Ten ways to use proper wording to express your dislike in Chinese (1)

Posted by Grace Feng on September 30, 2012

Since the day a Chinese child is born, his / her parent would tirelessly teach him / her the proper way to talk to people. For most Chinese families, educating children to use the proper expression and wording to communicate their needs, like or dislike is very important.

For you, my dear Chinese learners & friends, you’ll most likely be forgiven by most natives if you’re using the “wrong” way to talk when your language skill is still developing. There’s no pressure that you have to use the most proper way to communicate your needs, like or dislike before you open your mouth. However, once your language level has climbed up to a certain level, don’t you want to improve your Chinese language proficiency and intelligence a bit more?

Your language skill will bring you wonders if you start to talk more like a native. In this post, I’ll help you with your way of talking to express your dislike in 10 different ways, the more polite and subtle ways. Generally speaking, your life will be much easier if you stick more to positive ways instead of negative ones. So let’s get started…

Way #1: Try to say “Is the blue a bit too dark?” instead of “The color is too ugly.”

If a lady is asking your opinion on the dress she picked, even if the weird color upsets your appetite, try to give your comment this way:

” zhèzhǒng lánsè shìbùshì shēn le diǎn?”

“这种蓝色是不是深了点?”

 

Instead of:

” zhège yánsè yě tài nánkàn le!”

“这个颜色也太难看了!”

 

 

Way #2: Try to say “I’m not good for (used to) the suggested activity…”, instead of ” The suggested activity is no good for me…”

If a friend of yours invite you to join him for a special event. You have no interest at all in that event. You can try to answer like this:

“ wǒ bù tài xíguàn cānjiā zhèyàng de huódòng。 háishi bù qù de hǎo。 xièxie!”

“我不太习惯参加这样的活动。还是不去的好。谢谢!”

 

Instead of:

“ zhèzhǒng huódòng ràng wǒ yànfán。”

“这种活动让我厌烦。”

 

 

Way #3: Try to say “Mine is not as fancy as yours, but it fits me just right.” instead of “Mine is super, yours is like crap.”

A friend that likes to show off just showed you his laptop and tries to persuade you to ditch your old laptop and buy the same laptop that he is having. His laptop is certainly not your type. You can try to reply something like this:

wǒ de shì méi nǐ de kù， bùguò hěn shìhé wǒ。

我的是没你的酷，不过很适合我。

 

Instead of :

wǒ de jiùshì hǎo， nǐ de jiǎnzhí shì lājī。

我的就是好，你的简直是垃圾。

 

 

Way #4: Try to say “That guy is a person of individuality”, instead of “I’ve never seen a jerk like this in my whole lifetime!”

When talking about a person with odd character, try to express it this way if you could:

nàgèrén hǎoxiàng hěn yǒu xìnggé。

那个人好像很有性格。

 

Instead of :

wǒ zhè bèizi jiù méi jiàn guò nàme bù jiǎng dàoli de rén!

我这辈子就没见过那么不讲道理的人!

 

 

Way #5: Try to say “What I’m doing is good, but I don’t mind taking a challenge somewhere else.”, instead of “The stupid job has bored me to tears.”

This advice is addressed for discussion in work place or interviews. The way you talk about your job might need your discretion under certain circumstances.

To talk about a job that you don’t like and the reason you wanna move on, you can try this way:

wǒ zuò dé háihǎo， bùguò yǒu hǎo de jīhuì wǒ yě huì kǎolǜ。

我做得还好，不过有好的机会我也会考虑。

 

Instead of :

nà fèn pò gōngzuò jiǎnzhí wúliáo sǐ le。

那份破工作简直无聊死了。

 

To be continued …

 

 

 

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Category: Chinese reading and listening

Tags: Chinese expression, Chinese language, Chinese wording, express your dislike in Chinese, learn Chinese

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