Learn some common prefixes in Chinese
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Intro |
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| Michael: What are some prefixes in Chinese? |
| Dehua: And why are they useful to know? |
| Michael: At ChineseClass101.com, we hear these questions often. Imagine the following situation: Sasha Lee sees a new word that looks familiar, but she isn't sure about the meaning. She asks her friend, |
| "What does this word mean?" |
| 李 萨莎: 这个词是什么意思？ (Zhège cí shì shénme yìsi?) |
| Dialogue |
| 李 萨莎: 这个词是什么意思？ (Zhège cí shì shénme yìsi?) |
| 陈 晨欣: 「小商品」的意思是small commodities。 (“Xiǎoshāngpǐn” de yìsi shì “small commodities”.) |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| 李 萨莎: 这个词是什么意思？ (Zhège cí shì shénme yìsi?) |
| Michael: "What does this word mean?" |
| 陈 晨欣: 「小商品」的意思是small commodities。 ("Xiǎoshāngpǐn" de yìsi shì “small commodities.”) |
| Michael: "'Little goods' means 'small commodities.'" |
Lesson focus |
| Michael: Prefixes are grammatical elements attached to the beginning of a word to create a new meaning for that word. Students learning the Chinese language must be familiar with prefixes, or, |
| Dehua: 前缀 (Qiánzhuì) |
| Michael: as Chinese uses them a lot. In this lesson, we’re going to learn just that. |
| [Recall 1] |
| Michael: Let’s take a closer look at the dialogue. |
| Do you remember how Chenxin Chen says "'Xiǎoshāngpǐn’ means 'small commodities'?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Dehua:「小商品」的意思是small commodities。 ("Xiǎoshāngpǐn" de yìsi shì “small commodities.”) |
| Michael: In the given scenario, Chenxin was asked by Sasha about the meaning of a particular word. That word was |
| Dehua: 小商品 (Xiǎoshāngpǐn) |
| Michael: which means “small commodities” or “small goods.” Here, we can observe the prefix |
| Dehua: 小 (Xiǎo) |
| Michael: attached to the word |
| Dehua: 商品 (Shāngpǐn) |
| Michael: which means “goods” or “commodity.” The prefix in question originally means “young” or “small” in Chinese and can be used as a predicate or an adjective that describes the object in a sentence. Here’s another example of how to use this prefix: |
| Dehua: 小朋友 (xiǎo pénɡyou), 小朋友 (xiǎo pénɡyou) |
| Michael: This means “little boy” or “little girl,” or simply “kids.” This same prefix is also used to express intimacy or affection. |
| Dehua: 小伟，回来啦！(Xiǎo wěi, huílái la!) |
| Michael: or “Wei, you are back! In this example, the speaker is excited after seeing a loved one returning, and uses the prefix, |
| Dehua: 小 (Xiǎo) |
| Michael: before the person’s name to express affection. |
| [Summary] |
| Michael: In this lesson, you’ve learned that noun prefixes are a letter or set of letters attached to the beginning of a word to form another word with a different meaning. So far, we’ve encountered the prefix, |
| Dehua: 小 (Xiǎo) |
| Michael: which can be used to indicate how small an object is or how young a person is. Here’s an example: |
| Dehua: 你好，小姐 (Nǐ hǎo, xiǎojiě) |
| Michael: “Hello, miss.” In this example, the prefix in question was attached to the word, |
| Dehua: 姐 (Jiě) |
| Michael: which means “sister,” and now forms the expression “miss,” which refers to a young woman. Here’s another example using a different prefix: |
| Dehua: 老张啊，好久不见！(Lǎo zhānɡ a, hǎo jiǔ bú jiàn!) |
| Michael: Here, we can observe the prefix |
| Dehua: 老 (lǎo) |
| Michael: which means “old”, attached to a person’s surname. This prefix could indicate several things, but, in this case, it’s used to denote friendliness. It’s common to use this prefix to address friends or colleagues who are more elderly or even peers who are good friends. |
| Expansion |
| Michael: Some Chinese prefixes are referred to as “dummy prefixes,” as they may add no meaning when attached to certain words. For instance, take the prefix |
| Dehua: 老 (lǎo) |
| Michael: This prefix is often attached to animal names as a classifier, such as in the word, |
| Dehua: 老虎 (lǎo hǔ) tiger |
| Michael: or “tiger.” However, when attached to certain words, it can denote respect, such as in the case of |
| Dehua: 老师 (lǎoshī) |
| Michael: or “teacher.” In some cases, it denotes a friendly or intimate feeling, such as in the words |
| Dehua: 老公（lǎoɡōnɡ） |
| Michael: or “husband,” and |
| Dehua: 老婆（lǎopó） |
| Michael: which means “wife.” There are also Chinese prefixes that are attached to verbs, turning them into adjectives in the process. For instance, take the word, |
| Dehua: 可爱 (Kě'ài) |
| Michael: Here, we attached the prefix, |
| Dehua: 可 (kě) |
| Michael: to the verb |
| Dehua: 爱 (Ài) |
| Michael: or “to love,” and now have the word “lovely.” Attach the same prefix to the word, |
| Dehua: 笑 (Xiào) |
| Michael: or “to laugh,” and you get the word |
| Dehua: 可笑 (Kěxiào) |
| Michael: which could mean “laughable” or “ridiculous.” |
| Practice Section |
| Michael: Let's review the sentences we’ve heard in this lesson. I’ll say the sentence in English, and then I want you to try and reply in Chinese. Dehua will then model the correct answer—listen to her carefully and repeat, with emphasis on your pronunciation. |
| Do you remember how to say "What does this word mean?" |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Dehua: 这个词是什么意思？ (Zhège zì shì shénme yìsi?) |
| Michael: Did you get it right? Listen again and repeat. |
| Dehua: 这个字是什么意思？ (Zhège cí shì shénme yìsi?) |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Dehua: 这个词是什么意思？ (Zhège cí shì shénme yìsi?) |
| Michael: Now for our next sentence. Do you remember how to say "'Little goods' means 'small commodities.'" |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Dehua: 「小商品」的意思是small commodities。 ("Xiǎoshāngpǐn" de yìsi shì “small commodities.”) |
| Michael: Listen again and repeat. |
| Dehua: 「小商品」的意思是small commodities。 ("Xiǎoshāngpǐn" de yìsi shì “small commodities.”) |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Dehua: 「小商品」的意思是small commodities。 ("Xiǎoshāngpǐn" de yìsi shì “small commodities.”) |
| Cultural Expansion |
| Michael: We’ve learned that some Chinese prefixes can stand on their own and may act as an adjective, such as in the case of the word, |
| Dehua: 老 (lǎo) |
| Michael: which means “old” or “elder” as an adjective, and the word, |
| Dehua: 小 (xiǎo) |
| Michael: which means “small” or “young” as an adjective. Some prefixes, on the other hand, cannot stand on their own, and must be attached to words to form meanings. One such prefix is |
| Dehua: 阿 (ā) |
| Michael: Unless attached to a word, this doesn’t mean anything. However, as a prefix, it could indicate affection and is often used in greetings. When addressing your grandmother or an elderly woman, for instance, you can say |
| Dehua: 阿婆 (ā pó） |
| Michael: A similar prefix would be |
| Dehua: 第 (dì) |
| Michael: which must be attached to a word, particularly an integer, to indicate order, such as in the word, |
| Dehua: 第二 (dì èr) |
| Michael: or “second,” and |
| Dehua: 第十（dì shí） |
| Michael: which means “tenth.” |
Outro |
| Michael: Do you have any more questions? We’re here to answer them! |
| Dehua: 再见！(zàijiàn!) |
| Michael: See you soon! |
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