Corrections · 7
The Chinese meaning of colors.
I have a American language partner, she asked me the Chinese meaning of colors. So I wrote down something as follows. But my English is limited , could you please help me to correct the errors?
Red 红色hong2 se4
It's a good color for the Chinese people. You can see the red everywhere in China.Red is associated with happiness, good luck, festivity, and energy. At traditional Chinese weddings, the bride and groom are wearing red clothes. Although nowadays, we don't wear red clothes for weddings,but we must decorate the bridal chamber with red things.
During the Spring Festival, to symbolize give good fortune, Chinese people put money into red packets and then give them to others.
Red also stands for blood and revolution. The red in the Chinese national flag symbolizes the blood shed for a new country.
red packet 红包 hong2 bao1
White 白色bai2 se4
In Chinese culture, white is associated with death, loss, and stupidity without getting anything. At a traditional Chinese funeral, people usually wearing white clothes. Someone waves a white flag when he admits defeated. We call an idiot, "white idiot". If someone tries really hard at something try a lot of efforts, but without getting anywhere, we say he made a white effort.
white flag 白旗 bai2 qi2
white idiot 白痴 bai2 chi1
white effort 白忙 bai2 mang2
Black 黑色 hei1 se4
The color black usually stands for evil and illegality, they are the same as in English,such as black-hearted, black money and blacklist. We call a gangsterdom black society.
black society 黑社会 hei1 she4 hui4
black-hearted 黑心 hei1 xin1
black money 黑钱 hei1 qian2
blacklist 黑名单 hei1 ming2 dan1
The Chinese meaning of colors.
I have an [1] American language partner, and [2] she asked me the Chinese meaning of colors. So I wrote down something as follows [3]. But my English is limited , [4] so could you please help me to correct the errors?
Red 红色 hong2 se4
It's a good color for Chinese people. You can see the red anywhere everywhere in China. Red is associated with happiness, good luck, festivity, and energy . At a traditional Chinese wedding, the bride and groom are wearing wear [5] red clothes. Although nowadays we don't
wear red clothes in wedding , but [6] we must decorate the bridal chamber with red things.
During Spring Festival, to symbolize give giving good fortune, Chinese people put money into red packets [7] and then sent send them to others.
Red also stands for blood and revolution. The red in the Chinese national flag is to symbolize one's blood who the blood of those who died for a new country.
red packet 红包 hong2 bao1
White 白色 bai2 se4
In Chinese culture, white is associated with death, lose loss, and [8] stupid and without getting anything futility. At a traditional Chinese funeral, people usually wearing wear white clothes. Someone waving waves a white flag when he admits defeated. We may [9] call an idiot a white idiot . If someone try tries a lot of efforts, but without getting achieving anything, we say he made a white effort.
white flag 白旗 bai2 qi2
white idiot 白痴 bai2 chi1
white effort 白忙 bai2 mang2
Black 黑色 hei1 se4
The color black usually stands for evil and illegal, they are the same to as in English, such as black-hearted, black money and blacklist. We call a gangsterdom [10] a black society.
black society 黑社会 hei1 she4 hui4
black-hearted 黑心 hei1 xin1
black money 黑钱 hei1 qian2
blacklist 黑名单 hei1 ming2 dan1
[1] The article 'a' usually becomes 'an' when it is before a word starting with a vowel (a, e, i, o, u). As examples:
-- "I want an apple." ('apple' starts with a vowel)
-- "I want a banana."
-- "I want an orange." ('orange' starts with a vowel)
-- "I want a pear."
[2] The phrase "she asked me the Chinese meaning of colors" works as a complete sentence. The following is correct English (please notice that it has two separate sentences):
-- "I have an American language partner. She asked me the Chinese meaning of colors."
If you want to combine two separate sentences into one sentence, you must use a conjunction ('and', 'but', 'however', 'therefore', and others).
-- "I have an American language partner, and she asked me the Chinese meaning of colors."
As other examples:
-- "I am Chinese. My name is Yun Xu."
-- "I am Chinese, and my name is Yun Xu."
-- "I catch a bus to work. It is always late."
-- "I catch a bus to work, but it is always late."
-- "I catch a bus to work, however it is always late."
-- "I catch a bus to work, although it is always late."
[3] This sentence uses correct English. However, a native speaker would say this a little differently:
-- "So I wrote down the following."
-- "So I wrote the following down."
-- "So I wrote the following."
[4] When writing English, there is no space (' ') before a comma (',') or full stop ('.'), however there must be a space after a comma or full stop.
[5] If you are talking about one wedding that is happening now ('present' tense), your wording would be correct:
-- "I am now at a wedding. The bridge and groom are wearing red."
Yet, you were not talking about one wedding that is happening now. You were talking about a wedding that could happen at any time (in the past, now, or in the future). This is called "simple present" tense, and the wording is a little different.
-- "At traditional weddings the bridge and groom wear red."
Other examples:
-- "I am eating apples." (Right now.)
-- "I eat apples." (In the past, now, and in the future.)
-- "I am wearing red." (Right now.)
-- "I wear red." (In the past, now, and in the future.)
[6] Both your starting word 'although' and your later word 'but' are conjunctions. The following sentences are both correct:
-- "Although I live in China, I cannot speak Mandarin."
-- "I live in China, but I cannot speak Mandarin."
However, it is usually wrong to use two conjunctions. The following is wrong:
-- "Although I live in China, but I cannot speak Mandarin." (Wrong.)
[7] We refer to those packets as 'envelopes'.
-- "During Chinese New Year, adults often give red envelopes to children."
[8] When listing items, the word 'and' is used before the last item.
-- "My favorite foods are rice and noodles." (Two items: 'rice' and 'noodles'.)
-- "My favorite foods are rice, noodles, and tofu." (Three items: 'rice', 'noodles', and 'tofu'.)
[9] Consider the following sentence:
-- "We call an idiot a white idiot."
The above sentence means that *all* idiots are called "white idiots". But that is not your meaning. If only some idiots are called "white idiots", we must change the sentence:
-- "We may call an idiot a white idiot."
-- "We call an idiot a white idiot if he has done something in vain."
[10] Though 'gangsterdom' is a word, I have never heard this word. As a native speaker, I would refer to a "group of gangs".
Want to progress faster?
Join this learning community and try out free exercises!
Don’t miss out on the opportunity to learn a language from the comfort of your own home. Browse our selection of experienced language tutors and enroll in your first lesson now!
Start Learning Today
