New Phrases: Days

Posted by Charlie @ Discovering Mandarin Tuesday 11 August 2009 0 comments

Today I wanted to quickly go over the days of the week in Mandarin Chinese. So, if you have been following this blog, you will already know the Chinese numbering system, and this is crucial in the logical system that the Chinese use for names of their days.





Weekdays

So here goes, the first day of the Chinese week: (Monday) is called 星期一 (xīng qī yī) which is literally "star period 1". (bearing in mind months and weeks are historically based on the moons movements) or "small amount of time 1".


星期一
xīng qī yī
Monday

The following days of the week are surprisingly easy and make perfect sense following the numbers starting on Monday, through our usual week.

星期二
xīng qī èr
Tuesday

星期三
xīng qī sān
Wednesday

星期四
xīng qī sì
Thursday

星期五
xīng qī wǔ
Friday

星期六
xīng qī liù
Saturday

星期天 / 禮拜天
xīng qī tiān / lǐ bài tiān
Sunday

This sytem follows the whole way through to Sunday, where I am told, whilst 星期天 (xīng qī tiān) is the formal way to say Sunday. However 禮拜天 (lǐ bài tiān) is literally: worship day.


Common Phrases: Days


tiān
day

今天
jīn tiān
today

昨天
zuó tiān
yesterday

明天
míng tiān
tomorrow

每天
měi tiān
everyday

有天
yǒu tiān
someday



Sentences that may be useful:

那一天是什么?
nǎ yītiān shì shénme?
What day is it?

今天是星期二
jīntiān shì xīngqī'èr
Today is Tuesday

昨天是星期一
zuótiān shì xīngqīyī
Yesterday was Monday

今天我去商店
jīntiān wǒ qù shāngdiàn
Today I went to the shop

昨天我去商店
zuótiān wǒ qù shāngdiàn
Yesterday I went to the shop

每天我去商店
měitiān wǒ qù shāngdiàn
Everyday I go to the shop

星期一我会去商店
xīngqīyī wǒ huì qù shāngdiàn
Monday I will go to the shop

明天我会去商店
míngtiān wǒ huì qù shāngdiàn
Tomorrow I will go to the shop

上周五我去商店
shàng zhōuwǔ wǒ qù shāngdiàn
Last Friday I went to the shop

明天永远不会来
míngtiān yǒngyuǎn bùhuì lái
Tomorrow Never Comes

明天永远不会死的
míngtiān yǒngyuǎn bùhuì sǐ de
Tomorrow Never Dies

昨天,所有烦恼似乎已经离我远去。
zuótiān, suǒyǒu fánnǎo sìhū yǐjīng lí wǒ yuǎn qù
Yesterday, All my troubles seemed so far away

I hope this makes clear the Days in Mandarin, and some of the uses and application. I will make weeks and months one of the next few posts.


Charlie

Yesterday Lyric Translation

Daily Chinese Proverb: Feed or Fish?

Posted by Charlie @ Discovering Mandarin 0 comments

This is an often quoted proverb yet often one of the most overlooked in diplomacy and forieng policy around the World. When Western countries think they are helping in Africa etc. Charities give away wells, factories, grain, farms or schools (the fish) but don't teach the people that need to use them day-to-day the wisdom and the knowledge they require to maintain these services or products.

Feed a man a fish and you feed him for a day.
Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.

养活你人鱼饲料他一天。教人捕鱼,你养活他一辈子。
yǎnghuo nǐ rén yú sìliào tā yītiān。 jiāo rén bǔyú nǐ yǎnghuo tā yībèizi.

Unknown Author (although commonly misattributed to Confucius)



Unless he doesn't like sushi—then you also have to teach him to cook.
除非他不喜欢寿司,那么你也教他做饭。
chúfēi tā bù xǐhuan shòusī nàme nǐ yě jiāo tā zuòfàn.

Auren Hoffman, Herald Philosopher


I must add that these are the first translations that I have attempted, using a translator for only the words that I didnt know, but me putting together the entire sentences. Apologies if they are wrong, and I welcome any corrections. I also couldnt find any other record of this latter quotation in Mandarin already (though I am sure it must have been).


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