福 – fú – Good fortune

Today’s word is a single character 福, fú meaning good fortune, blessings or happiness. It is pronounced foo, with a 2nd or rising tone.

This character is usually seen hanging upside-down on doors. The word for upside down, 倒, dǎo is similar to 到, dào meaning to arrive. So, when it is hung upside down the character 福, fú symbolizes the arrival of happiness.

If you would like to support this blog, we have t-shirts and other items for sale in our online Mandarin Word of the Day shop at CafePress. These items feature the character fú upside-down, of course, and the Teddy bear is particularly cute.

恭喜发财 – Gōng xǐ fā cái – Congratulations and Be Prosperous

Today we have another traditional saying for the Chinese New Year. This is another phrase you can use to wish someone a happy new year.

The first two characters together 恭喜, gōng xǐ mean congratulations.

The first character 恭, gōng means to be respectful or reverent. gōng is pronounced gung with a 1st or high, level tone.

The second character is 喜, xǐ which can mean happy or delighted. xǐ is pronounced she, with a 3rd, or falling and rising tone.

The last two characters 发财, fā cái mean to become prosperous, or make a fortune.

The character 发, fā means to become, to develop or expand. fā is pronounced far, with a 1st, or high level tone.

The character 财, cái means wealth or money. cái is pronounced sigh with a 2nd or rising tone.

新年快樂 – xīn nián kuài lè – Happy New Year

The first character today is 新, xīn meaning new.

The second character is the one that we have already learned, 年 Nián meaning year.

The third character is 快, kuài meaning happy.

The fourth character is 樂, lè also meaning happy.

Altogether they mean Happy New Year! It's a little early to be using this phrase yet, but it's good to learn it in advance.

xīn is pronounced shin, with a 1st or high, level tone.

Nián is pronounced ni-yen, with a 2nd or rising tone.

kuài is pronounced k-why, with a 4th or falling tone.

lè is pronounced ler, also with a 4th or falling tone

年 Nián – year

There is a legend that in ancient China there was a man-eating beast called 年, Nián. It was a ferocious creature that would appear every twelve months, in spring, and eat people.

The villagers were scared and asked the advice of a wise old man. He told the villagers that the beast was frightened of the colour red. He told them to make loud noises, bang drums and let off firecrackers to frighten the beast away.

This was how the New Year celebrations came into being. The word Nián also means “year”.

Nián is pronounced ni-yen, with a 2nd or rising tone.

春节 - chūn jié – Spring Festival

With Chinese New Year approaching we’re going to tackle a new theme on the Mandarin Word of the Day blog. We will be learning Chinese words connected to the celebration of the Chinese New Year.

The first character today is 春, chūn meaning Spring. Chūn is pronounced chun, with a 1st or high, level tone.

The second character is 节, jié meaning a festival. Jié is pronounced jee-air, with a 2nd or rising tone.

The Spring festival is commonly called Chinese New Year in the West. Over the next few weeks, as the Spring Festival is celebrated we will be learning Mandarin words that relate to the fifteen day festival.

皮划艇静水 – pí huá tǐng jìng shuǐ - Canoe/kayak flatwater

The first character today is 皮, pí meaning skin or leather.

The second character is 划, huá meaning paddle.

The third character is 艇, which means a light boat.

Together 皮划艇, pí huá tǐng means a canoe or kayak.

The fourth character is 静, which means still or calm.

The fifth character is one we have already learnt, it is 水, shuǐ meaning water. We have seen this character in 水球, shuǐ qiú meaning Water polo and also in 跳水, tiào shuǐ which means Diving.

When they are combined 静水, jìng shuǐ literally means still or calm water.

So, the whole phrase means Canoe or kayak in flatwater.

pí is pronounced pee, with a 2nd or rising tone.

huá is pronounced hwah, also with a 2nd or rising tone.

tǐng is pronounced ting with a 3rd, or falling and rising tone.

jìng is pronounced jing, with a 4th or falling tone.

shuǐ is pronounced sh-way, and has the 3rd or falling and rising tone.

赛艇 – sài tǐng – Rowing

Today we will learn the mandarin word for the Olympic sport or Rowing.

The first character is 赛, sài which means a competition or contest.

The second character is 艇, tǐng which is a word for a light boat.
sài is pronounced like the English word sigh, with a 4th or falling tone

tǐng is pronounced ting, with a 3rd or falling and rising tone.

帆船 – fān chuán – Sailing

Today’s first character is 帆, fān meaning to sail.

The second character is 船, chuán meaning a boat.

Together they mean Sailing.

fān is pronounced like fan, with a 1st or high, level tone.

chuán is pronounced chew-wan, with a 2nd or rising tone.

柔道 – róu dào – Judo

The first character we are going to learn today is 柔, róu which means soft or yielding.

The second character is one that we have met before in the word 跆拳道, tái quán dào or Taekwondo. The character is 道, dào which means way.

Together these characters mean the soft or yielding way of way of fighting. In Judo the aim is to use your opponent’s strength against him.

róu is pronounced j-row, with a 2nd or rising tone.

dào is pronounced to rhyme with ow, with a 4th or falling tone.

击剑 – jī jiàn – Fencing

The first character of today’s word should be familiar. We have seen 击, jī before in the word 拳击, quán jī meaning boxing. Also in 射击, shè jī meaning shooting. It means to hit.

The second character 剑, jiàn means a sword.

The sport that involves hitting with a sword is Fencing.

jī is pronounced jee, with a 1st or high, level tone.

jiàn is pronounced j-yen to rhyme with yen, and it has a 4th or falling tone.