玩 in Context

CONGRATULATIONS! 

The Character You Just Learned is Also a Common Word!

Usage 1 - "play, to play, to have fun": 

Sentence:

一群小朋友在草地上玩（儿）。

English:

There is a  group of kids playing in the yard.

Top-Down Words:

群 qún - measure word for groups
草地 cǎodì - lawn, yard

*Sentence:

休息日是阴天，他们去哪儿玩？

English:

The day off is gloomy, where did they go to chill?

Top-Down Words:

阴 yīn - cloudy (weather); yin (the negative principle of Yin and Yang); secret; the moon; negative; shade

Need a Reminder?

The Six Steps to Learning Words

Understanding Chinese Words - Morphemes

3 Questions About Words

Member Comments from 2019-mid-2020

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Petteri Nakamura

This is a fun word because in Chinese the same word can be used to describe kids playing around or adults hanging out.

The corresponding word in Japanese works the same way and I have a really funny experience with a Japanese friend years ago, who was studying my native Finnish, and who was trying to tell me, in a crowded restaurant, that he was going to go hang out with some female friends later. His Finnish rendering was something close to "I'll go play with young girls later!" and it sounded even MORE inappropriate in Finnish than it does in English!

Just sharing this, because it might help someone else too to remember this word!

MB Team

This is where Luke & Phil talked about your question in the Mandarin Blueprint Podcast:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5zhOpkinYI&t=2515s

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Georg Lohrer

Petteri, also in German the meaning of Chinese 玩 does not really exist. We even have to switch to English "to chill" to get an equivalent. It's somehow funny that our language does not even have a real word for such kind of chilling or pleasure or fun activities. What we have is "relax" or "play", but not this 玩.