二 èr – two

Today we are going to learn how to read, write and say the number two in Mandarin Chinese.

The character 二, is written èr in pinyin and pronounced like the English word “are”, with a 4th or falling tone.

It is very similar to the number 一 yī – one, which we learnt yesterday, just that it has two strokes instead of one.

一 yī – one

The first number we shall learn is the number one.

It is a single stroke, very easy to learn and very difficult to forget.

The Mandarin Chinese character 一, is written as yī in pinyin and is pronounced ee, with a 1st or high, level tone.

Today's post was brought to you by Sesame Street...

...only kidding. ;)

New theme

We have taken a short break in the last few days here at the Mandarin Word of the Day blog, while we recover from the Chinese New Year celebrations.

Now, it’s time to move on to another theme and learn some more words.

We are going to learn some very common and useful characters. So let’s get started on our new theme of numbers in Chinese.

年糕 – nián gāo – New Year cake

Today’s first character is 年, nián meaning year.

年 Nián was one of the first words we learnt in connection with Chinese New Year.

We have also seen it in the phrase 新年快樂 – xīn nián kuài lè – Happy New Year.

Today’s second character is 糕, gāo meaning cake. gāo is also suggestive of prosperity.

Together 年糕, nián gāo means a special New Year cake made from sweet finely ground rice flour.

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

gāo is pronounced gow to rhyme with cow. It has a1st or high, level tone.

元宵节 – yuán xiāo jié – Lantern Festival

Today is the Lantern Festival, also known as 元宵节 or yuán xiāo jié. It marks the end of the celebration of the Spring Festival. It is traditional to eat 汤圆 – tāng yuán – Rice flour dumplings on the day of the Lantern Festival.

The first character 元, yuán means the first or principal.

The second character 宵, xiāo means night.

The third character 节, jié means a festival, and we have seen this character before in 春节 - chūn jié – Spring Festival.

yuán is pronounced you-wan, with a 2nd or rising tone.

xiāo is pronounced she-ow to rhyme with meow, with a 1st or high, level tone.

jié is pronounced jee-air, with a 2nd or rising tone.

汤圆 – tāng yuán – Rice flour dumplings

Rice flour dumplings are made of glutinous rice and are served in soup.

The first character is 汤, tāng meaning soup or broth.

The second character is 圆, yuán meaning spherical or round. Clearly this character is not round! It certainly doesn't look like a dumpling.

tāng is pronounced tang, with a 1st or high, level tone.

yuán is pronounced you-wan with a 2nd or rising tone.

瓜子 – guā zǐ - Melon seed

Today’s first character is 瓜, guā meaning a melon.

The second character is one we learnt yesterday in 金橘子- jīn jú zi – Mandarin oranges.

Today it is with a different meaning and tone. It is 子, zǐ meaning a seed.

guā is pronounced gwah, with a 1st or high, level tone.

zi is pronounced dser, and has a 3rd or falling and rising tone.

Apparently melon seeds are a symbol of profuse earnings.

金橘子- jīn jú zi – Mandarin oranges

Mandarin oranges are a popular fruit during Chinese New Year.

The first character today is 金, jīn meaning gold.

The second character is 橘, jú meaning an orange or tangerine.

The third character 子, zi is used after a noun as a suffix. We have seen this character before in 饺子 – Jiǎo zi – Dumplings.

jīn is pronounced like gin, with a 1st or high level tone.

jú is pronounced jew with a 2nd or rising tone.

zi is pronounced dser, and is untoned.

鱼生 – yú shēng - Tossed raw fish salad

The first Mandarin character we are going to learn today is 鱼, yú meaning fish.

The second character is 生, shēng is one of those words that has many different meanings, but in this case it means raw.

Fish is usually eaten on the eve of Chinese New Year and it is considered appropriate at this time of year because the sound of the word fish, yú is also the sound of the word 餘, meaning surpluses. In eating fish at New Year people are wishing there will be surpluses all year.

yú is pronounced like the english word “you”, with a 2nd or rising tone.

shēng is pronounced shung, with a 1st or high, level tone.

扣肉 – kòu ròu – Steamed Pork Belly

kòu ròu is a steamed pork dish that is eaten during the Spring Festival. The pork is first fried, then sliced and steamed. It is a Hakka dish.

The first character 扣, kòu has many meanings including “to turn a cup over”. The meat is marinated in a clay pot which is turned over, and the meat is steamed.

The second character 肉, ròu means meat. If the kind of meat is not specified then it is pork.

kòu is pronounced koh, with a 4th or falling tone.

ròu is pronounced like roe, also with a 4th or falling tone.