# I speak Chinese fluently



## polyn1708

Hello !

I would like to know which translation would be the best for "I speak Chinese fluently".

我汉语说得流利 OR 我讲一口流利的汉语

And is there a difference between  说 and 讲一口 ?

Thank you very much in advance


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## viajero_canjeado

Hi polyn,
The first one sounds good! But I'd make the following minor adjustment:
我漢語說得很流利。
Perhaps you could slightly modify the second one to make it a bit more natural: 我會講很流利的漢語。 Now that you mention it, I've never heard 講一口 used in this way. Typically 一口 is used to mean "a mouthful", such as 來喝一口吧 = come try a sip of this. Bon courage!


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## Coldie

Hey polyn, just in case you can't read traditional Chinese, I switched viajero's response into simplified characters for you:


viajero_canjeado said:


> The first one sounds good! But I'd make the following minor adjustment:
> 我汉语说得很流利。
> Perhaps you could modify it slightly to make it a bit more natural: 我会讲很流利的汉语。 Now that you mention it, I've never heard 讲一口 used in this way. Typically 一口 is used to mean "a mouthful", such as 来喝一口吧 = come try a sip of this. Bon courage!



My feeling is that adding the "很" is a little more humble than just outright saying "说得流利", which kind goes of against the humbleness of Chinese culture.
"讲一口流利的汉语" seems almost whimsical to me, it's certainly not a normal way of saying your Chinese is fluent, in my opinion.


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## viajero_canjeado

Coldie said:


> "讲一口流利的汉语" seems almost whimsical to me, it's certainly not a normal way of saying your Chinese is fluent, in my opinion.



Yeah I checked with a native speaker and it's definitely an acceptable way of expressing that you speak a language fluently, it's just not very commonly used in colloquial speech, at least in the variety of Mandarin I'm familiar with. So if you want to use it, polyn, you'll be sure to impress your listeners!


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## lixiaohejssz

Both are fine in Chinese.


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## Coldie

viajero_canjeado said:


> Yeah I checked with a native speaker and it's definitely an acceptable way of expressing that you speak a language fluently, it's just not very commonly used in colloquial speech, at least in the variety of Mandarin I'm familiar with. So if you want to use it, polyn, you'll be sure to impress your listeners!




I didn't say it wasn't acceptable, I just said it wasn't normal.


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## lixiaohejssz

"讲一口” is OK.


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## viajero_canjeado

Coldie said:


> I didn't say it wasn't acceptable, I just said it wasn't normal.



I didn't say you said it wasn't acceptable. Just supplementing, that's all.
祝安～


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## Coldie

My apologies, you just quoted me and said that, so I got the wrong impression.


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## lixiaohejssz

中国人喜欢在形容词前加个“很”字，这样听起来比较自然。如：我是累的。这句话比不上”我很累。“


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## viajero_canjeado

Coldie said:


> My apologies, you just quoted me and said that, so I got the wrong impression.



沒關係！很正常的反應。好像透過網路都比較容易產生類似的誤解～



lixiaohejssz said:


> 中国人喜欢在形容词前加个“很”字，这样听起来比较自然。如：我是累的。这句话比不上”我很累。“



說得對  順便問一下，在您那邊，老百姓常用「講一口語言」這個說法嗎？對我，聽來有點古舊的味道，所以我才好奇在大陸是否一樣。


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## lixiaohejssz

在您那邊，老百姓常用「講一口語言」這個說法嗎？ 对，人们常这样说。如，”他说一口标准的普通话。“


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## Coldie

That's really interesting, I never once heard that in my three years in Hangzhou. Pretty diverse language, Chinese is


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## BODYholic

lixiaohejssz said:


> 在您那邊，老百姓常用「講一口語言」這個說法嗎？ 对，人们常这样说。如，”他说一口标准的普通话。“


  The above is also common in Singapore.  Some minor variations are, 他(能/会)说一口流利的华语. There is also a more obscure one, 他超了一口流利的华语.


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## AquisM

在香港，‘讲一口’不是太常用，可能跟人们以广东话为母语有关，可是，在书面语都会偶然见到的。


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## geoseraphicus

viajero_canjeado said:


> 沒關係！很正常的反應。好像透過網路都比較容易產生類似的誤解～
> 
> 
> 
> 說得對  順便問一下，在您那邊，老百姓常用「講一口語言」這個說法嗎？對我，聽來有點古舊的味道，所以我才好奇在大陸是否一樣。



My impression is that 讲一口流利的XX语 is perfectly normal and quite widely used in both colloquial and written Chinese in perhaps the northern part of mainland China, or to be precise the 北方官话 area. In southern parts, however, it can sound weird to some people, usually those who acquires the local dialect before receiving formal Putonghua/国语 training. As a side note, 讲一口 always goes with words like 流利 or 很棒; just saying "讲一口语言" is indeed strange.


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## SuperXW

polyn1708 said:


> Hello !
> 
> I would like to know which translation would be the best for "I speak Chinese fluently".
> 
> 我汉语说得流利 OR 我讲一口流利的汉语
> 
> And is there a difference between  说 and 讲一口 ?
> 
> Thank you very much in advance


1. 我汉语说得流利 sounds unfinished. i.e. 我汉语说得流利，英语也不错。(I speak fluent Chinese. My English is also not bad. ) 
In a completed sentence, Chinese often use 很+adj. i.e. 我汉语说得很流利。
e.g. Unfinished: 你美， Completed: 你很美。 
2. 我讲一口流利的汉语。Sounds like you are advertising yourself. If you are praising someone, you'll say 他讲一口流利的x语。
3. 我汉语很流利。 This is the most neutural and simple way for "I speak Chinese fluently".


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## polyn1708

Thank you all for your answers and detailed explanations! Even if I am far from "speaking Chinese fluently" I now know how to say it thanks to you


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## YangMuye

> 我讲一口流利的汉语



我*能*讲一口流利的汉语
我*会*讲一口流利的汉语
我讲*得*一口流利的汉语

As 得 can be used here to express capability, maybe it's a archaic structure.
But I think it's very common to say in this way in both spoken and written language.

EDIT:
The 得 is not used to express capability, just the same as the 得 in “汉语讲得很好”.
一口流利的汉语, which seems just a noun phrase, itself can be used predicatively.
Some “delineative” none phrases can be used predicatively without “是”.
“一/整/全/满+container+adjectival+noun” seems to be one.

他一口流利的汉语.
他讲得很流利.
他讲得一口流利的汉语.

他(写得)一笔好字。
他(唱得)一口好曲。
他(弹得)一手好琴。
他(生得)一表人材。

他(?流得)一身臭汗   (Using a verb here is uncommon, I'm not sure if 流得 is the most appropriate one.)

You can also use 了 instead of 得 in this structure. Both implies “resultive conjunction”. 着 seems OK, too, which has exactly the same meaning and usage with 了. Maybe the use is somewhat old-fashioned.


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## Ghabi

BODYholic said:


> There is also a more obscure one, 他超了一口流利的华语.


這個「超一口」很有趣，是否跟「操一口」一樣呢？


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## SuperXW

BODYholic said:


> The above is also common in Singapore.  Some minor variations are, 他(能/会)说一口流利的华语. There is also a more obscure one, 他超了一口流利的华语.


应该是“操一口”吧，“操”取“持有，操作”的含义。


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## lixiaohejssz

Ghabi said:


> 這個「超一口」很有趣，是否跟「操一口」一樣呢？


操一口更常见。


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## Youngfun

讲一口流利的汉语 is very common in the written language, I don't see the reason why you guys are discouraging using it.
In the oral language, I usually hear 你汉语讲的很流利 or even more colloquially 讲得很溜。

My impression is that 操 is more used for dialects/regional languages, for example 操北京话、操上海话、操广东话。
But I've seldom heard 操汉语/华语。But I'm not sure.
I would say 我在家里跟我父母操青田话，跟我弟弟操罗马方言，上班时跟顾客讲意大利语。


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## xiaolijie

So far there have been many good suggestions, and all sound fine grammatically. There is however one doubt in my mind. Do people actually say sentences like these _about themselves_ ?
*我*讲一口流利的汉语
*我*汉语说的很流利

Obviously Chinese people probably don't talk about their ability in Chinese, so let's replace 汉语 with 英语 and see if the sentences are still realistic, still in accordance with what I consider to be Chinese sense of modesty:
*我*讲一口流利的英语.
*我*英语说的很流利.

Can native Chinese speakers please confirm whether they would speak just like this about themselves?
If not, how do they actually express the same idea in an acceptable Chinese way?


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## Youngfun

我英语讲得还可以吧。

Even Italian being my native language: 
我意大利语讲得还行吧。
我意大利语讲得还不错。(a little less modest)


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## HongKonger

中國人不會無端端說自己中文講得好好, 這是因為中文有好幾種方言, 如果要提及語言方面的能力, 例如在見工面試時, 為了說得得體一點, 我們可以這樣說: "我能說流利的國語/普通話/粵語/客家話......." 另外, "操一種語言"這一講法在書面語的場合或北方人的圈子裡都是常見的.


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## BODYholic

Ghabi said:


> 這個「超一口」很有趣，是否跟「操一口」一樣呢？





SuperXW said:


> 应该是“操一口”吧，“操”取“持有，操作”的含义。


  抱歉，人有失蹄。  对了，除了“操一口”，我们还可说“很溜”。如“他说的华语很溜”. (不会再人失前蹄吧！)  ^_^"


附: “操”即“操控”，意“掌握”。


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## lixiaohejssz

别再误导老外了。是“马失前蹄”，“马有失蹄”。


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## viajero_canjeado

lixiaohejssz said:


> 是“马失前蹄”，“马有失蹄”。



真的嗎？我以為是「人有失常，馬有失蹄」。意思差不多吧？



BODYholic said:


> 附: “操”即“操控”，意“掌握”。



酷～  我問一下喔：在新加坡人們也會常搞混ㄔ、ㄘ（chi,ci)的發音嗎？在台灣很普遍。


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## lixiaohejssz

在中国大陆有些地区也有chi, ci; shi, si; zhi, zi不分的，新加坡人有不少也是从中国去的，所以也会有这种情况。很常见。


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## Youngfun

南方人都不分，尤其是江苏以南的沿海地方肯定不分。
好像内地有些地方，比如四川也不分。
台湾人大部分人祖籍是福建，所以也不分。
新加坡大部分的华人祖籍是福建、广东，所以也不分。


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## SuperXW

viajero_canjeado said:


> 真的嗎？我以為是「人有失常，馬有失蹄」。意思差不多吧？


马失前蹄 yes
马有失蹄 yes
人有失*手*，马有失蹄 yes
马有失手，人有失蹄 joking...


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## sunjingtao7996

Ghabi said:


> 這個「超一口」很有趣，是否跟「操一口」一樣呢？



I think that BODYholic has chosen the wrong Chinese word. It should be "操一口"，not“超一口”。


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## BODYholic

sunjingtao7996 said:


> I think that BODYholic has chosen the wrong Chinese word. It should be "操一口"，not“超一口”。



Thank you for the correction and welcome to the forum, sunjingtao7996.


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## BODYholic

viajero_canjeado said:


> 酷～  我問一下喔：在新加坡人們也會常搞混ㄔ、ㄘ（chi,ci)的發音嗎？在台灣很普遍。



虽然不能用一根竹干打翻一船人，但我相信我们这里大多数人应该不太会去区分chi/ci的音别。
那也算是恶习吧！所以，正在学习华语的朋友们，切勿效仿。


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