Main Website Course Library Search

Lesson 36 of 47

男孩 in Context

CONGRATULATIONS! 
A NEW WORD HAS BEEN UNLOCKED 
男孩
Here are some example sentences of this word in action:

Usage 1 - "boy": 

Sentence:

朋友的孩子是一个奇怪的男孩。 

English:

[Our] friend's child is a strange boy.

Top-Down Words:

奇怪 qíguài - strange; odd


Sentence:

男孩不要用瓶子打女孩。

English:

Boys shouldn't hit girls with a bottle.

Top-Down Words:

瓶子 píngzi - bottle


*Sentence:

但是有个小男孩说,他想成为超人。

English:

But a little boy said he wants to become Superman.

Top-Down Words:

超人 chāorén - superman
成为 chéngwéi - to become, to prove to be



Need a Reminder?

The Six Steps to Learning Words

Understanding Chinese Words - Morphemes

3 Questions About Words

Great Job! Keep Going! 小孩 in Context
Comments   3

Jerod Cox

Hey guys, sorry I was translating this sentence, 男孩不要用瓶子打女孩, in my flashcard session this morning and was wondering why it is translated as "Boys shouldn't use bottles to hit girls." versus "Boys don't want/desire to use bottles to hit the girls."? Thanks for everything.

REPLY

Mandarin Blueprint

Hey Jerod,

Good question, 不要 can be translated as "do not want," but it's also a synonym for 别 or "don't." In this context, because the speaker is making a general statement about boys and girls and not talking about a specific boy or girl, then "shouldn't" is a reasonable translation.

If I were saying, for example, 小王, 不要用瓶子打女孩, it would translate as "Xiaowang, don't use bottles to hit girls," because in that case we're talking about a specific person (小王) and not just "boys in general 男孩."

REPLY

MB Team

This is where Luke and Phil talked about your question in the Mandarin Blueprint Podcast:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sti0orPioGI&t=4040s

REPLY