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The Meaning of Meaning

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IN THIS LESSON
ID: 2242 Intermediate
There's a whole lot of meaning in 意思 (yìsi), the Chinese word for “meaning”. In this lesson, learn about the many and confusing ways that this word can be used.
John,Jenny
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Detailed Vocabulary
Each lesson has it's unique vocabulary and will provide you with definitions and recordings so you can practice the pronunciation. You will also be able to grasp the core material of a lesson at a glance. Here we're showing you the Simplified Chinese version.
SIMPLIFIED PINYIN ENGLISH  
过年 guònián to celebrate the New Year
领导 lǐngdǎo leader
红包 hóngbāo red envelope
意思 yìsi meaning
快过年了小明去看领导快走的时候拿出一个红包
kuài 快guònián 过年le 了Xiǎo Míng 小明qù 去kàn 看lǐngdǎo 领导kuài 快zǒu 走de shíhou 的时候náchū 拿出yī 一gè 个hóngbāo 红包
Right before the New Year, Xiao Ming went to see a government official. Before he was about to leave he took out a red envelope.
领导问你这是什么意思
lǐngdǎo 领导wèn 问nǐ 你zhè 这shì 是shénme 什么yìsi 意思
The official asked: What do you mean by this?
小明说没什么意思只是意思意思
Xiǎo Míng 小明shuō 说méi shénme yìsi 没什么意思zhǐshì 只是yìsi yìsi 意思意思
Xiao Ming said: I don't mean anything by it. It's just a little gift.
领导说我们认识这么久了你这样做就不够意思了
lǐngdǎo 领导shuō 说wǒmen 我们rènshi 认识zhème 这么jiǔ 久le 了nǐ 你zhèyàng 这样zuò 做jiù 就bùgòuyìsi 不够意思le 了
The official said: We've known each other for a long time. Doing this kind of thing really isn't appropriate.
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