Lesson 10: Age, Birthday and Zodiac Signs in Chinese
It's important to know how to congratulate your friends on their birthdays. This lesson will teach you birthday related Chinese. Chinese Zodiac Signs is an important element in calculating someone's age. It is also close tied with birthday conversations. You will also learn the 12 Chinese Zodiac Signs in Chinese from the following.
Vocabulary:
| Chinese Character | Pinyin | Pronunciation | English Translation | |
| 生日 | shēng rì |
birthday | ||
| 生 | shēng | born | ||
| 是吗 | shì mā |
really? | ||
| 祝你 | zhù nǐ | congratulate you | ||
| 祝 | zhù | congratulate | ||
| 快乐 | kuài le | happy | ||
| 快 | kuài | quick | ||
| 乐 | lè;yuè | happy, glad; | ||
| 多大 | duó dà | how old; how big | ||
| 大 | dà | big, great, old, vast, large, high | ||
| 岁 | suì | age; year; | ||
| 出生 | chū shēng | birth; life, living, lifetime; | ||
| 出 | chū | go out, send out; stand; produce | ||
| 属 | shǔ | class, category, type; belong to | ||
| 哪一年 | nǎ yì nián | which year? | ||
| 哪 | nǎ | which? where? how? | ||
| 比 | bǐ | to compare; comparison; than | ||
| 小 | xiǎo | small, young | ||
Tips A:
- Remember in the previous lesson we talked about a unique combination in Chinese language is to combine two adjective words with opposite meanings, you get a measurement word. Here you combine "big" and "small", you get "da xiao - 大小" which means "how big" or "how old".
| Zodiac Signs | Simplified Chinese | Pinyin | Pronunciation | Chinese Horoscopes |
| Rat | 鼠 | shǔ | Chinese horoscope year of the Rat | |
| Ox | 牛 | níu | Chinese horoscope year of the Ox | |
| Tiger | 虎 | hǔ | Chinese horoscope year of the Tiger | |
| Rabbit | 兔 | tù | Chinese horoscope year of the Rabbit | |
| Dragon | 龙 | lóng | Chinese horoscope year of the Dragon | |
| Snake | 蛇 | shé | Chinese horoscope year of the Snake | |
| Horse | 马 | mǎ | Chinese horoscope year of the Horse | |
| Lamb | 羊 | yáng | Chinese horoscope year of the Lamb | |
| Monkey | 猴 | hóu | Chinese horoscope year of the Monkey | |
| Rooster | 鸡 | jī | Chinese horoscope year of the Rooster | |
| Dog | 狗 | gǒu | Chinese horoscope year of the Dog | |
| Pig | 猪 | zhū | Chinese horoscope year of the Pig |
Tips B:
- Similar to the western culture, asking a lady for her age is quite rude. However, there is an interesting way to find out someone's age without directly asking for it. Find out the person's Chinese Zodiac sign, normally people don't avoid the question. Then use the Zodiac sign to match your own and figure out the person's real age. Because Chinese zodiacs follow the sequence in a12 years cycle.
- "shu - 属" something means "born in the year of", simply attach the word of the animal behind it.
Dialog:
Click to hear the above dialog.
English Translation:
What date is it today?
Today is June 22.
Today is my birthday.
Really? Happy Birthday!
Thank you!
How old are you?
26.
Then you were born in 1981, the year of monkey?
Yes.
Which date is your birthday?
My birthday is on November 9.
Which year were you born?
1983.
Which year is that?
The year of dog.
You are two years younger than me. I am older than you.
Chinese Calligraphy:
生 祝 快 乐 大 岁 出 属 哪 比 鼠 牛 虎 兔 龙 蛇 马 羊 猴 鸡 狗 猪
Questions and Comments
