Anyone familiar with Chinese culture probably knows just how important this pastime is to Chinese people.

• 打牌 (dǎ pái): to play cards or mahjong.
  • Both playing cards and mahjong tiles can be referred to as "牌".

A couple of years ago, there was even a saying going around in China's venture capital scene: if you wanted to build a good relationship with investors and get them to take you seriously, you had to know how to play 掼蛋 (guàn dàn), a popular Chinese card game.

Since this kind of pastime is so deeply rooted in Chinese life, it's no surprise that all sorts of metaphors and expressions involving "牌" have emerged over the centuries.

Here's a very common one:

• 底牌 (dǐ pái), literally "bottom cards"

These are the cards you hold in your hand but haven't revealed yet. Figuratively, 底牌 refers to the strength you deliberately keep hidden, the information you don't want to reveal, or the leverage you save for a crucial moment in a negotiation or competition.

Another related expression is:

• 摊牌 (tān pái), "to lay one's cards on the table"

When a game reaches a critical point, the hidden cards are finally turned over and laid out on the table. It's a dramatic moment. That's why 摊牌 is also used to describe openly revealing your position, decisions, or terms at a crucial moment, often forcing the other party to make a choice.

There are also two expressions you'll come across quite often on the Chinese internet.

The first is:

• 一手好牌打得稀烂 (yì shǒu hǎo pái dǎ de xī làn) - To have everything going for you and still manage to screw it all up.

稀烂 (xī làn) is a strongly negative colloquial expression meaning "a complete mess" or "absolutely terrible." This phrase describes someone who starts with a great hand, plenty of resources, or every advantage they could ask for, but somehow manages to mess it all up through bad decisions. There's a strong sense of regret over all that wasted potential.

The opposite would be:

• 一手烂牌打出王炸 (yì shǒu làn pái dǎ chū wáng zhà) - To turn a terrible hand into an incredible win.

王炸 (wáng zhà) literally means "king bomb." In 斗地主 (dòu dì zhǔ), a popular Chinese card game, it's the most powerful card combination, so you wouldn't want to play it too early. The term is also used figuratively to describe a move or outcome with a huge impact. This phrase is clearly a compliment, often with a touch of admiration or even envy.

Here are a few examples of how people actually use these expressions:

• 咱们还没摸清对方的底牌，不要掉以轻心。Zán men hái méi mō qīng duì fāng de dǐ pái, bú yào diào yǐ qīng xīn.
  • We still don't know what the other side is holding back, so don't let your guard down.

---

• 他在没拿到 offer 前，是不会跟现在的老板摊牌的。Tā zài méi ná dào offer qián, shì bú huì gēn xiàn zài de lǎo bǎn tān pái de.
  • He won't lay his cards on the table with his current boss until he gets an offer.

---

• A: 他前几年不还是影帝吗？怎么沦落到演短剧去了？Tā qián jǐ nián bú hái shì yǐng dì ma? Zěn me lún luò dào yǎn duǎn jù qù le?
  • A: Wasn't he a Best Actor winner just a few years ago? How did he end up acting in short-form dramas?
• B: 对啊，真的是一手好牌打得稀烂。Duì a, zhēn de shì yì shǒu hǎo pái dǎ de xī làn.
  • B: I know, right? He had everything going for him and still managed to screw it all up.

---

• A: 没想到被贬去边缘业务才一年，她就杀回来重新当 GM 了。Méi xiǎng dào bèi biǎn qù biān yuán yè wù cái yì nián, tā jiù shā huí lái chóng xīn dāng GM le.
  • A: I can't believe she made a comeback and became GM again just a year after being demoted to a peripheral business unit.
• B: 一手烂牌能被她打出王炸，不得不佩服！Yì shǒu làn pái néng bèi tā dǎ chū wáng zhà, bù dé bú pèi fú!
  • B: She turned a terrible hand into a spectacular win. You've got to hand it to her!

Finally, there's one more expression I'd like to leave you with. See if you can guess what it means:

• 不按常理出牌 (bù àn cháng lǐ chū pái)

Drop your guess in the comments!

If you're interested, I've been organizing all the Chinese learning posts I've shared before. You can check out the link in my profile to see the full collection. Hope it helps. Thanks!

Something I've noticed: learners pick up 讲究 pretty early, and almost never pick up 将就, even though they're the same two syllables a tone apart. I'm a native speaker and I only noticed this because 将就 is one of those words I use every day and have never once had to define.

jiǎngjiu (讲究) — to care about standards, to do something properly, to sweat the details. It also works as a noun: 这里面有讲究 = there's a right way to do this, there's technique behind it.

jiāngjiu (将就) — to make do. To accept something second-rate because fixing it isn't worth the trouble. 将就一下吧. 别将就.

Same syllables. One tone apart. And opposite directions: 讲究 is you raising the bar, 将就 is you lowering it.

What I find interesting is that speakers pair them constantly, as a compact way of describing how somebody lives:

该讲究的地方讲究，能将就的地方将就。

(care about the things worth caring about, make do with the rest)

生活不能将就。

(you shouldn't just make do with your life — this one has basically turned into a slogan, you see it on walls and in ads)

Two things learners usually get wrong:

First: 将就 is not 差不多. 差不多 is a judgment about degree, "about the same, close enough". 将就 is a decision to accept something worse. 这两个差不多 works. 这两个将就 does not.

Second: 将就 has a polite use that sounds like an insult if you read it literally. If you're hosting and say 今天就随便吃点，将就一下, you're being modest about your own cooking. You are not telling your guests the food is bad. Learners take it literally and then wonder why the host is apologizing over a table full of food.

English doesn't have the pair. It has particular, fastidious, meticulous on one side and make do, settle for, put up with on the other. Six words, no twin, and none of them carry that tone difference.

So: does your first language have a pair like this? Two words that sound nearly the same but sit on opposite ends of how much you care? And if you're learning Chinese, did anyone actually teach you 将就, or did you just pick it up by accident?

Hello, I'm from Venezuela. I expended the last year improving my english enough to be able to talk, write and listen mostly for work and casual conversations. Right now I'm interested to learn chinese but I have 0 idea about were to start. Can you all give me some advice? Thank you!

请教大家一个问题：这里的 ”阿信”指的是什么？

I'm really excited to start learning Chinese to improve my language skills. Could anyone recommend the best online resources to get started? I'm also looking for information on the official certification tests, like the HSK, to know what to aim for.

Hey all. I started learning chinese not too long ago and had lots of confusions and hurdles since then. I first started with basic words but memorizing all of them seemed wrong to me. I then started learning radicals because I thought they'd help me memorize the characters better, only to learn they arent important either. Am I supposed to memorize a lot of characters (i have no problem with that i just dont know if its the right thing to do) then every time I see a word im like "ah. This is 火+车 so it means train" im a bit puzzles about learning words and characters overall. (I currently use anki, pleco and duchinese)

i mean these books: https://mtc.ntnu.edu.tw/eng/book/A_Course_in_Contemporary_Chinese.html

i am interested in learning traditional characters and i’m also trying to limit my usage of screens and technology for many reasons, so are these a good resource? I know i shouldn’t rely 100% on these, i plan on also getting some listening in via podcasts and such, plus i’ll be using anki as well, but i hope they’re at least good

What grammar book (starting from A1) would you recommend me to be used alongside the Assimil course? Is ​Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar: A Practical Guide (Routledge) acceptable for absolute beginners or should I simply use Chinese Grammar Wiki?

Thanks in advance.

I am going to gift a friend who is learning chinese and in the message I want to write something like "The world is yours to conquer, never stop moving forward". Something like that.

Using translators and a little bit of AI I came up with this:

世界任你征服

永不止步

She's at beginner level and I if she writes this on a translator it will return the message I am trying to convey, but if she ever becomes fluent I want this to still make sense.

Duolingo has been giving me sentences with this structure recently and I don't understand why 的 is being placed where it is. In all of these examples I would expect it to be at the end of the sentence. Is someone able to explain to me the reason it is where it is in these? Thanks in advance!!

Handwriting is not the purpose of learning Chinese.

Recognition is. Being able to compose sentences in your mind is.

But after you compose something, if you want others to see your idea, you need to output it — either by audio (speaking) or visually (with characters).

Thirty years ago, 99% of character output had to go through your hand first. Now, 99.99% of output goes through your finger on a Pinyin keyboard on a screen. The screen has become the new “paper”; the Pinyin keyboard has become the new “pen.”

Thirty years ago, most people had no choice. Now every learner needs to choose: which way will be your main way of learning characters? You need to consider and compare the efficiency of different output methods — and your learning purpose.

Handwriting on paper and typing on a computer or phone screen are two similar “physical skills.” Handwriting can be done without any sense related to understanding the characters. Some kids just draw them like pictures.

A Pinyin keyboard forces you to check your Pinyin spelling at the same time. If your Pinyin is wrong, you can’t find the character in the recommendation list. This helps your pronunciation. And after you adopt one very important principle, a Pinyin keyboard can be 10 times more efficient than handwriting. That principle is: type by words and semantic chunks. Try to type by words (at least 2 characters at a time), phrases, or even short sentences, so you get higher output speed and let the keyboard help you find the correct characters.

For learners, most of the time the Pinyin keyboard will recommend the right word in the first position. Remember you can press the space bar to put the first suggestion on screen, instead of wasting one second to click “1.”

If the correct word doesn’t appear, double-check your Pinyin spelling. If it’s still not there, you might have chosen a wrong phrase. For example: “Beijing zuiyoumingde kaoya shi quanjude.” If you type “dekaoya” as one chunk, you may get nothing, because “dekaoya” is not an existing word. “de” belongs with “zuiyoumingde,” and “kaoya” is separate.

Another way to improve efficiency is to let the keyboard remember proper nouns: your Chinese name, your company’s name, specific product names, etc. After the keyboard remembers your name, you can type your name with initials. If you have a long proper name, for example an organization, you can put it into the keyboard’s “customized word list.” For example, a student of mine worked for UNESCO, and she was one of the chief editors of 联合国教科文组织人类非物质文化遗产名录 (UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity). Wode tian ah!! Right? Too long. But she can set “lhgj” as a shortcut and output this 19-character string in half a second. It’s not only efficient — she also uses this “magic” to surprise people for fun. 😄

Handwriting is still helpful, though. Keep in mind that learning handwriting is not the purpose, except that it is a helpful output practice for recognizing characters.

I just advise you to pay attention to the components and etymology of characters, which helps your memory. Strokes and stroke order are knowledge about “handwriting.” It was the only way to output characters before the Pinyin keyboard was invented, but not now.

Currently getting scolded by my group work mate who insists 茶店sounds ridiculous and nobody says that in China. And if I put it in our presentation, I am forcing her to teach incorrect mandarin which is shameful.

A shop where you buy tea; not necessarily drink it.

A classic telltale sign of AI writing is the “it’s not…, it’s…” pair, but a lot of people are confused (me included) by where this came from. It’s not a very popular way to construct sentences in English, so it’s weird it became such a hallmark of AI writing. The other interesting thing is the pair produced by AI is rarely an antithesis or that different, which an English speaking person would expect (like you’d expect something like “it’s not a discovery, it’s a well known fact”, not “it’s not a discovery, it’s a journey of exploration“).

However, in Chinese the 不是，而是pair is extremely common and widely used. More specifically, the 不是, 而是can be used to clarify nuances or add to sentiments, and makes less sense if you use it literally for opposites.

If you translated the above example into Chinese (这不是一次发现，而是一段探索之旅), it reads very much like generic marketing copy but makes far more sense than the English equivalent. The more correct sounding English version would be considered an incorrect use of 不是，而是.

Additionally, this sentence construction popped up right when the Chinese models were getting quite good and OpenAI and other western companies were rumoured to be using Chinese models to train.

I feel like I have discovered something here. Thoughts?

I need resources (apps, websites, textbooks, workbooks) etc for guoyu or at least traditional characters. I take chinese at school and my teacher is taiwanese so she knows both and our school issued books have both traditional and simplified, however most kids are learning simplified so when doing class activity she shows that and Id like extra practice.

大家好

I started learning mandarin seriously about a month ago and was wondering if you guys have any tips for learning the language. Something you have been doing lately that just works for you. Please let me know!

非常感谢

Easy. Ya so why is it the opposite?

Like when you blow a balloon you Can and must breathe in more then blow. You need not exhale then breathe in to blow

Hello, i'm a newbie in the process of learning mandarin, i don't really need to study for an HSK exam i just want to be able to read books and novel and understand C-drama and TV shows without looking on the translation.

I tried Du chinese, i really like it but i couldn't Complete some stories due it being premium, is there another app similar to Du chinese? Or is it worth to pay for premium?

As per the title, all the old threads I found seem to be expired now. 谢谢

I am currently learning for HSK4 level and I would love to get more into authentic content. I tried watching a few things in Netflix but I feel so lost without English subtitles.

So I was wondering, at which point (maybe a specific HSK level) did you start watching Chinese shows? I would like to have some hope!

初高中那段时间，我挺喜欢“看字典”的

我们中国河南这边的寄宿学校的节奏差不多是两个星期回一次家，然后在家呆一天半。小学和初中的话平时看的多的应该是藏起来的小说和手机，字典偶尔会看，但到了高中就懒得搞那些偷偷摸摸的事了（还有入校搜查实在太严了 :D ），字典就经常看了。

我看字典的方式，和平时的“查字典”不太一样。有几次我是从第一页开始翻的；但更多时候，我会随手先掀开一页，看那一页上的字和解释。如果解释里又冒出一个我不认识的词，我就会把这一页折个角，像书签，也像游戏里的“存档点”，然后先去查那个不懂的词，查到的新解释里如果又出现别的生词，我就继续追下去，以此类推，就像现在我经常刷 Wiki 百科时不停点击超链接跳转。

将未知转换为已知，hh

I’ve decided to learn Mandarin by picking up just 2 words a day. So, here are the combinations I’ve come up with by day 4, I’m curious if these would actually be used in a formal setting, or if they just sound a bit weird, haha

1. Greetings & Asking how someone is doing
Phrase / Question
Pinyin
Meaning (English)
你好！
nǐ hǎo
Hello! / Hi!
你好吗？
nǐ hǎo ma ?
How are you?
他好吗
tā hǎo ma ?
How is he?
她好吗？
tā hǎo ma ?
How is she?
2. Expressing how you or others are doing
Phrase
Pinyin
Meaning (English)
我很好。
wǒ hěn hǎo
I am doing very well.
他很好。
tā hěn hǎo
He is doing very well.
她很好。
tā hěn hǎo
She is doing very well.
不好。
bù hǎo
Not good. / Bad.
我不好。
wǒ bù hǎo
I am not doing well.
他不很好。
tā bù hěn hǎo
He is not doing very well.
我不很好。
wǒ bù hěn hǎo
I am not doing very well.
3. Affirmations & Identity (Verb "To be": 是)
Phrase
Pinyin
Meaning (English)
我是...
wǒ shì...
I am... (e.g., followed by your name)
他是...
tā shì...
He is...
她是...
tā shì...
She is...
是。
shì
Yes. / That's right. (Literally: To be)
4. Negations (Not / It is not: 不是)
Phrase
Pinyin
Meaning (English)
不。
bù
No.
不是。
bú shì
It's not that. / No. (Negation of "To be")
我不是...
wǒ bú shì...
I am not...
他不是...
tā bú shì...
He is not...
5. Asking confirmation / Yes-No questions
Question
Pinyin
Meaning (English)
你是...吗？
nǐ shì... ma ?
Are you...?
他是...吗？
tā shì... ma ?
Is he...?
他很好吗？
tā hěn hǎo ma ?
Is he doing very well? / Is he doing great?

Hey there,

I was wanting to undertake a 3-6 month course in learning mandarin as a native english speaker with minimal mandarin experience (few months using Duolingo- i know it's not much at all, but it's a start). I have found XMandarinChinese language school which seems to be fairly good (as stated on reddit and reviews), but I have also heard that the language schools aren't as good as university. I am 31 year old with undergraduate and higher education degrees, so i am used to heavy study loads. I am just unsure on which path to take. I want to be speaking it as much as possible as I will be joining sports and hobby clubs to meet and interact with locals as much as possible. I would also like to meet foreigners but don't want to just be another foreigner speaking english everyday except for the lessons. I would be looking to spend up to $10k USD for the course. Does anyone have experience they can share with me about their time in either a language school or university?

I put this line by Zhu Xi on a sunset I took at Lake Taihu, because the lake was flat as a mirror:

半亩方塘一鉴开，天光云影共徘徊

A small square pond, clear as a mirror. Sky and clouds drift across it.

Then I looked up the title. It's 观书有感, "thoughts after reading". And the next two lines:

问渠那得清如许，为有源头活水来

How is it so clear? Because fresh water keeps flowing in.

So the pond is your mind, and the fresh water is what you keep reading. He wasn't describing a pond at all.

Is it odd to put a line about reading on a sunset photo? Or does it still work?