Descriptions & Attributes: Vocabulary for qualities, comparisons, and descriptive expressions

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Pinyin is the standard romanisation used to show Mandarin pronunciation using the Latin alphabet. You’ll often see tone marks on the vowels to show the four tones (plus the neutral tone), for example mā / má / mǎ / mà / ma. “Numbered pinyin” shows the same tones using a number after the syllable instead of tone marks, for example ma1 / ma2 / ma3 / ma4 / ma (sometimes written as ma5 for the neutral tone). Numbered pinyin is handy when you can’t easily type tone marks, while tone-mark pinyin is usually easier to read once you’re used to it.

不错

• Pinyin: bú cuò
• Numbered pinyin: bu2 cuo4
• English translation: not bad, pretty good

不够

• Pinyin: bú gòu
• Numbered pinyin: bu2 gou4
• English translation: not enough

不太

• Pinyin: bú tài
• Numbered pinyin: bu2 tai4
• English translation: not very

不如

• Pinyin: bù rú
• Numbered pinyin: bu4 ru2
• English translation: not as good as

不少

• Pinyin: bù shǎo
• Numbered pinyin: bu4 shao3
• English translation: quite a few, many

不同

• Pinyin: bù tóng
• Numbered pinyin: bu4 tong2
• English translation: different

部分

• Pinyin: bù fèn
• Numbered pinyin: bu4 fen4
• English translation: part, section

差不多

• Pinyin: chà bu duō
• Numbered pinyin: cha4 bu5 duo1
• English translation: almost, nearly

长

• Pinyin: cháng
• Numbered pinyin: chang2
• English translation: long

超过

• Pinyin: chāo guò
• Numbered pinyin: chao1 guo4
• English translation: to exceed, surpass

大部分

• Pinyin: dà bù fèn
• Numbered pinyin: da4 bu4 fen4
• English translation: majority, most part

大大

• Pinyin: dà dà
• Numbered pinyin: da4 da4
• English translation: greatly

大多数

• Pinyin: dà duō shù
• Numbered pinyin: da4 duo1 shu4
• English translation: most, majority

大量

• Pinyin: dà liàng
• Numbered pinyin: da4 liang4
• English translation: a large amount

大声

• Pinyin: dà shēng
• Numbered pinyin: da4 sheng1
• English translation: loudly

大小

• Pinyin: dà xiǎo
• Numbered pinyin: da4 xiao3
• English translation: size

低

• Pinyin: dī
• Numbered pinyin: di1
• English translation: low

度

• Pinyin: dù
• Numbered pinyin: du4
• English translation: degree, extent

短

• Pinyin: duǎn
• Numbered pinyin: duan3
• English translation: short

多

• Pinyin: duō
• Numbered pinyin: duo1
• English translation: many, much

多么

• Pinyin: duō me
• Numbered pinyin: duo1 me5
• English translation: how (wonderful, etc.)

多数

• Pinyin: duō shù
• Numbered pinyin: duo1 shu4
• English translation: majority

高级

• Pinyin: gāo jí
• Numbered pinyin: gao1 ji2
• English translation: advanced, high-level

更

• Pinyin: gèng
• Numbered pinyin: geng4
• English translation: more, even more

公平

• Pinyin: gōng píng
• Numbered pinyin: gong1 ping2
• English translation: fair, just

够

• Pinyin: gòu
• Numbered pinyin: gou4
• English translation: enough

好

• Pinyin: hǎo
• Numbered pinyin: hao3
• English translation: very, quite

好处

• Pinyin: hǎo chu
• Numbered pinyin: hao3 chu5
• English translation: benefit, advantage

好多

• Pinyin: hǎo duō
• Numbered pinyin: hao3 duo1
• English translation: a lot, many

合适

• Pinyin: hé shì
• Numbered pinyin: he2 shi4
• English translation: suitable, appropriate

坏处

• Pinyin: huài chu
• Numbered pinyin: huai4 chu5
• English translation: disadvantage, harm

结果

• Pinyin: jié guǒ
• Numbered pinyin: jie2 guo3
• English translation: result, outcome

可爱

• Pinyin: kě ài
• Numbered pinyin: ke3 ai4
• English translation: lovely, cute

亮

• Pinyin: liàng
• Numbered pinyin: liang4
• English translation: bright, light

满

• Pinyin: mǎn
• Numbered pinyin: man3
• English translation: full

那样

• Pinyin: nà yàng
• Numbered pinyin: na4 yang4
• English translation: that kind, that way

难看

• Pinyin: nán kàn
• Numbered pinyin: nan2 kan4
• English translation: ugly, unpleasant

难听

• Pinyin: nán tīng
• Numbered pinyin: nan2 ting1
• English translation: unpleasant to hear

年轻

• Pinyin: nián qīng
• Numbered pinyin: nian2 qing1
• English translation: young

努力

• Pinyin: nǔ lì
• Numbered pinyin: nu3 li4
• English translation: to strive, hard-working

便宜

• Pinyin: pián yi
• Numbered pinyin: pian2 yi5
• English translation: cheap, inexpensive

平

• Pinyin: píng
• Numbered pinyin: ping2
• English translation: flat, level

平常

• Pinyin: píng cháng
• Numbered pinyin: ping2 chang2
• English translation: usually, ordinary

平等

• Pinyin: píng děng
• Numbered pinyin: ping2 deng3
• English translation: equal, equality

普通

• Pinyin: pǔ tōng
• Numbered pinyin: pu3 tong1
• English translation: ordinary, common

轻

• Pinyin: qīng
• Numbered pinyin: qing1
• English translation: light (not heavy)

十分

• Pinyin: shí fēn
• Numbered pinyin: shi2 fen1
• English translation: very, fully

实在

• Pinyin: shí zài
• Numbered pinyin: shi2 zai4
• English translation: real, true, honest

实在

• Pinyin: shí zài
• Numbered pinyin: shi2 zai4
• English translation: really, indeed, truly

舒服

• Pinyin: shū fu
• Numbered pinyin: shu1 fu5
• English translation: comfortable, (of a person) feeling well

熟

• Pinyin: shú
• Numbered pinyin: shu2
• English translation: ripe, familiar, cooked

顺利

• Pinyin: shùn lì
• Numbered pinyin: shun4 li4
• English translation: smooth, successful

特别

• Pinyin: tè bié
• Numbered pinyin: te4 bie2
• English translation: especially, special

特点

• Pinyin: tè diǎn
• Numbered pinyin: te4 dian3
• English translation: characteristic, feature

挺

• Pinyin: tǐng
• Numbered pinyin: ting3
• English translation: quite, rather

挺好

• Pinyin: tǐng hǎo
• Numbered pinyin: ting3 hao3
• English translation: quite good

同样

• Pinyin: tóng yàng
• Numbered pinyin: tong2 yang4
• English translation: same, equal

完全

• Pinyin: wán quán
• Numbered pinyin: wan2 quan2
• English translation: completely, entirely

一定

• Pinyin: yí dìng
• Numbered pinyin: yi2 ding4
• English translation: definitely, surely

一般

• Pinyin: yì bān
• Numbered pinyin: yi4 ban1
• English translation: general, ordinary, usually

影响

• Pinyin: yǐng xiǎng
• Numbered pinyin: ying3 xiang3
• English translation: influence, to affect

有点儿

• Pinyin: yǒu diǎn r
• Numbered pinyin: you3 dian3 r5
• English translation: somewhat, a little bit

有意思

• Pinyin: yǒu yì si
• Numbered pinyin: you3 yi4 si5
• English translation: interesting

长

• Pinyin: zhǎng
• Numbered pinyin: zhang3
• English translation: long / to grow

真正

• Pinyin: zhēn zhèng
• Numbered pinyin: zhen1 zheng4
• English translation: genuine, real

正好

• Pinyin: zhèng hǎo
• Numbered pinyin: zheng4 hao3
• English translation: just right, exactly

正确

• Pinyin: zhèng què
• Numbered pinyin: zheng4 que4
• English translation: correct

直接

• Pinyin: zhí jiē
• Numbered pinyin: zhi2 jie1
• English translation: direct, straightforward

主要

• Pinyin: zhǔ yào
• Numbered pinyin: zhu3 yao4
• English translation: main, primary

准确

• Pinyin: zhǔn què
• Numbered pinyin: zhun3 que4
• English translation: accurate

自由

• Pinyin: zì yóu
• Numbered pinyin: zi4 you2
• English translation: freedom, free

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