Trying to dump someone? As it turns out, muttering "thank you" and "goodbye" repeatedly isn't terribly effective, which is why our Intermediate lesson for today teaches how to sever relations with more dramatic force. You may not want to practice this Chinese on your significant other, but there's no reason not to try it on distant relatives and third-tier friends.
 said on
August 23, 2010
whats a good translation/explanation for 女人心海地震?or maybe it's 女人心海底针?
 said on
August 24, 2010
@MoNigeria,

It's 女人心海底针. I guess the translation could be "It's hard to guess/know what women think".

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com
 said on
July 7, 2013
bié bà zìjǐ dāng huíshì 别把自己当回事. ba4 should be ba3
 said on
July 8, 2013
@etbaccata,

谢谢,改好啦!

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com
 said on
September 28, 2013
I know this is website is about learning Chinese, but a little comment to Echo: there's a difference between complement and compliment. Borrowed from Latin at different times in history, they are both related to the word "complete", with the latter bearing the sense of "completing the formalities". In grammar, however, we're usually talking about the first: a word completing the expression.

I hope this helps to make your excellent podcast even better.
 said on
April 15, 2017
This is the first time I've come across 没了. I assume it has the same meaning as 没有. Can you explain when exactly it can be used?
 said on
May 10, 2017
The 了 means change of state. 没有 is the straightforward way of saying that you don't have something. 没了 means that you used to but you've just recently run out. So if the question was "do we have milk" someone answering 没了 basically means that they just drank it all.
 said on
March 20, 2022
I just e-mailed you guys, but it seems the site is working again, so I'm very happy :) and you can ignore my email.

However, I was just able to listen to this one, and liked it a lot. Just one question about the 着 pronunciation. I noticed when speaking quickly, and in the original recording (as well as one of the examples that the teacher gave in other instances), the "zh" is almost like the pinyin "r". Is this a common linked speech thing? It even almost sounds like "pai ren ne". It's like, sometimes it's a clear "zhe" and sometimes the "zh" is barely pronounced Any advice on this, or is it just something I'll need to guess from context?
 said on
March 21, 2022
The DNS provider had issues. Took out everything for a while, but should be back up.

> the "zh" is almost like the pinyin "r"

it's a different sound -- middle of the tongue should make brief contact bouncing off the roof of the mouth for "zh" (airflow is completely blocked and then re-opened), whereas with "ri" the tongue is raised towards the front of the mouth and never makes contact (although it comes close) and airflow remains open throughout.
 said on
March 21, 2022
Wow David, such a fast response, and so helpful too. Thanks so much!