30 Simplest Chinese Characters - Learn Your First Hanzi!

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  • Опубліковано 29 гру 2024

КОМЕНТАРІ • 161

  • @MrCurlz
    @MrCurlz 4 роки тому +159

    Can't wait for 30 most DIFFICULT :D

    • @ABChinese
      @ABChinese  4 роки тому +65

      I don’t think anyone would watch that video 😂😂 Maybe I’ll write them out just for fun

    • @PsychedelicDef
      @PsychedelicDef 3 роки тому +3

      @@ABChinese you would need the word I for at least writing wise

    • @teerich2011
      @teerich2011 3 роки тому +3

      I've seen one that would take me 5-10 mins to write. Don't remember the character or amt of strokes but it was intimidating! 😳

    • @wangxiao3952
      @wangxiao3952 3 роки тому +17

      又双叒叕
      火炎焱燚
      龘靐齉齾龗麤鱻爩龖吁
      灪麣鸾鹂鲡驫饢籱癵爨
      滟厵麷鸜郁骊钃讟虋纞
      龞齽齼鼺黸麢鹳鹦鸙鸘
      Don't ask me, I can't read them neither.

    • @omeiga
      @omeiga 3 роки тому +1

      @@ABChinese i would lol

  • @fluffypickle8218
    @fluffypickle8218 Рік тому +31

    It's nice that you pointed out the difference between 木 and 树. Far too many beginner materials say "木 means tree because it looks like a tree".

    • @chengyanslc
      @chengyanslc Рік тому +1

      In Japanese or ancient Chinese

    • @guangyang547
      @guangyang547 Рік тому +3

      It was created to means tree but another one created to means tree. There are many characters that have the meaning change。

  • @АртурХахлоў
    @АртурХахлоў 3 роки тому +80

    Interesting, that 川 and 入 are very common in Japanese (same meaning)

    • @BQD_Central
      @BQD_Central 3 роки тому +29

      most of the hanzi here are the same as the japanese kanji, because well the japanese copied it.

    • @fordnash7449
      @fordnash7449 2 роки тому +18

      Japanese kanji is a carbon copy of hanzi

    • @as2s3hf7gff
      @as2s3hf7gff 2 роки тому +2

      @@BQD_Central AnD MoDiFYInG iT....

    • @Venik75
      @Venik75 2 роки тому +14

      Maybe because kanji means Chinese characters

    • @keithle_
      @keithle_ 2 роки тому +3

      Well "river" and "enter" are very common in every country, despite the different language

  • @MrTVx99
    @MrTVx99 Рік тому +14

    Something you didn't mention. You can look at the symbols as opposite meanings. Chinese are focused on yin and yang 阴阳 to describe opposites to achieve balance. Also notice 日 for sun and 月 for moon included showing the opposites. You can see something similar in the depictions. Fire is 火 and water is 水. Big is 大 and looks very similar to fire while small is 小 and looks more similar to water. I'm learning Chinese as well so sorry for incorrect information, I just started noticing these things and it looks very cool.

    • @ZulkifliJamil4033-x6s
      @ZulkifliJamil4033-x6s 3 місяці тому

      阴阳 , this is cool. Only today, Tuesday 3rd September 2024, I learn about concept of yin and Yang. Thanks so much

  • @quach8quach907
    @quach8quach907 Рік тому +1

    15:36 That's because it has been simplified beyond any ***** recognition. 廠 is the original word.

  • @ba_vinci9220
    @ba_vinci9220 2 роки тому +25

    大(da4) is 人(ren2) with 一(横 heng2 - horizontal line) across to symbolize person with spread arms showing something big(size of something) and 天(tian1) is 大 with 横(heng2) on the top of character which symbolizes both something big and something what is above a person. :)

    • @evanyo19992
      @evanyo19992 5 місяців тому

      欸?“大人”有它自己独特的定义哦 (doesn't mean big size)

  • @quach8quach907
    @quach8quach907 Рік тому +5

    15:04卜 it means to divine as in "thầy bói" (Vietnamese) 卜師 = fortune teller, psychic, palm reader, shaman.
    卜 is a glyph of of the lines on a turtle's shell, which is where the trigrams of the I-Ching came from.
    I'm Vietnamese and I'm teaching Chinese Chinese.

    • @khai96x
      @khai96x Рік тому

      What's the difference between Chinese Chinese and regular Chinese?

    • @quach8quach907
      @quach8quach907 Рік тому +2

      @@khai96x I'm teaching Chinese people Chinese language.

    • @khai96x
      @khai96x Рік тому

      @@quach8quach907 Are you teaching Mandarin Chinese to the people of Hoa ethnicity? Otherwise, it doesn't make sense.

    • @quach8quach907
      @quach8quach907 Рік тому

      @@khai96x I am teaching the written Chinese which is independent of the spoken Chinese to any Chinese motherfuckers who want lo learn. Now do I make sense?

  • @gohitosun6859
    @gohitosun6859 3 роки тому +25

    卜/bǔ means divination at first. E.g. 占卜/zhān bǔ means divination. It has two extended meanings “to choose” and “to predicrt”. You can think divination as a behavior of prediction in a sense. And also, Imagine that a person in ancient China will “choose” a house after divination.
    But we seldom use 卜 to mean “to choose” and “to predict” in modern Chinese. Only 占卜 is sometimes used.

    • @ABChinese
      @ABChinese  3 роки тому +8

      wow, thanks!

    • @KuanCGM
      @KuanCGM 2 роки тому +6

      You still can use卜 as a single verb, for example卜一卦:make one (mythical) prediction, just that you probably only use it in temple, suspicious fortune telling, novels…etc.

    • @gohitosun6859
      @gohitosun6859 2 роки тому +2

      @@KuanCGM 第一次见到这种说法呢,你是哪里人呀

    • @jzheng7324
      @jzheng7324 2 роки тому +3

      @@gohitosun6859 占星卜卦,“占“和“卜”都是动词。

  • @PaulfrmTXtoCO
    @PaulfrmTXtoCO Рік тому +2

    Da (big) looks like a man with his arms spread wide. "It was this big!"

  • @jonathoneng4552
    @jonathoneng4552 3 роки тому +10

    When I was learning Japanese years ago. The way I remembered left and right was that in the character 右 the 口 radical reminded me of the Korean consonant of the same shape which is similar to the “m” sound. Using Japanese I just always thought of みぎ (migi) and the m sound to help me remember 右

    • @jsprite123
      @jsprite123 3 роки тому +3

      As a right-handed person, doing things with the left hand demands more work (the I-beam), that's how I can tell them apart.

    • @bluebaum2.7.16
      @bluebaum2.7.16 Рік тому

      ​@@jsprite123This is Genius

  • @quach8quach907
    @quach8quach907 Рік тому +1

    2:19 moon is also the root word of month in English..

  • @Mariah203
    @Mariah203 2 роки тому +4

    I think the character for wang is simple too. It was the first one I was able to memorize and recognize without any effort.

    • @juliar111
      @juliar111 2 роки тому

      Wang Peng moment 😭

  • @adrosant7326
    @adrosant7326 Рік тому +1

    about the zuí ba characters, I'm glad I'm not a dental doc, so after learning Chinese i'll never gonna need to write a paper whit those charactes, like, how you write these zuí simbol? it would take me at least an hour just to write this simbol jaja chinese is amazing

  • @dottieshields5918
    @dottieshields5918 2 роки тому +2

    You have a great command of your subject, and you present it simply so it makes a lot of sense. Thenk you!

  • @petrokemp1567
    @petrokemp1567 2 роки тому +2

    Your English is so good and you are really friendly and relaxed. I love it!

  • @kevilarz
    @kevilarz Рік тому

    (1:43)
    In Filipino it's the same
    "Araw" has two meanings sun and day.

  • @cobax10
    @cobax10 7 місяців тому +1

    Muy buen video, gracias 🙏

  • @quach8quach907
    @quach8quach907 Рік тому

    14:48 入, enter. It is a glyph of an opening of a tent.

  • @ThiCath
    @ThiCath 4 місяці тому

    I love learning the french language thanks for teaching me it ABChinese

  • @quach8quach907
    @quach8quach907 Рік тому

    15:12卜 to "divine" and Not "divide". That is a mistyping because most people do not know what "divine" means.
    they go together: divine, forecast, or estimate.

  • @quach8quach907
    @quach8quach907 Рік тому

    6:32 小 small, is a glyph of a baby in a bundle with 2 little arms sticking out. Learn the etymologies if the glyph, just like in English.

  • @AdrynJohanna
    @AdrynJohanna 3 роки тому +18

    Radish in my language(Malay) is Lobak and in Chinese it's Luo Ba. 😂
    Also Carrot in Malay is Lobak Merah. (Literal meaning is Radish Red)

    • @KinLee919
      @KinLee919 2 роки тому

      Carrot in chinese is huluobo (barbarian radish), but in some part of china people use hongluobo (red radish)

    • @tymanung6382
      @tymanung6382 2 роки тому

      Malay, etc..Asian languages mostly borrowed older Chinese national words
      or still existing SE Chinese dialects words. For example Lobak is Cantonese
      at least) pronunciation---most such dialects keep old N China pronunciations
      like syllable end consonants like --k. --p,
      --t, (sometimes, --glottal stop.)

    • @tymanung6382
      @tymanung6382 2 роки тому

      On other hand. Ho kkien (+ etc.? other
      SE.Chinese dialects borrow many Malay
      + English words.
      Tagalog, Philippine national language
      at least, also.borrows Hokkien (+ other
      SE Chinese dialects words?)

  • @NB-me
    @NB-me 4 роки тому +21

    Thank you a lot! Love your videos , your attitude and how simple it is when you explain things!

  • @dara_1989
    @dara_1989 2 роки тому +1

    zhung menas middle in ladakh n tibetan as well

  • @pazuzufraney1
    @pazuzufraney1 Рік тому

    But seems to mean to deduce, estimate guess as in divide and determine

  • @g0801215
    @g0801215 4 роки тому +7

    I always remember left and right as you eat with your right hand and if you are left handed, you need to work hard to use your left hand.

    • @ABChinese
      @ABChinese  4 роки тому +2

      Oh, that’s a good one!

  • @GraceMandarinChinese
    @GraceMandarinChinese 4 роки тому +13

    太羨慕你的英文了(我知道英文是你母語哈哈,但還是很羨慕😂)

    • @ABChinese
      @ABChinese  4 роки тому +8

      哈哈谢谢了,只不过是我运气好,小时候有这样的环境。不过我以后有孩子了也会要求他们从小都学中文的。

  • @dougjstl1
    @dougjstl1 Рік тому +1

    To start off with the basics Chinese you really need a a personalized tutor so you can start to get the concept up the pronunciation of the words in the language because you can imagine once you learn about a hundred words or thousand words and you you're starting a language. Starting to get a grip on the language.

  • @iamkomorebi
    @iamkomorebi 2 роки тому

    8:19 Is literally the Japanese Katakana for “ka”

  • @waimelibertypayabe-es6zh
    @waimelibertypayabe-es6zh Рік тому

    Could u pls do cloud, rain, and fish pls

  • @lodhi6666
    @lodhi6666 3 роки тому +2

    When you say there are two terms that can describe something, like the example of 口 and 嘴巴, could an English speaker think of it like the scientific name for something and then the actual name we use when speaking? For example, in English we wouldn't say Gluteal, we would just say butt, but in written documents it may be described using the former so it sounds more serious or official.

    • @ABChinese
      @ABChinese  3 роки тому +4

      No, it's a bit complicated to explain, but usually the one syllable word is more vague than the 2 syllable version. For example, 口 would be much more likely used in poetry, where vagueness is embraced. A common phrase would be 说出口 which means "speak out loud." So you can see that 口 is used a bit more figuratively here. 嘴巴 is almost never used figuratively.

  • @quach8quach907
    @quach8quach907 Рік тому +1

    0:43 There you go, showing off your ignorance of Chinese history. This is why I, Vietnamese, learn Chinese, to know history.
    Glyphs start off as circles, as in 日 sun. ⊙ This is the original glyph, a circle with a dot in the center. Circles become stylized into squares, as a circle is harder to draw than a square.

  • @kiponkipon3234
    @kiponkipon3234 3 роки тому +2

    Can you, please, film a video about Chinese seafood vocabulary?

  • @princessesoftheking7411
    @princessesoftheking7411 Рік тому

    at 4:08 did any one else think farmer ?

  • @quach8quach907
    @quach8quach907 Рік тому

    0:39 Wrong idea using print font. Use brushstroke font to define the original glyph and accentuate the difference.
    囗 surround
    囗 mouth
    in brush stroke font, 囗 mouth, is more trapezoidal.

  • @pla-pixelsliteraturaearte3860

    Another great video! Congratulations, you help a lot! That idea of the Romans getting inspired in the Amazing [adjective with "b"] Chinese is really cool. Are there studies about that? I'll take a look.

  • @tymanung6382
    @tymanung6382 2 роки тому

    Can you also research.pinyins
    stranger spellings- zh--..--i (3 different,
    like ri sun,.shi 10, q-- in Qu to go.
    etc.

  • @new.me197
    @new.me197 Рік тому

    Think you so much 💝❤

  • @kha0s616
    @kha0s616 7 місяців тому

    The subtle voice change when he switched languages and said "kôu" 💀

  • @sultansa1733
    @sultansa1733 Рік тому

    What is the difference between 尺寸 and 尺码 and 大小 ?

  • @numburger
    @numburger 2 роки тому +5

    厂 looks so weird alone. I'm more used to Japan's kanji which can be the same but you can also have stuff like 气 which in Japanese equivalent is 気. It looks so bare without the メ in it lol
    Same with radicals like 辶,氵,宀, and刂 (which is funny since Japan has the katakana リ which is literally derived from 刂)

    • @menemy4700
      @menemy4700 2 роки тому +2

      Traditional Chinese character of 厂 is 廠, it just got simplified

    • @weichungliao9611
      @weichungliao9611 2 роки тому +2

      Fun fact:The simplified character "气" is taken from Xiaozhuan (an ancient Chinese character font)

  • @alekseev1986
    @alekseev1986 2 роки тому

    15:15 萝 can be easily mistaken as yume 夢🇯🇵 梦🇨🇳

  • @rudyberkvens-be
    @rudyberkvens-be Рік тому +1

    In HSK1 i thought the tu character meant earth, but you call it dirt. Now I understand it does not mean the earth globe, but soil, sand, or … dirt indeed.

  • @magicl2807
    @magicl2807 4 роки тому +3

    I saw your duo post, tried this. I am native but are more accustomed to English mostly because I was born in America (correct me if I have wrong grammar)
    Chinese is good but still need to learn might watch some of your harder videos :) this is very helpful if I ever forget any of this

  • @awequayzngs1780
    @awequayzngs1780 Рік тому

    Thanks !.

  • @leezhieng
    @leezhieng 3 роки тому +2

    Actually another less commonly used character for 4 is indeed 4 strokes: 亖 (also read as si) It's the older variant of 四 but not common these days. p/s. No, number 5 is not five strokes.

    • @KinLee919
      @KinLee919 2 роки тому +3

      well u said that but look at 五,3 一 and 2 丨, 5 strokes.

    • @friendsheeep
      @friendsheeep 2 роки тому

      @@KinLee919 the 3rd stroke counts - and | as one stroke, so 五 has indeed 4 strokes

  • @oldsachem
    @oldsachem Рік тому

    Excellent!

  • @mathiaslist6705
    @mathiaslist6705 2 роки тому

    1:17 a good example for Chinese Simplification "zuîba" ... at least there's the kôu character in the zuî character .... should I ever be in charge of doing simplifying the chinese writing system then probably I take kôu and make it read zuî (... and then waiting for the sh* storm)

  • @Zhirager
    @Zhirager Рік тому

    谢谢你

  • @oldsachem
    @oldsachem Рік тому +1

    Politically, Left aligns with Labor (gong); Right stands for free speech (kou, mouth).

  • @jakubbriza7274
    @jakubbriza7274 2 роки тому

    So what does Sichuan mean? Four rivers? :D (meaning a country where there are four big/famous rivers?) or is there a hidden poetic meaning?

    • @k.c1126
      @k.c1126 2 роки тому

      The Yangtze and several of its major tributaries water the Sichuan plateau. So yes, it was named for the rivers ...

  • @Eleora1997Msia
    @Eleora1997Msia 2 роки тому

    how i learned Madarin and words based on my life;
    related to food (survival instinct)
    and
    bad words (protect myself from backbitting)
    the other words are learned by accident (means i come across to detect the same symbol again and again showing up)

  • @alekseev1986
    @alekseev1986 2 роки тому +1

    10:33 You should have ended this video with the 了 to achieve perfection.

  • @chx1618
    @chx1618 2 роки тому +1

    Once I asked one of my friends who doesn't read Chinese at all which of "大" and "小" meant "small" or "big" and he was able to guess correctly. He wasn't able to guess the words. I imagine that most non-readers could guess the characters.

    • @dexorne9753
      @dexorne9753 Рік тому

      Well the "small" kind of looks like a flaccid version of "big" so it kind of makes sense

  • @awkqua
    @awkqua 2 роки тому

    What's the different between 再and又

    • @RenacinisTheonerebornfromashes
      @RenacinisTheonerebornfromashes 2 роки тому

      再 is used for actions that will happen again in the future while 又 is for actions that happened again in the past if I am not mistaken

  • @mathiaslist6705
    @mathiaslist6705 2 роки тому

    3.43 the Romance chose X because it's two V but over each other ... (btw V is five)

    • @samplesample7178
      @samplesample7178 2 роки тому

      i never put a lot of thought into it but now i wanna know. Why is V 5. and the others as well

  • @morejoy5188
    @morejoy5188 Рік тому

    Good show. Even better though if you include Trad.
    Chinese
    INNIT

  • @chengyanslc
    @chengyanslc Рік тому

    LOL Greetings from 四川 Sichuan

  • @VoidloniXaarii
    @VoidloniXaarii 3 роки тому

    thank you!

  • @FunnyMemes-dr3se
    @FunnyMemes-dr3se 2 роки тому

    At least I remember most of these characters from Chinese.

  • @quach8quach907
    @quach8quach907 Рік тому +10

    9:02 Traditional characters are better. 門, more symmetric, more visual. Looks like a door of a saloon in the Old West.

  • @michaeldengg
    @michaeldengg 4 роки тому +1

    Thanks a lot. Helped

  • @habibinuncateolvidare4526
    @habibinuncateolvidare4526 4 роки тому

    thanks a lot! its a big help for me.

  • @maxtichauer6117
    @maxtichauer6117 3 роки тому

    handsome ...piaoliang

  • @johnsonloh9601
    @johnsonloh9601 Рік тому

    I had not seen"yi3".

  • @quach8quach907
    @quach8quach907 Рік тому

    8:18 力, strength, is a glyph of a plow. It has nothing to do with Bruce Lee, or Bruce Li,
    Again, learn the etymologies.

  • @anacatarinaalves1791
    @anacatarinaalves1791 3 роки тому

    You are funny . 😂😂

  • @konradmoien4734
    @konradmoien4734 3 роки тому

    乙 was the most confusing character during my childhood
    Why doesn’t it just be the same word with 一 as if they mean the same thing for half of the time I met 乙
    And the more confusing thing is, in the other half time I met 乙, it means *the second*
    Me when I was a child: good, a word for *1* and *the 2nd*
    Me now: maybe it’s a *deuce* from German playing card (which was a paint of 2 point and actually means *Ace*)

  • @quach8quach907
    @quach8quach907 Рік тому

    3:49 Again. You need precision.
    A better definition is "earth".
    And it has nothing to do with 十 ten.
    土 is a gyph of a lump of clay on a potter's wheel. ala earthenware.

  • @mathiaslist6705
    @mathiaslist6705 2 роки тому

    ☀rì 🌔yuè .... and Chinese goes emoji

  • @ramenboi4379
    @ramenboi4379 Рік тому

    yay

  • @JiminyClarkson
    @JiminyClarkson 3 роки тому

    Add 丫 to the list

  • @Adam-vv9co
    @Adam-vv9co Рік тому

    我在学中文

  • @quach8quach907
    @quach8quach907 Рік тому

    8:31 中 is better translated as "central". 中國 The Central Kingdom. The Middle Kingdom doesn't mean anything. The Central Kingdom means something, it's the center of the world.
    And it is a glyph of arrow hitting the center of a target. Again circles becomes squares.
    I'm Vietnamese and I'm telling a Chinese what 中國 means!
    I"m more Chinese than Chinese.

  • @dklimenok
    @dklimenok 2 роки тому

    The chapters' names are really weird: Ko, Sun, Moon, Gen, Move and so on.

    • @ABChinese
      @ABChinese  2 роки тому

      sorry, automatic chapters... I just turned it off lol

  • @tigretanguero
    @tigretanguero 3 роки тому

    Shuai ge, wo hen xihuan Shang ni de ke....... Xiexie ni de bangzhu..... 👍👍👍

  • @justiceokams
    @justiceokams Рік тому +1

    我要学汉语😫😭

  • @alekseev1986
    @alekseev1986 2 роки тому

    12:18 18

  • @kgillen3202
    @kgillen3202 Рік тому

    Radical

  • @jeffsvlog203
    @jeffsvlog203 Рік тому

    123

  • @flaminghealer9286
    @flaminghealer9286 8 місяців тому

    mhfjy 0:11

  • @karmathescouragiousdragon1652
    @karmathescouragiousdragon1652 3 роки тому

    Same in Japanese just pronounce different

  • @k.c1126
    @k.c1126 2 роки тому

    Can't believe you didn't include bu, as in no, not ..... LOL

  • @omeiga
    @omeiga 3 роки тому

    僕/仆=亻+菐/亻+卜
    㒒=亻+業
    業=业
    业=丷+character not found
    丷=丶+丿
    whaaaaaat?

  • @quach8quach907
    @quach8quach907 Рік тому

    天, yes, it can mean "sky", A better translation is "heaven".
    heaven is something that is 一 above 大 man.

  • @joecostner1246
    @joecostner1246 2 роки тому

    Funky

  • @antipneumonic3563
    @antipneumonic3563 2 роки тому

    Fun fact: 小 originated from 3 small dots

  • @caturion5453
    @caturion5453 2 роки тому +1

    日 → sun
    日 → day
    日日 → sunday✕
    日日 → everyday✓
    大 → big
    太 → too
    太大 → too big
    太太 → wife??
    奶 → milk
    子 → son
    奶奶 → granny
    奶子 → b00bs??
    Chinese is hard

  • @DennisSullivan-om3oo
    @DennisSullivan-om3oo Рік тому

    I thought two people in the dirt would be peasants

  • @中国杨
    @中国杨 3 роки тому +1

    you missed one important meaning of 日, which can act as a verb😈

  • @ferminsalaberri
    @ferminsalaberri 2 роки тому

    who else counting the triangles?

  • @Adam-vv9co
    @Adam-vv9co Рік тому

    我们在2023年

  • @zexuanliu8094
    @zexuanliu8094 Рік тому

    How do Gen Z in China write 1 2 3 4 on the internet? 一二三亖 😅

  • @hzlceviri4543
    @hzlceviri4543 3 роки тому

    Thank youuu

  • @Machodave2020
    @Machodave2020 2 роки тому

    Characters 20 and 21 make absolutely no sense. Because both of the characters by themselves mean son, but it looks like you'll hardly use them by themselves, but when you put them together they also means son? Why wouldn't you just use one or the other? I'm not trying to sound ignorant or anything, I just need answers.

    • @杜兴赫
      @杜兴赫 4 місяці тому

      儿means son.But子can also means seeds

  • @fabrizziodelgadotrigo1008
    @fabrizziodelgadotrigo1008 Рік тому

    me enamora jsdflkasdlfhakdsjf

  • @deryugituberschlechthingh6911

    水 makes no sense!like

  • @sirenastyles5948
    @sirenastyles5948 Рік тому

    Ni hao tian tian xiexie ni -XIla ai nimen!! plz help my friend bec how can i memorize and how do you do it and remember so many charachters??