Learn Chinese for Free—Lesson 14
Today's Chinese characters:
你能说慢点儿吗
Do they speak too fast? Just tell them 你能说慢点儿吗？(Can you speak more slowly?)
With this last sentence you have got a "survival kit" that for sure can help you.
| Character Knowledge Meter |
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16.4%
Today with this lesson your knowledge of Chinese characters will reach 16.4% of all the Chinese language usage! |
Characters' Essentials
Description and Examples
How to and when read 儿 as 'r' This is a feature, called erhua or erization, of Standard Mandarin Chinese. When an erization occurs, 儿 is not pronounced as "ér" (an exception might be its pronunciation in lyrics for balance or euphony). It is just a phonetic notation suffix to indicate that the pronunciation of the preceding character must be changed by adding a final "r" sound. For example, the pronunciation of 点儿 is not "diǎn ér" but "diǎnr". How do you know when 儿 is to be read "ér" and when not? Sadly, you cannot know if you don't first memorize which words are made of the suffix 儿. Just for you to know, despite being a rule of Standard Mandarin, in the south of China (including Shanghai) it is definitely unknown or completely ignored. It seems that a lot of people really don't like it! |
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