Stepping Stones Lesson Four

New Vocabulary

Click on any character to see how it is written. Click on any character's pinyin to hear how it is pronounced.

While learning to write the characters is not essential to learning to read them, it helps a lot and is highly recommended. Practice writing each yourself 5-10 times, being careful to follow the stroke order shown in the animation.

愚	yú	foolish; stupid
公	gōng	a respectful form of address for an elderly man
移	yí	to move
家	jiā	house; home
两	liǎng	two; a couple (of)
座	zuò	[measure word for large, immoveable objects like mountains, cities, etc.]
方 圆	fāngyuán	circumference
圆	yuán	round; circular
不	bù	no; not (negates verbs)
方 便	fāngbiàn	convenient
便	biàn	convenient
他	tā	he
决 定	juédìng	to decide
决	jué	to decide
定	dìng	fixed; certain; definite
把	bǎ	to hold; to take hold of
挖 走	wāzǒu	to dig and remove;
挖	wā	to dig
笑	xiào	to laugh; to smile
这	zhè	this; these
儿	ér	son; child
孙	sūn	grandson
还	hái	still; yet
会	huì	will (future tense); know how to
长	zhǎng	to grow
总	zǒng	general; in every case
神	shén	God/Gods; spirit
敬	jìng	to respect; to salute
重	zhòng	heavy
让	ràng	to ask; to allow somebody to do something
力	lì	strength

Existing Vocabulary

上	天	山	了	出	进	很	说	我	听	里
一	六	百	就	有	方	的	高	口	走

Vocabulary Notes

家 is a word with two meanings. The first is “home”(or “house”). 家 also means family, such as in the word 家人。

门 refers to any sort of door or gate.

口 originally meant “mouth.” However, it has an extended meaning of an opening of any sort, such as 门口 (“doorway”) or 山口 (“mountain pass”)

大 – the opposite of 小. In Chinese, new words can often be created by juxtaposing two polar opposites. For example, 大小, means size. (You can think of the range of “bigness” and “smallness” as size).

Small can also be represented simply as 不大; big can also be 不小. If an object is “in the middle,” it is most common simply to say 不大不小。

山 uses the measure word 座. “One mountain”à 一座山。                     

方 originally refers to a wide-open place, or a square. Here it is part of the compound word 方便。 

六 is “six.”百  is “hundred.” Together, 六百 means “six hundred.”

里 is a “Chinese mile,”a unit of measurement. In this lesson, 里 was translated simply as “mile，” even though an English mile is roughly three 里。
                       
进  means “to enter.” Its opposite is 出 “to exit”

定 means “fixed，”“set,” or “definite.”It can also be used as a complement (result). For example, 说不定 means “one can’t say for certain.

走, in modern Chinese means “to walk” or “to go.”Originally, it meant “run.”

老 means “old.” However, in China, being older is a sign of social superiority. 老 therefore can carry a positive connotation rather than a negative one like in English.

人 – Remember that Chinese does not explicity express plurality. 人 could be “person” or “persons”/”people，” depending on the context.

我 means “I” or “me.”

这 means “this.”The opposite is 那 (“that”).

高 means “high” or “tall.” Can be used to describe people or things.

愚公移山 is now a common 成语 meaning that, with rugged and stubborn perseverance, anything is possible.

Once you've studied the vocabulary and can read each line of the story with comprehension, you are ready to go on to the next step.