Learn General Chinese

By Author: james toma
Total Articles: 86
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When you are learning Chinese culture, you could find that Chinese have developed a rich culture around the general Chinese. When you learn Chinese, you can meet a lot of general Chinese. In Chinese lessons, Chinese teachers will talk about the meaning of many general Chinese. Today, I learn the general Chinese: Happy to Death on my Chinese lesson.

Have you ever been "bored to death," or were so hungry that you said you were "starving?" If yes, you were most likely not actually near death, but were using exaggeration to intensify a situation.

In Chinese, the word "死 (sǐ)" refers to death and is generally a taboo word with negative connotations. That being said, you can often hear the Chinese saying this word for exaggeration purposes and – just like in English – it shouldn't be taken literally. For example, when it is very hot outside, you might hear people say: "热死了 (rè sǐ le)/热死我了 (rè sǐ wǒ le) the heat is killing me." This doesn't mean that the speaker is actually close to death, but they are using "死 (sǐ)" to say that ...
... it is extremely hot. This device can be used to intensify positive situations as well, such as "高兴死了 (gāoxìng sǐ le) I am so happy/thrilled to death."
If you want to exaggerate, use "死 (sǐ)" after an adjective to show an extreme degree, usually followed by "了" to show completion and final result. Take for example the adjective "累 (lèi) tired." You can say "累死了 (lèi sǐ le)" to mean "I am extremely tired/exhausted." But remember that context is important. If, for example, you read in the newspaper "病死 (bìng sǐ) death from illness," or "饿死(è sǐ) starve to death," then death really does mean death and needs to be taken literally.
Examples:
Zhōngyú dào shāndǐng le, wǒ kuài lèi sǐ le.
终于 到 山顶 了，我 快 累 死了。
We've finally reached the hilltop; I am exhausted.
Xī’ān zuìjìn rè sǐ le.
西安 最近 热 死了。
It is sweltering in Xi'an these days.
Tā shì bìng sǐ de.
他 是 病 死的。
He died from illness.
Nàge xiǎohái yǐjīng è sǐ le.
那个 小孩 已经饿死了。
That child died of starvation.

There are many extremely general Chinese in the Chinese. If you want to learn more about the general Chinese, you should learn Chinese at once! Are you interested in learning Chinese? Do you want to take Chinese lesson? Are you eager to learn Chinese? Come and join us. I hope that more and more foreigners come to learn Chinese.

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