）是怎么用的提前谢谢啊🙏 都是很难 不知道什么时候该用哪个😿
你的课业是很棒. 非常感谢你.
谢谢您老师您太棒了！
Love your channel.
Thank you!
Very helpful. Thank you!
Thats cool 👌 I often hear jiayou but its nice to know it has different other meanings other than good luck
Bryan Montero yes there are many different situations can use this word;)
@@GraceMandarinChinese i heard jiao you too but i didnt know what it means
“ mo qi “ = kindred spirit in English!
这个课很有用。谢谢老师 。👩🏫
Tan Rathana 不客氣 很高興你喜歡！😆 （不客气 很高兴你喜欢！）
我喜欢这个电影 - 谢谢你！ I love all the details and the cultural notes - 再见！
二人配合得很默契
I was just thinking about 加 油 and now I know. 谢谢
When I was in China I told one of my Chinese students that I wanted to improve my Chinese. She said 'c'mon'! Fortunately I knew that she was translating directly from 'jia you' and that she was actually trying to encourage me, not berate me for being too slow😅 (jia you can have many different translations in English. 'C'mon' in this context sounds more like 'hurry up' and is actually more appropriate for a sports carnival, or competition. It would have been better for her to say 'you can do it'! Chinese students are often taught at school that jia you means 'c'mon' in English but this does not always translate very well)!
In internet speak, it is now add oil.
Thanks for making these videos! As someone living in Taiwan trying to learn Chinese, it's really nice to have someone clearly explain language topics relevant to Taiwan. Most of the online tools are specific to Chinese Mandarin and don't touch on things like this. And you're doing it all for free! Wow
ive gotten into learning mandarin. I've watched several different videos, this one works for me-slow, breaking it down. good job! subscribed
So right, so right, Grace; there are so many Chinese words and expressions which are, not only difficult, but virtually impossible to translate to English. Please add some more examples. Thank you.
The last expression is so interesting because it means 'don't have a face' and you use it when someone's feeling shameful. In my language, Hungarian, we also have an expression like that: "arcátlan". It literally means 'faceless' but it means that someone has no shame or shameless or insolent so it's the complete opposite! :D
Very very beautiful explanation.
Another excellent helpful video!
Very nice quality as always, thank you Grace! I often see in the Chinese dramas boss written 老板 in 简单的汉字 rather than 老闆.
This was absolutely fantastic! Thank you so much for helping us wrap our head around the concept of "face" as well! This was so interesting!
You're doing a good job! Keep going! I can really realte to you because I teach English the way you teach Chinese. When students don't understand me I feel really embarrassed because they make me look bad. If only I knew how to say all that in Chinese. :D
This must have taken so much effort. Thank you for the video. I would like to give more thumbs up.
I really like those little 对话 in your video, hope it will be 长一点儿😇 its help a lot our 听力
This explained a lot. Thank you
Caleb M You’re welcome Caleb:)
I wish I had known this channel when I studied Chinese at university, then I would not have been so tired of studying Chinese at that time
That’s why China ❤️ and Germany are so connected 😃👍:
We also have 加油 in German: „Gib Gas!“ means give more gas(oline)... means, do it, hurry up, speed up, get going...
Lol I live in germany
Ja das ist war mit den gib Gas
really interesting topic definitely do another one.
Glad you like it! :)
rapport is the english word for 默契 i believe...building chemistry too
I love your videos!
I learn Japanese right now but now I wanna learn Mandarin too! I love how it sounds and Japanese also made me fall in love with Chinese characters!
Hanzi/kanji are a piece of art!
I was thinking of "add gas" could be something like "keep it up" (坚持下去).
在加拿大我們常說 “give er" ， 意思就是‘加油’，是為了鼓勵他人。我覺得它們很像，尤其是因為 'give er' 也跟開車有關係！
Thank you Grace for this video - really helpful to understand more idiomatic phrases. Thank you for putting both simplified and traditional Chinese characters - it's interesting to see the difference between the 2.
A great video! Thank you. I would love to learn about Chinese proverbs, especially the ones you might here in an everyday conversation! Those are something you can't often translate straight to English but instead have to explain the meaning.
加油：go! / come on!
默契：rapport
面子：reputation / face (挽留面子：save face)
面子 = ego
默契 = chemistry, teamwork
The fact that love is the same in Mandarin Chinese and Japanese is satisfactory.
These are so enjoyable to watch :) thnx it really helpful
I love your videos! Thank you for these especially. One of my favorite parts of other languages is the words that don't translate. :)
really helpful thanks!!! Can you do a video on chinese slang?
vt I’ll think about that! Thanks for the advice ;)
@@GraceMandarinChinese i will be waiting for this one. This gonna be so interesting
@@GraceMandarinChinese because never will be found in any book
“ jia you “ = you can do it! or “attaboy “ in English or even “ way to go “ !
The literal translation is add gas/oil I think
Lennier Smith i thought of 加油站
awesome, thank you!
The nearest English equivalent for the 3 Chinese words are:
(1) 加油 - Keep it up or You can make it or Be strong & courages
(2) 默契 - Good rapport, or unspoken understanding or soulmate
(3) 面子 - self pride or face saving or lose face
For (2) the better equivalent would be "good chemistry".
Good rapport is fine, but it feels more professional, like in "The HR and Finance department have good rapport with one another." It feels a little weird to describe couples or when the personalities of two people bounce of each other well. "Chemistry" is a much better choice.
"unspoken understanding" can be used more broadly and even negatively, so it's not an equivalent to 默契.
E.g. "With the ongoing tornado, there was an unspoken understanding among the teachers and students that tomorrow's classes will be cancelled."
"soulmate" is a person, not the abstract concept of 默契. You can't say "Tom and Jane have a good soulmate." Also, two people being soulmates does not neccessarily mean they have great chemistry. "Soulmate" is not 默契.
For (3) - "Self pride" is kinda awkward, nobody says that. "Dignity" would be a close synonym to 面子. But even then, "dignity" feels too refined. "Face" in the context or "save face" or "lose face" would be the best explanation.
For (1) You're absolutely right on that one. Not a big deal, but it's spelled "courageous".
I would suggest another word: 緣分. It means some magical coincidence that brings people together.
To be honest there are english words that express similar meaning to all of these Chinese words. Fate is very close to 缘分.
@@zeth479 Or serendipity
我真的很喜欢你的发型，老师Grace！
Your a Good teacher in the World!
I am a laowai that lived couple of years zai Zhongguo ... I always understood Jia you as Let's Go!!!
It is nice to learn other way of using the word...
Xie Xie ni, ni tai lihai !!!
Let's go is not really accurate though since the speaker is not gonna do what he is encouraging the listener to do.
"You go girl !" is more close.
@@da96103 I remember at the 2008 Olympic the entire crowd saying so I think this is were I started to think it was
突然發現這頻道也可以順便學英文..... 你對英文的理解好深入呀 台大中文系都這麼猛的嘛!?
沒有啦，我英文其實還好... 是很幸運有美國朋友願意幫我 :P
加油 = Do your best, you got this, keep it up
默契 = Chemistry, synergy, tacit understanding, mutual understanding
面子... Yeah the closest thing I can think of for this one is reputation, which isn't usually a good equivalent. There's "face", but only when you're talking about losing face or saving face.
I heard loud JiaYou chant on Live TV in Olympic very much.
Thank you!
Анна Пелеева You’re welcome ;)
默契is sometimes translated as "camaraderie", while 面子 is literally "face", which is actually used in english
默契 is translated to chemistry in english
Basically this what I have heard/seen:
1. 加油：the closely related would be the common English saying, “break a leg.” Others include saying “you can do it” and “go, go, go!” or “go [insert subject’s name]!”
2. 默契：chemistry and synergy are almost exact translations. But for some reason synergy has a much more similar feeling to 默契。
3: 面子: for sure, the best translation is face when referring to reputation. Just because someone may not have heard it said before, does not mean “face” is incorrect. Example: I don’t want to lose face in front of your parents.
Hi Grace "Fill in some gas for a vehicle" is not a thing we say in English. It just further demonstrates how awkward this word is to translate directly!
A lot of Hong Kongers will direct translate and say "add oil" in English as well which is always amusing.
Anyway we say fill (up) a vehicle with gas. There are a few different ways to say it but we won't normally use the preposition 'in' with the verb fill except in the archaic sense (fill in the blank) or some other rare cases such as 'filling in holes' such as a pothole in the road.
It can be confusing because with other verbs like put it's ok, and up is wrong. Put in five gallons of gas.
加油 is a great interesting and broad expression too because it can be used as a metaphor for long term or short term encouragement.
If you use the vehicle metaphor adding fuel means you can keep going which is good for long term goals like working on a long term project.
If you use the metaphor like adding fuel to a fire it's like a short burst of intensity GO GO GO like when you shout for your team at a sporting event...or if you want to keep going with a car metaphor it's like saying USE THE NITRO BOOSTER!
I love language like this and I wish we had a universal term like this in English! I'm sure there are colloquial phrases that fit but they're not universally known or used like 加油。 We need that universal encouragement word in English!
Hi Daniel! It's so interesting to know these! I know that some Mandarin speakers directly say "add oil" in English, so many native English speakers start knowing the meaning of this word :P
Also, thank you for letting me know "fill" doesn't usually go with "in", I'm still trying to use the preposition right haha it's so hard for the non-native speakers.
I really like the way you interpret 加油, so vivid!
It's not all that different from "come on" or "let's go."
Um, wow that's so accurate. Every tume when I try to say those in English I always get stuck
Another one could be 幸福, something luke happiness (?)
對話劇不錯笑，一度以為是不同兩個人在演
星星S 哈哈兩種完全不同的style 😂
I’m from Hong Kong, and I speak Cantonese. These terms do sort of exist in Cantonese, but it’s more slang-ish
加油 tho, I really enjoy your content
This is great!
Haha, Good video !
This happens to me often between French and English...
We have very significative words that don't exist in english...
So, because that, Google translator do often mistakes between French and Chinese. Because it translates, passing by English. And it's really a pity. A direct translation would be so better...
If you have chance a day to teach Chinese to French people, you will see the difference. :)
Another thing : Chinese pronunciation is more difficult for English people. Because some sounds don't exist for them.
Love China form Pakistan 🇵🇰❤️🇨🇳
پاک چین دوستی زندہ باد .
thank you for having traditional Chinese subs too
iv always taken the meaning of 加油 as in cheer up, you can do it or hwaiting which is used in korean
in singapore, we translate word by word for these phrases
谢谢
This was a great lesson... anyway, what's the name of the song at the end of the video? Name and artist? Anyone?
I'm new at Mandarin but It looks to me the " particle " seems top reference a thing, in english we would use the word "one " but the multiple meanings of the word "one" may make that confusing.
Do I have that right ?
We also don't have the expression "eat vinegar" for jealous.
Jealous? You dobt have a word for jealous?
@@velkylev4217 jealous or envious. I'm talking about in English. I've never heard anyone use a saying or idiom for jealous in everyday speech.
@@ryanr8121 ye , but no one is talking about idioms and sayings. It's about words
@@velkylev4217 "eat vinegar" is a saying that we don't have in English. Something that doesn't translate into English. It means jealous..I know.
hello, im german, and i really love asian languages and the characters that come with it.
really interesting to learn for me!!! how you people learn this in school, so disciplined.
i feel like we are missing out this type of culture in our nation.
First one I'd suggest if looking for a translation to work in most if not all uses would be "You got this"
As someone else mentioned "face" is used in a similar manner in English.
“Let’s go” is used pretty similarly to 加油
To wish someone good luck in english there is an idiom they say it "break a leg"
哈哈，很喜欢这个视频，我觉得下次还可以多讲两个词（‘意思’，‘方便’）
方便 = convenient
默契can use chemistry/synergy/rapport
1 - You can do this!
2 - Chemistry
3 - Persona
Could I have some frozen 默契？ Green Tea and red bean are my favorite flavors.
Tbh 加油 could be translated to the phrase “add oil” according to the Oxford dictionary. The word was added in 2018 and has the same meaning and it could just be interpreted as “go for it” or similar terms.
好視頻！
加油算不算是俚語？
爱你没怒☺️
Can someone please tell me what the difference between the blue and the black text is?
Good luck to all Mandarin language learners, I think it's the second most important language to learn other than English. 加油 我相信你们的
Spanish
加油 is more like,
Good luck you got this, I'm rooting for you, relax, stay clam, it's alright, you can do this, try your best 😂
默契 can also be translated to synergy I think.
the fact that all your example conversations end with a 无语 ending lmfao- I'm chinese but I still enjoy watching ur vids
I frequently heard jai you in the slum dog millionaire movie
i think that 加油 could be used in place of "break a leg" in english, would i be correct in saying this?
老师，您说话带口音，谢谢，左花自阿尔及利亚。