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2 Adjectives – building your vocabulary

Table 1 shows adjectives which can be used to describe people’s appearance and status. Listen to how they are pronounced and repeat afterwards. Listen as many times as you wish.

Transcript (opens in new window)

Table 1 Adjectives to describe one’s appearance

kù 酷 cool (great)
shuài 帅 handsome
cōngmíng 聪明 clever
làngmàn 浪漫 romantic
piàoliang 漂亮 pretty, beautiful
gāo 高 tall (person or building), high
pàng 胖 fat, stout
shòu 瘦 thin (person)
shǎo 少 few; less
ǎi 矮 short (height)
yǒuqián 有钱 rich (lit. have money)
méiqián 没钱 poor (lit. have no money）
yǒuyòng 有用 useful
yuǎn 远 far
jìn 近 near, close

Now have a go at Activity 4.

Activity 4

Part 1

Match the Chinese adjectives to their English translation.

kù 酷

cool

piàoliang 漂亮

pretty

làngmàn 浪漫

romantic

shuài 帅

handsome

cōngmíng 聪明

clever

Using the following two lists, match each numbered item with the correct letter.

  1. kù 酷

  2. piàoliang 漂亮

  3. làngmàn 浪漫

  4. shuài 帅

  5. cōngmíng 聪明

  1. cool

  2. pretty

  3. romantic

  4. handsome

  5. clever

The correct answers are:
  • 1 =
  • 2 =
  • 3 =
  • 4 =
  • 5 =

Part 2

Match the antonyms of these Chinese adjectives.

yuǎn 远

jìn 近

pàng 胖

shòu 瘦

yǒuqián 有钱

méiqián 没钱

gāo 高

ǎi 矮

Using the following two lists, match each numbered item with the correct letter.

  1. yuǎn 远

  2. pàng 胖

  3. yǒuqián 有钱

  4. gāo 高

  1. jìn 近

  2. shòu 瘦

  3. méiqián 没钱

  4. ǎi 矮

The correct answers are:
  • 1 =
  • 2 =
  • 3 =
  • 4 =
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OpenLearn - Getting started with Chinese 3
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