Learn a Chinese Idiom-Snake Feet 画蛇添足

画蛇添足【huà shé tiān zú 】

Adding feet to a drawing of a snake

:: to ruin the effect of something by adding something superfluous. ::

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An official in the ancient State of Chu gave a pot of wine to his men to celebrate the Spring Sacrifice ceremony. One of the men said: “We have only one pot of wine, and it’s only enough for one. So, let’s play for it. The first one to finish drawing a snake in the ground wins the pot of wine.”

The others agreed and started drawing their snakes in the ground.

Then, there was a winner, or so he thought. He had finished his drawing and reached for the pot of wine. But, when he saw that the others hadn’t finished their drawings, he arrogantly said to them: “How slow you are! The way you’re going, I can add feet to my snake and still win the pot of wine.”

So, he did. He added feet to his snake. But before he could finish, another man grabbed the pot of wine and said: “What snake has feet? That’s not a snake! So, I win!”

The moral of the story is that sometimes going too far can be as bad, or worse, than not going far enough.

How to introduce yourself in Mandarin

How to say hello in Mandarin Chinese

In this lesson you’ll learn some key phrases in Mandarin Chinese including how to say hi and how to say nice to meet you. The first time you meet somebody you’ll need to say hello. To say hello or How are You in Mandarin Chinese you say: ní hǎo (你好). That literally means: You Good.

How to say my name is in Mandarin Chinese

To say my name is in Mandarin Chinese you say: wǒ jiào (我叫). Wǒ means me or I (the Chinese do not distinguish between me or I and just have one character to express both). Jiào means to be named or called. Make sure you say this with a clear four falling tone.

How to say nice to meet you in Mandarin Chinese

To say “nice to meet you” in Mandarin Chinese say: hěn gāo xìng rèn shì nǐ (很高兴认识你). Hěn means very. I kind of exaggerate the tone in the video! To say happy say gāo xìng. Make sure you get the tones right: first tone on gao and fourth tone on xing. The “X” sounds like “sh”. Rèn shì means to know or to be acquainted with somebody. It does NOT mean to know something.

How to Say The Personal Pronouns in Mandarin Chinese

·         The personal pronouns in Mandarin Chinese are surprising simple, much easier than in Western languages such as English, French or Spanish. In Chinese there is no difference between I and me, she and her, we and us, or they and them.

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·         We’ve already learned I (wǒ, 我) and you (nǐ, 你). To say he or she say tā with the first flat tone. While the sound of the word is the same for both he and she (this may be the reason why Chinese people often stumble on he and she when speaking English), the characters are different. The character for she is 她, and has a woman radical (女) on the left, while the character for he (他) has a person radical (人) on the left.

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·         To say “we or us” simply stick the word “men” on the end of wǒ (我) and say wǒmen (我们). “Men” uses the neutral tone so there is no inflection in the voice. The character men (们) literally means many people. To say “you plural” (vous in French, ustedes in Spanish or ya’ll down south) say nǐmen (你们). For “they or them” say tāmen (他们).

• How to Express Time – Verb Tenses – in Mandarin Chinese – Today, Yesterday and Tomorrow

·         The basic sentence sturcture is:  Subject + Character for when the event takes place + Verb. In thes video we use the example of going to Shanghai and learn to say “Today I go to Shanghai”, “Yesterday I went to Shanghai” and “Tomorrow I will go to Shanghai”.

·         Mandarin Chinese Present Tense
我今天去上海 = wǒ jīn tiān qù shàng hǎi
I (wǒ) today (jīn tiān ) go (qù) Shanghai

·         Mandarin Chinese Future Tense
我明天去上海 = wǒ míng tiān qù shàng hǎi

·         I (wǒ) tomorrow (míng tiān ) go (qù) Shanghai

Mandarin Chinese Past tense
我昨天去上海 = wǒ zuó tiān qù shàng hǎi
I (wǒ) yesterday (zuó tiān ) go (qù) Shanghai