Chengyu: Chinese four-character idioms
Chengyu (成语) are fixed expressions, nearly always four characters long, many from old stories. They're everywhere in writing and in educated speech.
Knowing what one means is half the job; the other half is knowing where it goes in a sentence and which register it suits.
The essentials
- Everyday ones first: 马马虎虎 (so-so), 一路平安 (have a safe trip), 乱七八糟 (a mess).
- Each chengyu acts like one word in the sentence: as a verb, an adjective or a comment.
- Many retell a story: 画蛇添足 (drawing legs on a snake) means spoiling something by overdoing it.
- Use them where a native speaker would; too many sound stilted.
Every lesson on this topic
Each lesson has a full explanation, examples in characters and pinyin you can listen to, and exercises with answers.
B1 (the B1 course)
- Four-character expressions (成语): a first set: Fixed four-character expressions you'll hear every day: 马马虎虎, 一路平安, 乱七八糟, 自言自语 and more.
B2 (the B2 course)
- Chengyu in use: meaning, grammar role and register: 一举两得, 半途而废, 名副其实, 千方百计 and more: what they mean and where they go in a sentence.
C1 (the C1 course)
- Chengyu and their stories: 画蛇添足, 守株待兔, 塞翁失马, 对牛弹琴: Four-character idioms that retell an old story, and how to use them without misfiring.
In the app, these lessons are taught one idea at a time with audio, practised with questions you can answer in characters or pinyin, and brought back for review.
Other topics
- 了 (le) in Chinese, explained
- 的, 地 and 得: the three de
- Chinese measure words
- The 把 (bǎ) sentence, explained
- 被 (bèi) and the passive in Chinese
- 是…的 (shì…de): when, where and how
- Comparisons with 比 (bǐ)
- 过 (guò) and 着 (zhe): experience and ongoing states
- Chinese complements: result, direction and potential
- Questions in Chinese: 吗, question words and particles
- 不 (bù) or 没 (méi): negation in Chinese
- Chinese conjunctions: because, although, if
- Chinese numbers, dates and time
- Chinese tones and pinyin