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Feeling Alive in Chinese: A Guide to Emotions visualisation

Feeling Alive in Chinese: A Guide to Emotions

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Expressing emotions and feelings in Chinese is done primarily through specific vocabulary words and phrases that describe various emotional states. Commonly, the phrase structure is “我今天很…” (wǒ jīntiān hěn…) meaning “I today very…” followed by the emotion. The word 很 (hěn) here often functions as a linking word rather than emphasizing “very.”

Basic Emotion Words

  • Happy: 开心 (kāi xīn), 高兴 (gāo xìng), 快乐 (kuài lè)
  • Sad: 伤心 (shāng xīn), 难过 (nán guò)
  • Angry: 生气 (shēng qì)
  • Excited: 兴奋 (xīng fèn)
  • Nervous: 紧张 (jǐn zhāng)
  • Bored: 无聊 (wú liáo)
  • Tired: 累 (lèi)

Examples of Expressing Emotions

  • I am happy: 我今天很开心 (wǒ jīntiān hěn kāixīn) or 我很高兴 (wǒ hěn gāoxìng)
  • I am sad: 我很伤心 (wǒ hěn shāngxīn) or 我很难过 (wǒ hěn nánguò)
  • I am angry: 我很生气 (wǒ hěn shēngqì)

Expressing “I feel” or “I think” feelings

  • 我感觉 (wǒ gǎnjué) or 我觉得 (wǒ juéde) can be used to say “I feel” or “I think” before adding an emotion.

Additional Nuances

  • To negate, add 不 (bù) before the adjective, e.g., 我不开心 (wǒ bù kāixīn) means “I am not happy.”
  • Chinese has many words with subtle differences for similar emotions, such as 开心 vs 高兴 for happy or 伤心 vs 难过 for sad.
  • More complex or poetic emotional expressions also exist, but beginners usually start with the common adjectives above.

This structure and vocabulary allow for basic to advanced expression of emotions in Chinese depending on the words chosen and sentence complexity.

References

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