Hearing the many interjections Chinese speakers use at the end of sentence interjections is easy: they pepper the language so much, once you start hearing them, you hear them all the time! It’s useful to figure out how to use which in specific contexts. Most likely, no one taught you about those. So today we are going to show you some funny Chinese interjections.

The first thing we should figure out is that: why the Chinese like to pepper their language so much? Actually, you can not only hear them talking with interjections but also you can see them in written Chinese, online, in a text message, etc. This is a way to show their personalities. By using these interjections, you can show your attitude too. Especially when it comes to send a message, you can’t judge the tone people speaking to you because you can’t see their face, but using the interjections, you can easily tell that one is happy or angry. Kind of like sound emojis.

Showing that you are happy

哈哈 ha-ha is the way how Chinese people are laughing. Use it when something is funny, and you are laughing loudly. We say 哈哈大笑 hā-hā-dà-xiào as a Chinese idiom. And nowadays, people like to chat with each other at the end of each sentence to show that the speaker is in a good mood or to make the talking environment more relaxed.

For example:

我一会儿去你家哈。
Wǒ yì huí qù ní jiā ha.
I’ll go visiting you later.

Other interjections can also indicate that you are happy:

• 嘻嘻 xī-xī a witty laugh always following an act of twinkle;
• 嘿嘿 hēi-hēi, a sly grin;
• 呵呵 he-he. Pay particular attention to this word 呵呵. 呵 is variant of 啊 a, to express yelling, laughing or surprising. But now, the sense various: with the overuse of the netizen chatting online, it gradually becomes a perfunctory, sarcasm word to show that you’re speechless.

Sometimes it even has an abusive meaning.

For example:

呵呵，你真有意思。
Hē hē nǐ zhēn yǒu yì si.
He-he, you’re so funny. (in fact what the speaker means “you’re so boring”)

Ninchanese is an incredible app for learning Chinese!

” I actually graduated from the University of Edinburgh with a MA in Chinese.
I’ve used Ninchanese daily, and it has helped me a lot!  “

 – Connor, Ninchanese User

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Showing that you are surprised

哎呀 āi yā is an interjection to indicate surprise or shock.
If one day you run into a friend that you haven’t met in a long time.

You can say:

哎呀，怎么是你！
āi yā zěn me shì nǐ.
A-ya, it’s you!

It can also be used merely for saluting people you are familiar with :

For example:

哎，明天早点儿来啊！
Āi, míng tiān zǎo diǎn r lái a!
Hey, come earlier tomorrow!

You can also use 哎呀 to show your pain. Like “ouch/ow-witch” in English.

You can also say 哎哟/哎唷 āi-yo when something hurts or is hard to do, so pick the one you like or use both!

chinese aya

Other words to show your surprise:

• 哇 wa wow, holy cow;
• 呀 ya,
• 咦 yí gee, a rising tone to show your doubt or surprise with a question mark. You can always hear these in a  Taiwanese or Hongkongese drama.

Showing  negative emotions

• 呸 pēi ill: To express something is disgusting or yucky, you can use 呸 pēi ill to say “bah!” or “pooh”.
  

  For example:

  呸! 胡说八道!
  Pēi! Húshuō bādào!
  Bah! That’s nonsense!

• 唉 ài : to sigh or show that you are disappointed, you can use 唉ài

For example:

唉， 真可惜！
Āi, zhēn kěxí!
What a pity!

• 哼 hèng with the falling tone is to show that you’re angry.

For example:

哼，我不想理你了。
Hèng, wǒ bù xiǎng lǐ nǐ le.
Hein, I don’t want to talk to you anymore.

Interjections in an affirmative sentence

• If you want to show you realize or understand something, you can use 哦 o and 噢 o mean “Oh, I see.”

For example:

哦/噢我懂了。
Ò, wǒ dǒng le.
Oh! I see./ Oh! Now I understand.

• 嗯 ēn is used when you give an affirmative answer like “OK” in English, it sounds like “huh/hum.”
  

  For example:
  他嗯了一声， 就走了。
  tā èn le yī shēng ， jiù zǒu le 。
  He merely said,“H’m”, and went away.

• You can also use 呃 ē to show that you are thinking about something, similar to “uh…” in English.

For example:

呃…我没听懂。
Ē, wǒ méi tīng dǒng
Eh, I don’t understand.

Questioning with interjections

Usually, the Chinese like to add interjections after the end of a sentence to signify a question tag. To show that you are asking something. There are:

呢 ne

For example:

你们在说什么呢？
Nǐ men zài shuō shén me one?
What are you talking about?

嘛 ma

再分辩了，有错误就承认嘛！
zài fēn biàn le, yǒu cuò wù jiù chéng rèn ma ！
Don‘t try to explain away the situation. If you have made mistakes, just admit them.

吗 and 啊a are also two other interjections you can use to ask questions.

In Chinese, you don’t want to be too direct or upfront, to avoid placing the other in an uncomfortable situation, where they might risk losing face. Using 吧 ba to give a suggestion or want to ask the permission is a good way to make your question softer. All these interjections are in a neutral tone.

For example:

我们走路去吧？
Wǒ men zǒu lù qù ba?
Shall we walk there?

你们在说什么呢？
Nǐ men zài shuō shén me one?
What are you talking about?
Here’s a funny story to finish this

A funny story to end this journey into Chinese exclamative particles, or interjections.

Have you heard of the show 爸爸回来了(bà bà huí lái le /“Dad is coming)? It’s a super popular reality TV show about the daily life of famous Chinese stars, especially the relationships between fathers and their kids. In the second season of “Dad is coming,” there is a very cute boy, guess what his name is? 嗯哼 ēn-héng Uh-huh! Isn’t it a funny name, made only of interjections? His parents must have had their reasons to name their kid like that, and anyway, we bet it won’t stop you from thinking that he is adorable!

chinese cute

Learn all these expressions on Ninchanese, the gamified Chinese learning app.

The Nincha Team

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Let’s take a moment to see why we recommend adding a Chinese dictionary to your learning arsenal.

Of course,  Ninchanese is the best online Chinese dictionary, but others also have good qualities.

Why do you need a Chinese dictionary in your learning arsenal?

Imagine you’re reading a newspaper or a blog post online, and right there, in the middle of a sentence, there’s an unknown Chinese character. What are you going to do? Just leave it alone? Sometimes, unfamiliar words don’t keep you from understanding the whole sentence, but in many cases, especially in Chinese, those unknown words will be an obstacle to your understanding. So there’s only one solution: look up this evil word in a Chinese dictionary.

Chinese dictionaries are also a good help when looking up unknown words you come across when traveling. Maybe it’ll be an unfamiliar word on a street sign, in a shop, or perhaps you want to understand the menu in a restaurant.

In all those situations, you’ll be glad you have a dictionary to decipher the words that escape you, whether it’s a paper, online or offline Chinese dictionary.

Don’t you agree that it’s essential to include a dictionary in your Chinese learning arsenal?

When traveling in China or learning Chinese to understand the unknown words you run into, you’ll need one. But, of course, you can’t rely only on dictionaries to learn Chinese.  Ninchanese is here to help you learn new vocabulary in Chinese, master grammar rules, and hone your Chinese speaking and listening skills. So keep your favorite dictionary for those times you’re reading Chinese texts on the Internet, and use it wisely as a help!

Online Chinese dictionaries trump Chinese paper dictionaries

Now, maybe you’re wondering: which are the best, Chinese paper dictionaries or online Chinese dictionaries? We’ll be blunt: paper dictionaries are good, of course, but we’re 100% pro-online Chinese dictionaries. Let us tell you why.

Chinese dictionaries have evolved a lot since the invention of the first Chinese paper dictionaries. Technology has made Chinese dictionaries tremendously more accessible and has helped provide everyone with dictionaries for free.

Technology has made Chinese dictionaries tremendously more accessible and has helped a lot to provide everyone with dictionaries for free.

— Ninchanese (@Ninchanese) 26 May 2016

For those born with a computer/ phone/ tablet/ phablet in their hands, believe us, you can be grateful you don’t have to experience what it was like to look up a word or a Chinese character in a Chinese paper dictionary. Looking up a Chinese character or word the traditional way in a paper dictionary was a long process. Here’s how it works:

How to look up a Chinese character or word the traditional way

Half of the time, by the time you were done looking for the character you wanted to look up in the radical list, you’d pretty much forgotten what character you wanted to look up and why. But, of course, technology has changed that completely.

How to look up a Chinese character in a modern way

With the advent of technology, looking up a Chinese character or word has never been easier.

How? If you know the pinyin or the meaning of a word you’re looking up, you can easily find it and relieve your thirst for knowledge. And what if you don’t know anything about a character you’ve seen in a newspaper, for instance? How can you find its meaning or pinyin? Not to worry, that’s simple too: just draw it!  When you need to decipher an unknown Chinese character, you can draw it.

Some online dictionaries even offer a tool to draw the character directly with your mouse or touchpad. There’s no need to be an artist to find the character you want, and most handwriting tools aren’t too sensitive.

Some online dictionaries even offer a tool to draw the character directly with your mouse or touchpad. There’s no need to be an artist.

— Ninchanese (@Ninchanese) 26 May 2016

And if there’s no handwriting tool offered, there’s still an easy way to draw your character, thanks to your computer’s IME (Input Method Editor) or using your phone’s specific Chinese handwriting keyboard or IME.

See? Much simpler.

Many features beyond the simple translation system have also been added to English-Chinese and Chinese-English digital dictionaries to help learners improve their Chinese. For instance, in most digital dictionaries, you can also hear the word’s pronunciation, which is incredible!  Being able to listen to someone pronouncing the word correctly is excellent. Then you can repeat what you hear to get the right accent and tone instead of making up a pronunciation in your head.

Also, as you’ll see in our reviews below, in some of these online translators and dictionaries, you can find examples containing the word you’re looking for. Magic and terribly useful, right?!

Ninchanese is an incredible app for learning Chinese!

” I actually graduated from the University of Edinburgh with a MA in Chinese.
I’ve used Ninchanese daily, and it has helped me a lot!  “

 – Connor, Ninchanese User

Try Ninchanese, an award-winning method to learn Chinese today:

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Technology has helped all Chinese speakers save many hours we can spend watching brilliant cat videos instead. And because we love cats, we want you to save even more time by helping you figure out which are the best Chinese dictionaries to use.

Our review of the best free Chinese dictionaries available for Chinese learners

We’ve selected our favorite free Chinese dictionaries to help you improve in Mandarin, from online dictionaries to applications. We tested three categories of Chinese dictionaries: online Chinese dictionaries, pop-up dictionaries, and offline mobile dictionary applications. We know you’ll find one or several Chinese dictionaries for you in this selection, depending on your needs.

Fair warning: We’ve left the most complex task: picking the one that fits you best! Ready? Let’s explore these Chinese dictionaries!

Free Online Chinese Dictionaries

Online dictionaries might be for you if you like to spend time online and need to look up words. However, instead of thumbing through your paper dictionary, you have to open a new tab in your browser and look up the Chinese character’s meaning or pronunciation in pinyin!

Ninchanese Dictionary

Ninchanese dictionary has been made with Chinese learners in mind. The design is very clean and neat. It has everything you need to understand a Chinese character’s meaning and how to use it.

Pros:

• Very accurate words meanings
• The simplified and traditional form of Chinese characters
• Chinese character strokes
• Sentences examples
• Character decomposition with all key elements like Chinese components to understand the deep meaning of a character
• Compounds of character where you find other characters formed with the character
• Related words of the Chinese character to know when you’ll find the character in multiple characters

Cons:

Some words could have synonyms. But The Nincha Team update Chinese character every day. So don’t hesitate to contact us.

MDBG

MDBG is the first Chinese dictionary you come across when you google “Chinese dictionary.” MDBG focuses on being a good reference for Chinese learners by offering detailed information about characters such as pronunciation, meaning, strokes, examples, etc. They’ve become quickly popular among the Chinese learning community. Did you know MDBG is also maintaining CC-CEDICT? CC-CEDICT is an open-source database to which everyone can contribute to creating a complete Chinese to English dictionary with pronunciation in pinyin for the Chinese characters. CC-CEDICT is also used by many Chinese dictionaries such as Perapera, Zhongwen Chinese popup dictionary, Pleco, etc.

Pros:
Lots of data are provided about the characters, with:

• Stroke animations that show the characters stroke by stroke and character decomposition

• Handwriting input: you can draw characters with your mouse to look them up, and that’s pretty awesome! It’s handy when you encounter a character you neither know how to pronounce or what it means.

• Example sentences for a better understanding of how words are used in context.

• A clean interface helps you find the words you’re looking for easily.

• It has an advanced search function. You can search almost everything: single characters, words, pinyin, English, of course, and look up words by character components, Cangjie input method, and more. You can also ask for Mandarin and Cantonese pronunciation.

• A new feature is the “Lookup All Chinese Words in a Text” option, which shows the meaning of each Chinese word in a text you upload. The +: you can choose the mouse over the translation option to highlight definitions as you’re reading.

• HSK level: Next to each word, its corresponding HSK level is indicated. You can learn words that fit your HSK level, just like on Ninchanese!

Cons:

• Its basic interface. MDBG is not the most colorful and playful interface to use for sure. But, as they say, don’t judge a book by its cover, right?

• We’d love to have more extra features, but this is not the purpose of this online Chinese dictionary.

Many valuable and practical tools are brought to Chinese learners with this dictionary. MDBG is an excellent online dictionary to have by your side if you need a complete one with excellent tools.

Bab.la

Bab.la is a pretty good online dictionary and translator you can translate from English to Chinese and Chinese to English. As you may know, its translator offers many languages you can switch from to target your search. Moreover, this online dictionary provides the learners with all the main stuff you expect from a Chinese dictionary: translations, pronunciations, and synonyms, as well as special features, such as a phrasebook, quizzes, and more.

Pros:

• Lots of synonyms are provided whenever you look up words. That’s interesting to get to know the slight differences between the words.

• The straightforward interface makes you want to look up tons of words.

• The audio so you can hear the pronunciation of each word.

• Context sentences that show you how and when to use a particular word.

• A forum for linguistic doubts in case you need a grammar explanation. It can also be beneficial to share your Chinese learning journey with others, just like in the Ninchanese Discord community, and ask them their opinion about a topic.

• A phrasebook is divided into six sections, from travel to business. This phrasebook prepares you for every situation you’re going to face in China, depending on your profile.

• Quizzes. Playing small quizzes can be a good help when learning Chinese.

Cons:

• Lack of extra tools such as stroke order explanations.

• The lack of Chinese specialization. We’d love to have more specific features for Chinese learning.

To sum up, Bab.la is a good dictionary you can rely on, especially if you want to explore language learning background, with forums in many foreign languages.

Let’s move to the last online Chinese dictionary we reviewed: Ichacha, a dictionary available in a few languages such as Japanese, Korean, French, Russian, and English. Ichacha translates all those languages into Chinese and vice-versa.

Ichacha

Ichacha looks like a paper dictionary. You get all its uses when looking up a word: from nouns to verbs. An extensive broad of examples is also provided.

Pros:

• Data mining technology is Ichacha’s strength. The use of data mining data technology to collect new and trendy Chinese words is a great plus. It’s cool stuff to know all the vocabulary used by native speakers.

• Several versions: you can access the English version and the traditional Chinese version.

• Example sentences: putting the word you’ve just learned in a context is the best way to remember it.

Cons:

• The interface is not the prettiest.

• Not easy to handle the dictionary at first. When getting started with this dictionary, you may feel lost, but it’s okay once you know your way around.

• The ads. You can get easily disturbed by the many ads displayed on the website.

Ichacha is an unconventional Chinese dictionary that makes Mandarin learning more accessible. In addition, the translation of new words adds a fantastic feature to this dictionary.

We agree that online dictionaries are a great help since they’re complete, but what if you don’t want to open a new tab in your browser to look up words? Have you ever thought of installing a popup dictionary? Chinese popup dictionaries are great complements to online dictionaries and also work as standalone. Let’s see what the best Popup Chinese dictionaries are!

Ninchanese is an incredible app for learning Chinese!

” I actually graduated from the University of Edinburgh with a MA in Chinese.
I’ve used Ninchanese daily, and it has helped me a lot!  “

 – Connor, Ninchanese User

Try Ninchanese, an award-winning method to learn Chinese today:

Start Learning Now

Free Popup Chinese Dictionaries

Popup dictionaries are handy when you’re reading a text online in Chinese and need to know the meaning of some words. Pop-up dictionaries instantly translate a word you don’t see as you hover over it. Instead, just hover over the word with your mouse, and the translation appears. Neat, huh?

Installing a pop-up dictionary

Chinese Pop-up dictionaries are usually plugins or extensions you add to your browser. Install them, activate them if needed and let the magic happen. Once activated, you’ll simply need to hover over a word in Chinese to see its pronunciation and meaning. Not all is wonderful about these plugins, but one thing’s for sure: they make reading Chinese online wonderfully easier. All you have to do is to hover a word with your mouse! Of course, we all wish we could use them on paper texts too. But, as they don’t exist (yet), here are two excellent pop-up Chinese dictionaries you can use online.

We all wish we could use them on paper texts too. But, as they don’t exist (yet), here are two excellent pop-up Chinese dictionaries you can use online.

Zhongwen Chinese popup dictionary

Zhongwen Chinese popup dictionary is available in Chrome. Once you’ve added it to your Chrome extensions, you can activate this popup dictionary extension by clicking on the little logo in the toolbar. You’ll then be ready to translate everything you want by hovering over words with your mouse!

Pros:

• The translation of expressions and loanwords.

• It identifies well whether you’re highlightings a group of words, an expression, or a single word.

• Its keyboard shortcuts: for instance, when you press the letter “g” button on your keyboard while hovering a word, you’re redirected to a wiki page explaining Chinese grammar rules related to that word. “T” takes you to Tatoeba, where you’ll see example sentences containing that word.

• The easy use of the plugin, once it’s installed, all you’ll need to do is to switch on and off the little icon to activate the pop-up dictionary or not. Easy!

Cons:

• Too useful. You can easily get addicted to this popup dictionary, which can keep you from improving your Chinese. Use it only when you need it.

• Only available on Chrome and Apple’s Safari.

• This popup dictionary doesn’t always recognize the new and trendy Chinese words because they’re not in the database.

If you hate complicated things, then this pop-up dictionary is for you! It is easy to install and use, and it’s advantageous daily.

The following pop-up dictionary we’ll talk about is PeraPera, which has different features. It’s going to be hard to choose!

Pera Pera

Perapera is available both in Firefox and Chrome. Whenever you meet a Chinese character or word you don’t know, hover your mouse over it, and Perapera will translate it for you.

Pros:

• Available in both Firefox and Chrome.

• You can save and export words to study them later. It’s a fantastic way to remember and learn the words you run into on Chinese websites.

• Multiple display options: should it display tone marks, pinyin, Zhuyin, simplified Chinese, or traditional Chinese? It’s all up to you.

Cons:

• Same as the Zhongwen Chinese popup dictionary. You can be tempted to rely on Perapera all the time and stop using your brain to read the characters you already know. That’s not the best way to learn Chinese.

• Not many keyboard shortcuts.

Pop-up dictionaries are helpful tools that will help you improve your Chinese reading skills, but make sure you also know how to manage without them! Also, don’t depend on them; it’s easy to get addicted to over-hovering!

Now that we’ve seen online Chinese dictionaries and pop-up dictionaries, you can guess what’s next: Mobile dictionary applications!

Free Mobile Chinese Dictionaries (Android and iOS)

Time to talk about mobile Chinese dictionaries. As you don’t always carry your computer with you, having a Chinese dictionary on your smartphone can be very practical, especially if you’re traveling or walking.

Another cool thing about dictionary applications is that you can usually use them offline. So when traveling, you won’t need to spend all your money on internet access to look up words. Instead, whenever you decide to go for a bit of adventure in the middle of nowhere with no Internet Connection or a foreign country, let’s say China, install one of these three dictionary apps, and you’ll be able to translate every word you need offline.

Lastly, dictionaries applications are also full of excellent extensions that can help you improve your Chinese. In this shortlist, these mobile Chinese dictionaries will become your go-to on the do Chinese resources!

Hanping (Android)

Hanping is an excellent Chinese dictionary app. The interface looks friendly with all the vivid colors. Hanping offers two versions: the Lite version, the free one, and the Pro version, which is the not-so-free one. As for the content, in addition to translations, word pronunciation, and Anki flashcards export options, you’ll find tools like handwriting recognition, multi-syllable audio recordings, search-by-radicals, home screen widgets, and vertical Zhuyin, and other valuable extensions in both the Lite and the Pro versions.

Pros:

• Dynamic search. This feature is pretty awesome, when you’re looking up words, the first result will be your target word, and the following results Hanping shows you are all started with your target word. And if you’re looking for a multi-syllable word, you will get all words that contain those characters in that order (even if other characters are in between).

• Idioms. Hanping contains many Chinese idioms useful for Mandarin learners thanks to predefined word lists containing popular expressions and words frequently used in China.

• Cantonese version: You can also download the Hanping Cantonese app using CantoDict data for those interested in Cantonese.

• It’s a popup dictionary add-on for your mobile device. A little pointer appears on your screen, and it translates words live. No matter which version you’ve downloaded (lite, pro, or Cantonese), you can use this add-on which comes separately (paid).

• Free full-screen handwriting recognition. Hanping offers handwriting recognition. This is a must-have tool for a Chinese dictionary.

Cons:

• Only available on Android.

• The paid add-ons. You have to pay for them, but some are worth it.

Hanping also has an OCR app called Hanping Camera that uses an innovative barcode scanner style design to read Chinese text in the wild without touching your screen.

If you’re interested in Hanping but can’t decide whether or not you should get the Pro version, it depends on the extensions you want to add. The Lite version can be sufficient for some as it’s pretty complete for a free Chinese dictionary. So give the Lite version a try and see if you want to upgrade to the Pro.

Pleco (iOS & Android)

Pleco is one of the most popular mobile Chinese dictionaries. How could we not mention it in our review? This app is available both on Android and iOS, making it more accessible to everyone. What about its features? Pleco offers a comprehensive database to search from, in which you can look up words, translations, synonyms, pronunciation, stroke order, example sentences, and more. This application also gives the users the option of adding licensed Chinese dictionaries (for a fee). Let’s explore Pleco’s features in our pro and con section below.

Pros:

• Handwriting recognition. You can look up words by drawing the characters in simplified or traditional Chinese. Plus, it’s okay to get the stroke order wrong; Pleco’s recognition deals with scribbles very well.

• A screen reader to make you more familiar with Chinese words you don’t know. You can look up Chinese words everywhere on your phone by tapping on a floating button. This tool is probably one of the best on Pleco as the word analysis is very accurate.

• Its clipboard reader: copy a text you want to look up words in, go to your clipboard reader in Pleco, and you’ll be able to look up all the words you want. Great for when you’re chatting in Chinese on WeChat

• The document reader, which works like the screen reader but for files (paid add-on on IOS and Android)

• The OCR system (Optical Character Recognition) is a recent update of Pleco that allows you to instantly translate words you don’t know by using your mobile device’s camera or tapping the word on a picture. Magic! Your phone is now a Chinese learning weapon capable of translating any sign in the streets!

• The examples show you how to use the word you’ve just looked up.

• Detailed information about the word: Pleco shows you the components in the characters, the characters in the word you’re looking for, and compound words that include the character you’re looking up.

• A wide choice of dictionaries to add. If you have specific needs or just want to compare dictionaries definitions, Pleco offers several free and paying dictionaries you can add. In addition, that allows you to see more various definitions, content, explanations, and definitions on sites that provide mono-dictionaries.

• For instance, a free Cantonese version that comes with four Cantonese dictionaries, like cantonese.org.

Cons:

• Paying IOS features. Most of these incredible tools, like the screen reader, are only available for free on Android. Sorry, Apple lovers, you’ll have to pony up.

• Many extra features. Too many, perhaps? Pleco provides lots of tools for their users, which is cool, but it can be hard to keep up with all the new extensions.

Try the screen reader tool if you’re hesitating between the add-ons you can install in Pleco. Very practical when you’re exploring the web! If you have an iPhone, then Pleco is made for you!

What about other good free online Chinese dictionaries?

You may use or find other online Chinese dictionaries or applications we haven’t reviewed here.

Here are some of them:

• Line Dict, which replaced the well-loved Nciku, a now-defunct Chinese dictionary, and learning tool.
• Youdao is a well-known online dictionary and Android app that beginners can find challenging since it’s all written in Chinese. But still, it’s a handy dictionary for advanced learners.
• YellowBridge is a free online Chinese dictionary where you can find examples, and synonyms, learn about each character’s history, etc.
• Arch Chinese is an online dictionary in which you can learn the meaning and symbol of each Chinese character according to their shape and history.

Final words

We hope you’ll find this review of these eight free Chinese dictionaries helpful! We’ve selected our favorite ones from online dictionaries to applications and added their pros and cons. All you have to do now is choose the method you prefer to decipher Chinese characters and words and bury your Mandarin paper dictionary for good! The uprising of the machine starts now! Do you already have a fave Chinese dictionary? Which of these do you use the most and why? Tell everyone in the comments!

Wondering what to read next? How about knowing how many Chinese characters and words exist in Chinese and how many you should learn? We just wrote a blog post about that!

The Nincha Team

Stay in touch with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.

Try the best way to learn Chinese today.
Ninchanese is free to use!

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The post The Best Free Chinese Dictionaries For Learners appeared first on Ninchanese.

There are many situations in which you want to add something to what you already have. For instance, when ordering food or buying things. Here are 5 expressions to learn so you can always say “I’ll have a…with that” in Chinese. Remember these Chinese grammar rules and speak like a native!

#1 和 – hé – And: to order easily in Chinese

One of the most useful Chinese expressions to say “I’ll have a… with that!” is definitely 和 hé and. You can use this one for almost everything, for example:

我要一杯茶和一块蛋糕。 wǒ yào yībēi chá hé yīkuài dàngāo. I want a cup of tea and a piece of cake.

See? This Chinese word can be used almost for everything and every situation. But if you want to sound more like a native in Mandarin, take a look at these other Chinese expressions than 和 to say “I’ll have a… with that”.

#2 还有 – hái yǒu- In addition

You’ve probably heard of 还有 hái yǒu in addition, which is one of the most common Chinese expressions, for sure! But be careful with 还有 hái yǒu. You can only use this expression when you want to add at least two things to what you already have.
Therefore, if all you want is rice with some chicken, you can just use 和. What if you’re thirsty? To add a glass of fruit juice to what you’ve just ordered, this is what you must say:

我要米饭和鸡肉，还有一杯果汁。 wǒ yào mǐfàn hé jīròu, hái yǒu yībēi guǒzhī. I want rice with chicken as well as a glass of fruit juice.

Using 还有 is really practical when it comes to asking for two or more things to add.

Basic Chinese expressions like 和 and 还有 are easy to use on daily basis, but still, they’re very common. Want to go from laowai to native speaker? Let’s jump to the third expression to learn how to literally say “plus”.

#3 加 – jiā – To add

The Chinese character 加 jiā to add is a convenient little bugger to know. It literally means “plus” and kind looks like a plus sign, doesn’t it?
The real mnemonic for it are the meaning components it is made of:

+

if you have the strength to open your mouth to ask, then you’ll have more “plus”… No?
It’s important to note that in Chinese grammar, the character 加 is always used as a verb, as “to add”.

Imagine you’re in a coffeeshop and you want a little sugar with your coffee, you can say:

咖啡加糖。 kāfēi jiātáng. Coffee with sugar.

Easy, right? Basically 加 works for most things you’d want to add IN something.
So want an extra egg in your noodles? 加 it !

我要一碗面条，加个鸡蛋！ wǒ yào yī wǎn miàntiáo, jiā gè jīdàn! I want an extra egg in my noodles!

Now that you’ve mastered the 加 thing, let’s go deeper! Sometimes you’ll come across other Chinese expressions like that can be added to 加 to emphasize the “plus” concept.

#4 再 – zài – Another / Some more

You’ll often meet 再 zài another next to 加 to say “I’ll have a…with that” in Chinese. 再 is always used before a verb such as 加. It also indicates the repetition: “some more”, “another”.

服务员，再加一个鸡蛋！ fúwùyuán, zài jiā yīgè jīdàn! Waiter, another egg, please!

Mandarin is such an accurate language, there’s a specific expression for every situation in which you want to add something. The last expression we’re going to introduce you is to only add things that match with what you’ve picked in a first place.

#5 配 – pèi – To match

The last but not least of the essential Chinese expressions like 和 to say “I’ll have a…with that” is 配 pèi to match. You may be wondering why you should use 配 to add something, aren’t you? Well, it’s simple!
This Chinese character is really useful when it comes to add something that matches what you already have.
What matches french fries the best ? Ketchup of course! So if you want to order fries and ketchup you can say:

我要一个中包薯条配番茄酱。 wǒ yào yīgè zhōng bāo shǔ tiáo pèi fānqié jiàng. I want a medium fry with ketchup.

Bonus: Hold the!

And if you wanted to explicitly say you wanted a coffee without sugar (not always an easy feat in China, as you’re in already-sweet-instant-coffee land), you could say:

咖啡不加糖 kāfēi bù jiātáng. I want coffee without sugar.

or even more simply you could say:

不要。 bùyào. I don’t want some.

Final words:

Chinese expressions to say “I’ll have a…with that” are definitely one of the most useful ones to know. By using these expressions to order in Chinese, all the doors will be open to you! I mean, what’s best than being able to ask everything you desire?
To be sure you’ll remember these expressions in Chinese forever, here’s a recap:

#1 和 hé and (the most basic Chinese word to add something)
#2 还有 hái yǒu in addition (for two or more things to add)
#3 加 jiā to add (only as a verb, to add something)
#4 再 zài another (before a verb, to repeat the action)
#5 配 pèi to match (to add things that match your order)

Do you know other expressions to order all you want in Chinese or funny stories about things that happened to you when ordering in Chinese? Let us know in the comments.

The Nincha Team

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You already know everything about how to say “yes” in Mandarin, but perhaps you’re tired of saying yes to everything?! Sometimes you just need a “OK” to let the others know you got it. Let’s help you diversify your vocabulary then with 5 ways to say okay in Mandarin Chinese. OK? Ok!

Say OK to accept a proposition

Need to answer someone’s question or show you want to accept their proposition? These three words are all good candidates to use:

好 hǎo fine 行 xíng OK 可以 kěyǐ it’s okay

These three words all show you’re okay with the idea or proposition so you can pick your favorite one to answer. For example when someone asks you :

周末去看电影吗? Zhōumò qù kàn diànyǐng ma? Should we watch a movie this weekend?

可以啊 kěyǐ a Ok, sounds great!

You can answer: 可以，好 or 行 if you want to watch a movie with them this weekend.

Say ok with 对 and 没错 – Right!

Let me introduce you two other Chinese expressions to say OK: 对 duì yes; right and 没错 méicuò right. Both can be used to show you agree with that they just. 对 means “correct” in Chinese, and 没错 means “not wrong”, so they are both often used to show your approval of what someone is saying, just like you would in English by saying “Right”.

没错 can be used, for instance to say

你说的没错! Nǐ shuō de méi cuò You’re right / You can say that again.

Say Ok with 我同意 – I agree

我同意! ”wǒ I agree

An easy way to say ok you can use all the time when you agree with something is 我同意. If you’re having a conversation with someone and totally agree with what they just said well this is a perfect way to give them feedback.
For example:
我同意你的看法 wǒ tóng yì nǐ de kànfǎ I agree with your opinion.

Say Ok with 没问题 – No problem / Don’t mention it

没问题! méi wèn tí no problem

Another very Chinese way to say OK is 没问题! It may sound informal, but for Chinese people, it’s not and they use it all the time. When using 没问题, you show you want to put one at ease, to reassure them that everything is okay. 没问题 is a word you can use in many situations when you need someone to feel okay.
For example, if you really need to leave and feel uncomfortable about going at that time, you might want to say, to seek reassurance:

现在可以走了吗? Xiànzài kěyǐ zǒule ma? Can I leave right now?

没问题! méi wèn tí no problem

Don’t you feel reassured upon hearing them say that?
Just for you to know: 没 is for “no” and 问题 is for “problem”.

#5 How to say Ok with 我知道了 – Got it

我知道了 wǒ zhī dào le I got it

You surely know about this one, I mean, it’s one of the first phrases you learn in Mandarin, right?

Wait. You don’t know this sentence? Then check out our last article about useful Chinese phrases to know more about 我知道了.

Ok, imagine, you’re in a meeting and your boss tells you that he wants you to introduce the company in front of everyone. This is your time to shine and you’re so excited. Calm yourself first and answer:

我知道了 wǒ zhī dào le I got it

Another example? Say, if you’ve been studying Chinese really hard and thought you did well on Master Yocha’s test. But then, Master Yocha tells you there are mistakes in the last test you’ve made. You may feel upset, but keep in mind that mistakes are a great way to learn. So, calm down, breathe in and say:

我知道了, 下次注意 Wǒ zhīdàole, xià cì zhùyì Got it, I’ll be more careful next time.

Master Yocha is good-hearted, he knows you’re doing your best!

#6 A non-word to say OK: 嗯

Looking for a not too wordy way to say OK? Use 嗯 èn OK / hmm!

It’s more a sound than a word but you can use it to show your approval of something that was said. Kind of like the “hmm” of agreement in English you might use when you’re okay with something. Just make sure you watch your pronunciation. If you write it or say it with a second tone like so “én”, it means “what?”. Not quite the same meaning, huh?!

#7 Bonus word to say OK: OK了

Update:  A Reddit User aptly pointed out we forgot this essential and extremely easy way to say OK: OK了

Ok了 is, as you see, simply the word okay coupled with 了. 了 as you probably know is a particle that is either used after a verb to indicate the completion of an action; or at the end of a sentence to indicate a change in situation or state, or, and its most likely the case here, as a modal particle to intensify the preceding phrase.

You use it to show your agreement to a suggestion that’s been made; such a positive answer to a suggestion to go out for a coffee or a shopping session, like so:

我们下午去看电影吧？Ok了 wǒmen xiàwǔ qù kàn diànyǐng ba? Ok le Let's go see a movie this afternoon? Ok

You can also use it to show you’ve finished doing something or accomplished something you had set out to do. For instance,

你做完作业了吗？Ok了 nǐ zuò wán zuòyèle ma? Okle Did you finish your homework? Yup.

Easy peasy, right?

Final words

There are many words to say OK in Chinese. The 5 we just shared (and the bonus grunt!) we just gave you are among the most used in Chinese. Learn these so you can be more fluent and pretend to be Chinese hehe~. OK了？！

Your Nincha Mission: Use these 5 ways to say OK to the Chinese speakers around you! Tell us how it went and if they were surprised to hear you use them!

Pauline, Yanjie and

The Nincha Team

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Cat surprise #1: pandas!

熊猫

xióng māo

panda

literally: a cat like bear

Did you know pandas were just huge cats posing as pandas? Technically, pandas are a kind of bear. But since they sort of look like cats and behave like cats , the Chinese call pandas 熊猫, literally a cat like bear.

And yup, if you want to say you have panda eyes because your makeup ran:

Cat surprise #2: Hide-and-Seek

躲猫猫

duǒ māo māo

to play hide and seek

literally: to hide the cat

Why did the Chinese call the game “hide-and-seek” 躲猫猫  duǒ māo māo, which literally means “to hide the cat”?Why choose to hide the cat rather than to hide a rabbit, or a dog? It’s simple to understand if you have a cat in your home. Cats like to play hide-and-seek. If you run in front of a cat, scare it or touch it lightly, it will run away and hide from you. But later on, it’ ll come to find you. Just like playing hide-and-seek right? So that’s why this game is called 躲猫猫 duǒ māo māo in China. 躲猫猫 is mostly used when you talk about playing hide and seek with kids. The formal way to say hide-and-seek is 捉迷藏 zhuō mí cáng, but it’s not as fun.

Cat surprise #3: Elvis Presley

猫王

māowáng

Elvis Presley’s name in Chinese

literally: the King of Cats

Bet you didn’t see that one coming! Elvis Presley’s Chinese name is 猫王 māowáng, literally the King of Cats. As far as names goes, that one rules! Elvis Presley basically earned this nickname because he dances like a cat and evokes a cat to some and he has lots of fans in China.

Here’s an article where you’ll find another Elvis Presley cat and more cats impersonnating famous people.

Cat surprise #4: Totoro

龙猫

lóng māo

Totoro

literally: Dragon Cat

You all know that lovable grey ball of fur with a huge grin in Miyazaki Hayao’s animated film “My Neighbor Totoro” as Totoro, but can you guess what the Chinese call him?

龙猫 lóng māo.

Yup, Totoro’s name in Chinese is Dragon Cat. We get the cat part, with the fur and the whiskers and what not, but the dragon part? Or is his name supposed to be Chinchilla, which are also called 龙猫 in Chinese? He does kind of look like a giant Chinchilla… If you have a clue why Totoro is named like that in China, we want to know!

Cat surprise #5: Owls

猫头鹰

māotóuyīng

Owl

 literally: an eagle with a cat head

Let’s see one last funny word with cat in it: 猫头鹰 māotóuyīng, which is the word Owl in Chinese. 猫头鹰 litterally means “an eagle with a cat head”

Wondering why Chinese people call an owl 猫头鹰, an eagle with a cat head? Just check out these crafty pictures and we’re sure you’ll figure it out.

It’s an owl? It’s a cat? It’s a meowl!

Half cat, half owl, gotta love these Meowls! They look so surprisingly natural; maybe the Chinese are onto something here? Check out Weibo user Zhumaokele for more Meowl pictures and awesome photo ops involving cats and strange oufits.

What do you think of these 5 Chinese words? It’s surprising to find cats in them, right?  Cats play an important role in Chinese “animal culture”. The Chinese not only like to use cat in a metaphorical way to express human feelings but they’ve also liked to create many words with the character for cat in it. Funny, isn’t it?

Did we miss any? Let us know in the comments!

Yanjie and 

The Nincha Team

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It’s World Happy Day today, so here’s your mission for today: Smile!

And today’s motto is:

A good sentence to remember whenever you feel down. Be happy, smile to the world and the world will smile back at you! ☼

The Nincha Team

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