# 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.

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Transcript

## 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. 1

   cool

2. 2

   pretty

3. 3

   romantic

4. 4

   handsome

5. 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. 1

   jìn 近

2. 2

   shòu 瘦

3. 3

   méiqián 没钱

4. 4

   ǎi 矮

The correct answers are:

- 1 =
- 2 =
- 3 =
- 4 =

OpenLearn - Getting started with Chinese 3
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