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Hi, I got gifted this necklace when I was a toddler by my great-uncle. I started wearing this around 5 years ago, but I still have no idea what it means plus the great-uncle in question passed away a few years ago (thus I cannot even ask if he knew what it means). If someone knows the meaning, or if it's nonsense, I'd really appreciate it. (Or maybe it might even be in Japanese? I genuinely have no idea.)
(It might possibly be flipped, I'm not fully sure)
安 遊周 - Complete beginner trying to come up with a Chinese name. Like this for its allusions to《莊子》and wandering around all over (or in circles) for peace and ease. Does it sound silly? I'll get a name from a teacher if I can't think of something but feels a bit strange to be named by someone I'm meeting for the first time while they're also busy trying to teach!
安遊周 is odd but if you are okay with rearranging it to have the surname as 周 then 周安遊 is okay as a name, its not common though if you are wanting a common name. To me it feels masculine.
P.S. most chinese names either describe a scenery relevant to the time of birth or wishes for the persons future. So this name would not imply traveling all over to look for peace, but having peace and freedom//ability to travel, if that makes sense.
Thank you, I was under the mistaken impression that 安 in the given name would be feminine! Thank you for explaining the implication being contrary to my assumption too, it makes sense you wouldn't want to give an ambivalent name. I think you've shown me I should put faith in my teacher, it's possible I was being a little bit egotistical in thinking I'd be able to name myself well. Thank you again!
安 itself is gender nuetral, but even if an individual character is feminine or masculine that doesn't mean the overall name will be when its combined with something else. Chinese is the opposite of english where most names have a set gender, most chinese names are like jordon or jesse and can be any gender.
I think its important to remember that you can change your chinese name at any time before actually going to china. Its very normal to just choose ((or have a teacher choose)) a generic chinese name at the very beginning, then change it later when you understand chinese names more. Of course, you can also have people here help choose a chinese name too if you end up not liking whatever options your teacher has.
How to say it, they are usually interchangable in meaning, but might not always be interchangable in context, like writing vs speaking or when they are part of specific grammar construct that only uses one or the other etc.
Most correct and natural sounding would be 你吃中饭了吗? imo because 吃饭 is a split verb and this 了 modifier goes after verb. 吃了中饭 and 中饭吃了 can both be said in general but they aren't as suitable for this context. If you say them you will be completely understood just fine though.
yeah, 饭 on its own is a noun but chinese has something called split verbs which function as a single verb in meaning, but can be split apart to add more info in the middle. If you pull up these verbs on pleco dictionary you will notice their pinyin is written as chī//fàn vs just chīfàn to distinguish them.
吃//饭 have a meal
开//枪 shoot a gun
办//到 get a completion ((as in get work done, etc))
走//路 take a step
Here are a few examples. Usually they match the "verb a noun" layout in english, but not always, and not all "verb + noun" in chinese are split verbs.
Yes, I would recommend putting a note about grammar rules with the relevant definition on the flash card etc, not just for split verbs but for vocab in general.
--------
或者
sound: huòzhě
meaning: either or
grammar: cannot be used in questions
example: 我 喝 咖啡 或者 茶
-------
Maybe something like that. Even if you haven't mastered the relevant grammar yet, knowing the grammar rule applies to that vocab will help you use it correctly later.
yes it comes in the same elementary levels as second edition, but its fairly new and fairly high demand so it sells out fast. You can contact or keep an eye on the usual chinese textbook sellers like purple culture to see if there is a reprint restock, also consider places like ebay or taobao ((aliexpress)).
I recently went to TCM doctor and he prescribed some herbal medicine. I would like to know the names in English to research before I buy them. Thank you in advance.
At a glance they seem identical but not sure if being written in different order might matter.
It is impossible to research this type of medicine because it is custom made for you, it doesn't even exist yet. If you want to know more about any specific ingredient you can ask the tcm pharmacist for the name of the individual ingredients but maybe there are dozens or hundreds of individual ingredients they might not have the patience or time to go over it with you.
I don't know if I'm at the right place here but; I have an old letter my chinese grandma wrote to my non-chinese mother after visiting our family 20 years ago. We only have a faint idea of what is actually written and I'm not in contact with any fluent mandarin speakers. Would someone be open to have a look and maybe translate the letter for me? Most translating tool I've tried were quite bad. It's a 3/4 page long hand written letter in mandarin. thank you for reading :)
My dad & I were hoping to translate something his mother used to yell at him in Cantonese (lol), he only remembers it as "chu kai ya i." He thinks it might've meant something like "get out of here," but unsure. Any ideas?
maybe something with 出街? I can't think of what the other words in the phrase you mention would be but this is a phrase for going out of the house. Its not exactly a common thing to yell but I could see it being said by an exasperated parent in a "don't you have somewhere else you could be?" kinda way lol.
I am starting to type in Chinese, so I am starting to think of what to pick as a Chinese name. I feel a little weird about naming myself in general, but also I don't want to just transliterate my English name. I am hoping for some help.
For surname i thought about trying to encorporate my English name, my first name is Derek - I've never thought about it before but it has a lot of "ruler" type meanings (apparently?). I thought maybe that would be a reason to use 王? Alternatively, my last name commonly gets mispronounced with the first syllable sounding like Ma, so I am considering 马? My girlfriend's last name is 朱, so I could just use hers?
For given name I don't really have any idea, and this part seems more awkward to me.
I asked my mom for some thoughts since she would have named me: "describe me in one or two words: deep thinker", "what would you have wanted for me when I was born: to be like your father: kind".
I come from a place near the ocean, and I get homesick. I thought about trying to include the ocean? My girlfriend calls me a lucky star, I considered including that.
Okay that's all my thoughts. I have no idea. Open to any from the group 😂
王 is totally fine as a chinese surname, in fact it is the most common chinese surname, on the same level as smith in english. 马 is also fine as a surname. I don't recommend using your girlfriends surname. In chinese culture its not necessarily wrong for a couple to have the same surname but its quite unusual and odd. People might constantly mistake you for siblings or cousins instead of a couple which could be awkward.
Maybe the name 王德海? surname+ kind//virtuous + ocean, its a masculine name. Happy to think of others too if you don't like it. If your gf is chinese maybe get her feedback to see if she thinks it suits your vibes too =)
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u/Daph_AchillesWins Sep 05 '26
Hi, I got gifted this necklace when I was a toddler by my great-uncle. I started wearing this around 5 years ago, but I still have no idea what it means plus the great-uncle in question passed away a few years ago (thus I cannot even ask if he knew what it means). If someone knows the meaning, or if it's nonsense, I'd really appreciate it. (Or maybe it might even be in Japanese? I genuinely have no idea.)
(It might possibly be flipped, I'm not fully sure)