# What does the word 'xxx' mean?



## CanuckAmok

I'm just starting out in Mandarin and I want to be able to ask (in Mandarin) what a particular word means. I want to be able to say, "What does the word 'xxx' mean?"

WordReference conveniently has "'xxx' 这个词是什么意思呢？" but I can't read characters yet. How would you write that in pinyin?

It's driving me nuts! Thanks so much in advance.

J.


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## DernierVirage

It's "xxx zhe4 ge0 ci2 shi4 she2 me0 yi4 si0 ne0"


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## Angelo di fuoco

"什么" is pronounced she*n*2 me0, isn't it?
Althoug I agree, the "n" is hardly audible, especially when the speaker's pronunciation isn't very accurate.


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## DernierVirage

Angelo di fuoco said:


> "什么" is pronounced she*n*2 me0, isn't it?
> Althoug I agree, the "n" is hardly audible, especially when the speaker's pronunciation isn't very accurate.


 
You are right, it was my mistake - as the words are so simple, I didn't re-read properly what I had written 

Thanks for spotting this and apologies to CanuckAmok !


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## CanuckAmok

Simple for you, DernierVirage! 

Thanks so much to you both. I'm hoping this little sentence will speed up my Mandarin learning.

J.


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## Jbags

I was going to start a new thread on this but since its just a simple question I thought I would just tag it on here.

Why in this case do you use 呢 instead of 吗? I am trying to learn when I should use each of these interrogatives.


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## DernierVirage

Jbags said:


> I was going to start a new thread on this but since its just a simple question I thought I would just tag it on here.
> 
> Why in this case do you use 呢 instead of 呢? I am trying to learn when I should use each of these interrogatives.


 
Just to start an answer (as I am sure that native speakers will correct me ), I was taught to use 呢 to make the question "softer".


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## Jbags

That's what I have found in my experience as well, I think I could also comfortably use 呢 in conversation; I am just wondering if there is a deeper set of rules about when to use 呢 and 吗.

Thanks for your answer


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## Jerry Chan

Jbags said:


> That's what I have found in my experience as well, I think I could also comfortably use 呢 in conversation; I am just wondering if there is a deeper set of rules about when to use 呢 and 吗.
> 
> Thanks for your answer



吗 is only for polar (yes/no) questions.


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## Jbags

I see! I didn't realise the usage of 吗 was so narrow, I shall certainly keep that in mind, thanks


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## DernierVirage

Jerry Chan said:


> 吗 is only for polar (yes/no) questions.


 
This is so obvious, I'm embarrassed that it never even entered my mind when I wrote my previous reply .

Apologies to Jbags !


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## Jbags

hehe, no problem, I appreciate the effort! Not easy this language learning thing, even though I've been doing it a little while now I'm used to swallowing my pride and asking "basic" questions.


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## SangreDeGranadas

What if I simply want to say "What does this/that/it mean?" Would I just say the phrase without the English word?


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## xiaolijie

SangreDeGranadas said:


> What if I simply want to say "What does this/that/it mean?" Would I just say the phrase without the English word?


"What does the word 'xxx' mean?" is a specific question and anyone who hears it would know what it means. "What does this/that/it mean?", on the other hand, could mean all manners of things and if you say it, you'd have a hell of a job trying to explain what you mean by it. Please tell me: what do "this", "that" and "it" mean?


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## SuperXW

SangreDeGranadas said:


> What if I simply want to say "What does this/that/it mean?" Would I just say the phrase without the English word?


Yes.
*zhe4 ge0 ci2* shi4 shen2 me0 yi4 si0 ne0 (What does THIS WORD mean?)
*zhe4 ge0* shi4 shen2 me0 yi4 si0 ne0 (What does THIS mean?)
*zhe4* shi4 shen2 me0 yi4 si0 ne0 (Also, what does THIS mean?)
*na4* shi4 shen2 me0 yi4 si0 ne0 (What does THAT mean?)
*ta1* shi4 shen2 me0 yi4 si0 ne0 (What does IT mean?) (Note: ta4 in Chinese is more common for person/animal/object, less common for abstract matters.)
) ta4 was a typo. I corrected it since xiaolijie has pointed it out.)


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## xiaolijie

SuperXW said:


> Yes.
> *zhe4 ge0 ci2* shi4 shen2 me0 yi4 si0 ne0 (What does THIS WORD mean?)
> *zhe4 ge0* shi4 shen2 me0 yi4 si0 ne0 (What does THIS mean?)
> *zhe4* shi4 shen2 me0 yi4 si0 ne0 (Also, what does THIS mean?)
> *na4* shi4 shen2 me0 yi4 si0 ne0 (What does THAT mean?)
> *ta4* shi4 shen2 me0 yi4 si0 ne0 (What does IT mean?) (Note: ta4 in Chinese is more common for person/animal/object, less common for abstract matters.)


*ta4* in the last sentence should be in first tone: *ta1*.

By the way, except for the last one, all the sentences here mean that you have to point at some word(s) while asking, and the last sentence is asking for clarification/explanation. So they are used in very different contexts from the original question _"What does the word 'xxx' mean?"_, and not alternatives to it.


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## squallleonhart

“xxx”,是“某某某”的意思.这种说法，通常是表示一个人的名字，但是又不方便把名字说出来，所以用“xxx”来替代.这不是中文的标准用法.


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## squallleonhart

呢，吗，是同一个意思。一般场合可以通用。


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## SuperXW

squallleonhart said:


> “xxx”,是“某某某”的意思.这种说法，通常是表示一个人的名字，但是又不方便把名字说出来，所以用“xxx”来替代.这不是中文的标准用法.


仔細看貼，你會發現樓主不是問這個……


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## SuperXW

squallleonhart said:


> 呢，吗，是同一个意思。一般场合可以通用。


不同好嗎……？


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