Mandarin Chinese Characters Set 03 (20)

Question 1

伙

Answer 1

huo3
“hwor”
person + fire = group (in ancient China people gathered around the fire as a group).

Question 2

炎炎

Answer 2

yan2 yan2
“yanyan”
burning hot + burning hot = blazing

Question 3

焱焱

Answer 3

Yan4 yan4
“yan yan”
Flames + flames = Flames of fire.

Question 4

大伙

Answer 4

da4 huo3
“da hwor”
big + group = folks

Question 5

火大

Answer 5

huo3 da4
“hwar da”
fire + big = angry

Question 6

大火

Answer 6

da4 huo3
“da hwar”
big + fire = big fire

Question 7

木

Answer 7

Mu4
“moo”
tree. (When used as an adjective it refers to a wooden texture. When describing a person it means ‘clumsy, dumb or numb’.

Question 8

林

Answer 8

lin2
“leen”
woods

Question 9

森

Answer 9

sen1
“sun”
forest

Question 10

本

Answer 10

ben3
“bun”
foundation. (Foundations of a house were made of wood. This character also means “origin”.

Question 11

来

Answer 11

lai2
“leye”
to come (this character is a stalk of wheat + 2 persons to depict wheat being imported into China; i.e. to come into China)

Question 12

本来

Answer 12

ben3 lai2
“bun leye”
origin + to come = originally

Question 13

本 人

Answer 13

ben3 ren2
“bun zjun”
origin + person = one’s self

Question 14

来人

Answer 14

lai2 ren2
“leye zjun”
to come + person = messenger

Question 15

本人火大

Answer 15

ben3 ren2 huo3 da4
“bun zjun hwor da”
Foundation/origin + person fire + big = one’s self + angry.
= one is angry
= I am angry
= I am furious

Question 16

杏

Answer 16

xing4
“sheeng”
Tree + mouth= apricot (be under a tree with your mouth open to get an apricot) = almond (another meaning).

Question 17

呆

Answer 17

dai1
“deye”
mouth + tree = Idiot (a talking tree is silly i.e. idiot - also means “dull”.

Question 18

未

Answer 18

wei4
“way”
Not yet. (a tree that is still growing; not yet ready to be harvested).

Question 19

末

Answer 19

mo4
“more, rhymes with straw”
End. (The top line is longer than the lower one. The tree has plateaued. Growth has ended.

Question 20

啖

Answer 20

dan4
“dan”
mouth + fire = to eat.