# Pronunciation: 冲 (verb)



## yuechu

Hello/大家好，

I have across the character 冲 as a verb in the past, and I am wondering if it is always supposed to be pronounced chong1 or if it's chong4? (in general) Is there any easy way of telling?

Thanks in advance!/谢谢


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## viajero_canjeado

Hi, baosheng,

In traditional Chinese, 冲 can be written as 沖 or 衝. I usually encounter 沖 in the sense of "to flush (a toilet), dash (with water), give a quick rinse". 衝 as a verb is pronounced chong1. From my experience, it's not common to pronounce this word as chong4.


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## pp0970

i would use "chong4" like this:

"他冲我喊" = "he shouts to me"; 
"他朝（冲）我走过来" = "he comes to me" or "he walks towards me"


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## HTOT

In the following cases ,it's pronounced chong4.
[an excerpt from<高级汉语词典>]
<形> adj.
猛劲大 [full of vigour and drive]。如:水流得真冲
气味浓烈刺鼻 [(of smell) strong;irritating the nose]。如:酒味儿冲
<动> v.
用冲床进行金属加工 [punch]。如:冲床;冲模
<介> prep.
对着;向 [face to;towards]。如:冲着(对着,向着);大门冲北开
凭;根据 [according to]。如:就冲着他,我也不得不出面解围


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## yuechu

Thank you for all of your answers (from last time)!

I have also seen this word in the TVB drama/陈奕迅 song "冲上云霄". Would this also be the meaning "toward", and be pronounced in the fourth tone? (chong4)?
As in "Clouds toward the skies"? Or would it be "chong1", meaning "collide/collision in the skies?"


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## SuperXW

In the case of 冲上云霄, it should be chong1. It doesn't exactly mean "collide" in this case. "Collide" is for the word "冲突". chong1 is a common verb translated as "rush". So it literally "rush to the clouds".

chong1 as the verb "rush" is much more common than any meaning of chong4 appearing in a Chinese sentence.


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## yuechu

Hello again,

It seems that this character is quite common... I've just come across it again. Here is the sentence:
"年轻的小姑娘小伙子，冲啊。"
At first, I interpreted this as "好/成(?) cheng2" as in "good", since a friend from 河南 said that "chong1" meant good in his dialect. Does it mean "good" here, or does it mean "rush"? (as in "go for it")? I am also assuming the pronunciation would be chong1, right?
(By the way, thanks for your answer last time, SuperXW!)​


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## SuperXW

Chong1 a1 "Go for it!" Yes! 
In the frontline of a battlefield, a leader would shout "冲啊！" means "Charge!"

By the way, I don't think chong1 ever means "good" in any dialect. Could it be 中 zhong1 instead? 中 for "good, ok" is pretty common in northern dialects.


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## kareno999

baosheng said:


> It seems that this character is quite common... I've just come across it again. Here is the sentence:
> "年轻的小姑娘小伙子，冲啊。"
> At first, I interpreted this as "好/成(?) cheng2" as in "good", since a friend from 河南 said that "chong1" meant good in his dialect. Does it mean "good" here, or does it mean "rush"? (as in "go for it")? I am also assuming the pronunciation would be chong1, right?


It's quite impossible that the dialectal usage in Henan would made its way to Putonghua.
冲啊 is the word soldiers yell on the battlefield as they run to attack their enemy (at least in movies/ tv shows lol).


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## yuechu

@kareno999
Maybe not, although it was written down so I wasn't sure.. (since dialectal words are sometimes written: 俺，咋, etc.). Most of the time it is indeed Putonghua though!

@SuperXW
Ah! I think you are right--it was probably zhong1.
Thanks for your replies!


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## yuechu

Hello,
I was watching a TV show today and a guy's mother is telling him:
"妈就想跟她(her daughter-in-law)聊聊昨天晚上的事。他一句话就把我冲得好远"
Should this 冲 also be chong1? (and what does it mean here?)
Thanks!


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## ian_english

I have never heard anyone using 冲 like that. And I think 他 should be 她? My gut feeling is that He (or she) gave me an angry/sarcastic/sour reply. As far as the pronunciation, since I would never use 冲 that way, I am not sure, but I would guess chong4.


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## yuechu

Thanks, ian_english! Maybe this is not a very common usage of 冲. (it might be 北方话, I am guessing... ?)


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## Skatinginbc

他放屁很臭(adjective).
他一放屁就把人臭(verb)得奔逃四散.
他放屁能臭(verb)死人.

他說話很衝 (adjective) ==> chong4 "harsh, confrontational".
他一句话就把我衝(verb)得好远 ==> chong4 "to drive people away with harshness or confrontational manners".
那話是衝 (verb)你而來的 ==> chong4 "to direct or gear toward as confrontation".


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## ian_english

baosheng said:


> Thanks, ian_english! Maybe this is not a very common usage of 冲. (it might be 北方话, I am guessing... ?)


It should be 北方话. I guess the literal meaning is: her sarcastic remark "hit" me and the impact sent me far away. Maybe 冲 as in 冲床 --- a kind of machine tool.


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## fyl

baosheng said:


> "妈就想跟她(her daughter-in-law)聊聊昨天晚上的事。他一句话就把我冲得好远"


I have never heard of this usage. It does not make sense to me. Could you give a link so that I can listen to and learn more about the context?


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## Skatinginbc

I guess 他一句话就把我冲得好远 is an innovative use.  It makes sense to me nonetheless.  However, what confuses us is this whole thing: "妈就想跟她(her daughter-in-law)聊聊昨天晚上的事。他一句话就把我冲得好远" ==> 妈就想跟她聊聊昨天晚上的事 and 他一句话就把我冲得好远 do not cohere.

This will become coherent: 我只是想跟她聊聊昨晚的事, 可是她一句话就把我冲得好远.


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## yuechu

fyl said:


> I have never heard of this usage. It does not make sense to me. Could you give a link so that I can listen to and learn more about the context?


It was from the 电视剧 "婚姻攻防战之爱要付出". I think it was from 第29集 but I'm not sure anymore. (Sorry! I should have included this in the original question)

Thanks everyone for your help!


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## SuperXW

baosheng said:


> I was watching a TV show today and a guy's mother is telling him:
> "妈就想跟她(her daughter-in-law)聊聊昨天晚上的事。他一句话就把我冲得好远"
> Should this 冲 also be chong1? (and what does it mean here?)


Never heard of this usage. 一句话是什么话?


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## Skatinginbc

這不是口語常見的省略嗎? 
我(只憑)一道菜就贏得了你的心 ==> 我一道菜就贏得了你的心
她(只唱)一首歌就紅遍了天 ==> 她一首歌就紅遍了天
我(只需)一招亢龍有悔就能打遍天下無敵手 ==> 我一招亢龍有悔就能打遍天下無敵手 
他(只說)一句話就把風波擺平了 ==> 他一句話就把風波擺平了
他(只說)一句话就把我冲得好远 ==> 他一句话就把我冲得好远


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## SuperXW

I was asking for more context. If I know 一句话的内容, I may understand how it 把我冲得好远.
Normally we don't use 冲 for this kind of expressions.


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## NewAmerica

SuperXW said:


> Chong1 a1 "Go for it!" Yes!
> In the frontline of a battlefield, a leader would shout "冲啊！" means "Charge!"
> 
> By the way, I don't think chong1 ever means "good" in any dialect. Could it be 中 zhong1 instead? 中 for "good, ok" is pretty common in northern dialects.



Well said.
In military sense, it means "Charge"or "Forward".
You've made a good guess. A minor correction should be made, however: When 中 means "good", it refers to "中意“（satisfactory), in which 中 need be pronounced as zhong4, not zhong1.


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## SuperXW

NewAmerica said:


> You've made a good guess. A minor correction should be made, however: When 中 means "good", it refers to "中意“（satisfactory), in which 中 need be pronounced as zhong4, not zhong1.


Although some dictionary may define 中意 as zhong4意, I'd like to make some comments:

1. Dialects don't follow the tones in dictionaries.

2. Some dialects use 中 as a single-character answer to mean "good, ok", not in a compound word. When it is used as a single-character word for "ok", the common tone I hear is like zhong1.
If we use zhong4 as a single word, people would think the meaning of "hit (the target)", as in 打中了.

3. 中意 may also be a dialectical word. Researching the Internet, the legitimacy of 中意 and 钟意 is in debate.
In standard Mainland Chinese, I hardly hear people say zhong4意.
The most familiar usage of 中zhong1意 or 钟zhong1意 is from the Cantonese word 鍾意, meaning "to like". The traditional character should be 鍾(锺), zhong1, which are merged into 钟 with another character meaning "clock".
鍾 zhong1 has the meaning of "concentrate" and is also used in words like 鍾情, 鍾愛.

4. 汉典 also gives the meaning "适于" for zhong1, which seems fit the word 中意.

Due to the above reasons, I don't recommend zhong4 for the meaning of "good, ok".


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## Skatinginbc

To me, it is 中(zhong4)看不中zhong4用.

汉典未收录「钟意」, 國語辭典也未收錄「鍾意」
鍾(zhong1)意: 集中(zhong1)情意, 情有獨鍾 ≠ 中(zhong4)意: 正中(zhong4)心意, 合乎心意.
“我钟意你” = 我只喜欢你, 我很喜欢你 (我的魂被你勾走了  ==> 通常處於被控地位)
"我中意你” = 我覺得你很合我心意, 很適合我, 很合我胃口 (我選擇你  ==> 通常處於主控地位).

中zhong4 "hit (the target)" ==> 中意: 正中心意.  Note: 中zhong4 is fundamentally transitive (e.g., 《左傳》：子家子亟言於我，未嘗不中(zhong4)吾志也) although some sentences may not have an overt object (e.g., 中獎沒?  中了 ==> 中(獎)了).

中 zhong1, if used as an adjective (or "intransitive verb" if you prefer calling it so given that the distinction between adjective and intransitive verb is rather blurry in Chinese), can carry the meaning "合适,适当" (e.g., 《戰國策》是秦之計中(zhong1)，齊燕之計過矣).

I can live with 中(zhong1)看不中(zhong1)用.  It simply reflects different approaches to syntactic analysis.  中(zhong4)看 treats 中 as a transitive verb (i.e., 適合觀賞), while 中(zhong1)看 sees 中 as an intransitive verb or an adjective (i.e., "suitable for watching" 適合於觀賞).  I have a hard time finding a justification for 中zhong1意, though.

I believe that the overwhelming majority of people in Taiwan say 中zhong4意.


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## SuperXW

Skatinginbc said:


> To me, it is 中(zhong4)看不中zhong4用.
> ...
> I believe that the overwhelming majority of people in Taiwan say 中zhong4意.


That's good to know.
I think most Mainland Mandarin speaker would say zhong1 in above cases.
Again, if these words are considered dialectical, we can presume there are regional differences.


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## yuechu

Hello everyone again!

I recently heard the word 冲 being used on a TV show:
(a man selling purses is talking to some customers)
我刚才不是说了吗，你们放心吧 保证你们满意
the customer says: 行，冲你这句话

What does 冲 mean here? Also, is it pronounced chōng or chòng? (I'd also like to know which traditional character it should be here because according to one of the dictionaries I use, 冲 can correspond to more than one traditional character)
Thanks!


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## ian_english

The sentence means I believe you/I will buy one of your purses precisely because of what you said. 冲 roughly means because/because of/based on and is pronounced chòng. I don't know what traditional character it corresponds to even as a native Chinese speaker and thus nor is there any need for you to, I guess. I just know what it means from hearing and reading it when I was little.


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## SuperXW

baosheng said:


> I recently heard the word 冲 being used on a TV show:
> (a man selling purses is talking to some customers)
> 我刚才不是说了吗，你们放心吧 保证你们满意
> the customer says: 行，冲你这句话
> 
> What does 冲 mean here? Also, is it pronounced chōng or chòng? (I'd also like to know which traditional character it should be here because according to one of the dictionaries I use, 冲 can correspond to more than one traditional character)
> Thanks!


Here, 冲(chong4) literally means 朝, 对, 向 (facing toward, pointing at).
So 冲你这句话 means "regarding/based on/rely on/because of your words".
I'm not sure about the traditional character either.


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## fyl

It should be 衝. For the sound chong4, the only traditional character is 衝.

(For chong1, however, it can be either 衝 or 沖 (or itself 冲 in ancient texts). In usual online traditional contexts, the difference between 衝 and 沖 seems to be that 沖 is related to "water flow". But in fact, 衝 could be used for this (or a very similar) meaning too. It seems to me (not very sure) that 台湾《国语辞典》 only uses 沖 for water flow, whereas mainland dictionaries keep both characters for this meaning (the standard character is the simplified 冲 anyway), e.g. 现代汉语词典 treats 沖 as a 异体字, 汉语大词典 includes both 沖刷 and 衝刷 with exactly the same explanation.)


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## yuechu

Thank you all for your help!


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## Skatinginbc

衝，昌用切，讀去聲，要也，會也，迎也 "meet, face, see"，面對...而讓步，既然有...那麼就...
衝你的面子 = 看在你的面子上，既然你都出面了，既然有你的面子
衝你這句話 = 看在你這句話的份上， 既然你話都如此說了，既然有你這句話


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## yuechu

HolyUnicorn was helping me with a translation today and said the following: 别往心里去，这个老师一直说话很*冲*.
Does anyone know what 冲 means here and how to pronounce it? (@HolyUnicorn I hope you don't mind me asking the question in this other thread!)
Thanks!


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## SuperXW

yuechu said:


> HolyUnicorn was helping me with a translation today and said the following: 别往心里去，这个老师一直说话很*冲*.


chong4
It means someone speaks with a strong and even offensive attitude.
I think it should be considered as a Northern dialectical usage.


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## yuechu

That's good to know. Thanks, SuperXW!


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## yuechu

How about when 冲 is in someone's name?

For example, 王大冲 (character from a TV show)?
Is there a rule that it's one pronunciation or the other when it's part of someone's name?


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## Skatinginbc

yuechu said:


> 王大冲 (character from a TV show)?


王大冲 chōng
繁體是「沖」還是「衝」?
(1) 沖，虛也。武當掌門沖虛道長的「沖」。 《道德經》*大*盈若*沖* chōng (i.e, 境界越高，就越謙虛)。
(2) 衝，通道也。《西遊記》曉來舉杖淘輕浪，日出擔柴過*大衝 *chōng (i.e., 大道)。

當然, 民間稱陰陽五行不調和，與人事有所沖煞為「大沖 chōng」(對沖相忌的「沖」); 天文學界稱某行星 (e.g., 火星) 與太陽、 地球在同一條直線上, 離地球最近的時期為「大衝 chōng」(衝突的「衝」)。


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## Jack12345

冲作为姓时同 沖 chong 1, 
《康熙字典》...又姓。明洪武中香山縣（县）丞沖敬。
《说文解字》：涌搖也。从水中。讀若動。直弓切


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## yuechu

Skatinginbc said:


> 繁體是「沖」還是「衝」?


Oh, I wasn't thinking about that! I'm not sure which of the two 繁体 characters it's supposed to be.

Actually, on the TV show, I'm pretty sure that it's usually pronounced chōng, but for emphasis chòng as well. Is this possible (or common) for both pronunciations to be used (by the same speaker, I mean)? It is also very possible that I was hearing wrong... (I'm not always 100% correct at identifying tones, hence my asking the questions on the forum!) 

Thanks, Skatinginbc and Jack12345!


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## Jack12345

yuechu said:


> Oh, I wasn't thinking about that! I'm not sure which of the two 繁体 characters it's supposed to be.


In traditional Chinese, they are two words. But in simple Chinese, they are one word 冲.


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## albert_laosong

yuechu said:


> Is this possible (or common) for both pronunciations to be used (by the same speaker, I mean)?


I think when it's in the names, it's always 冲1，I've never heard of a name where it's pronounced as 冲4.  It would be quite weird if it was pronounced that way in a name.


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## yuechu

Oh, I probably heard it wrong then! Thanks, Jack12345 and Albert_laosong!


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## yuechu

大家好！
I heard 冲 used in the following context on a TV show today, and I'm not 100% if it's a verb or a preposition (and have trouble hearing if it is chōng or  chòng): "不是你说他是不是就冲着我呀"
Would anyone know what the pronunciation is here? (My guess is that it should be chōng, right?)

Thanks!


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## SuperXW

yuechu said:


> Would anyone know what the pronunciation is here? My guess is that it should be chōng, right?


No, it should be chong4 “toward”.
What does it mean if you think 冲着我 it is chōng?

"不是，你说他是不是就冲着我呀？"
Here, the speaker "I" doubted him is doing something only for opposing "me". 冲着我 made it "personal".


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## yuechu

Oh, it's good I asked then. Thanks, SuperXW! So is 冲着 being used as a preposition with an implied (but unstated) verb?


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## SuperXW

yuechu said:


> So is 冲着 being used as a preposition with an implied (but unstated) verb?


I don't know how to understand "with an implied (but unstated) verb"...but I think you've got the knack.
In Chinese, 冲chong4 is a preposition. The usage is similar to 朝/向/对.
Chinese preposition and English preposition are not the same in grammar. For example, the verb "to be" is not used with Chinese preposition. 着 can be attached to 冲/朝/向/对.


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## yuechu

I heard 冲 being used again on a TV show (but couldn't tell if it was chōng or chòng) in the following context:

A husband is talking to his wife and says:
"客观讲，这次爸表现得很好，对吧。咱们不是去看爸了吗? 冲爸！" (from the 电视剧 called 小舍得)

Is this 冲 a verb or a preposition? (There is no 着 this time, so I wasn't sure if that changed anything or not!) Does it mean "to charge"? or "towards him"? Sorry to ask so many questions about this word! I find it tricky with all its meanings...
Thanks!


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## Lamb67

Chong 4
 For the sake of
See post


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## yuechu

Oh! I didn't realize it had that meaning too. (It's not in the dictionary I use for some reason!)
Thanks, Lamb67!   It's much clearer now!

So 冲 can be positive, neutral or negative, right? (depending on the context?)


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## SimonTsai

Lamb67 said:


> See post #43


In post 43 was SuperXW giving 冲 (or 衝 in Taiwan) pronounced with the fourth tone in the sense of _towards_, which doesn't fit the context in post 46, so I don't get it.


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## SuperXW

yuechu said:


> A husband is talking to his wife and says:
> "客观讲，这次爸表现得很好，对吧。咱们不是去看爸了吗? 冲爸！" (from the 电视剧 called 小舍得)


I don't understand this. More contexts?


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## Lamb67

"Jiu chong4 ni"
"就冲你!"
 Is  a phrase  often used in a quarrel and close to How dared~?

"没门儿!"
méiménr
[方言]
Would be followed 🤩
"I guess 他一句话就把我冲得好远 is an innovative"👍
It is the first time for me ! 🤩


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## SuperXW

Lamb67 said:


> "Jiu chong4 ni"
> "就冲你!"
> Is  a phrase  often used in a quarrel and close to How dared~?
> 
> "没门儿!"
> méiménr
> [方言]
> Would be followed 🤩


Here 就冲你？= 就凭你？ Like: YOU? You think even YOU are qualified?
没门儿 = No way!


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## yuechu

yuechu said:


> I heard 冲 being used again on a TV show (but couldn't tell if it was chōng or chòng) in the following context:
> 
> A husband is talking to his wife and says:
> "客观讲，这次爸表现得很好，对吧。咱们不是去看爸了吗? 冲爸！" (from the 电视剧 called 小舍得)
> 
> Is this 冲 a verb or a preposition? (There is no 着 this time, so I wasn't sure if that changed anything or not!) Does it mean "to charge"? or "towards him"? Sorry to ask so many questions about this word! I find it tricky with all its meanings...
> Thanks!


I think that the context was: the couple was talking about going to the wife's father's house with her sibling and his wife (and both couple's children) for dinner. The sister-in-law was making (the first couple)'s daughter feel bad because she wasn't getting good grades at school. I think the husband here means that they should (past, present, future? not sure) go there again in the future for the sake of her father.
They were also talking about how they couldn't understand why the sister-in-law was acting so mean to them (making it sound like they weren't good parents) and how maybe it was because her father (the grandfather) seemed to favour the first couple's children more than the other couple's children.


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## SuperXW

yuechu said:


> I think that the context was...


Is there any conversation before or after your sentence? Or simply show us the video the may help better.


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## yuechu

SuperXW said:


> Or simply show us the video the may help better.


Yes, it might be easier to see the whole context if you see that part of the video.
(To moderator(s): I hope this is ok if I mention the 电视剧 name and episode here!)

It's called 小舍得, Episode 4, 13m27s. The conversation is slightly after that point in the video. (You don't have to watch it though!)

I hope this helps!


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