Your Chinese teacher told you that “ hé”（和）means “and”. But they don’t have the same grammatical functions in both English and Chinese. How to tell the difference between “and” vs “ hé”(和)? “and” can connect words,phrases,clauses,and sentences. “ hé”(和) can connect words or phrases,but cannot connect clauses/sentences.

(words)    She  and  I

tā   hé   wǒ

她   和  我

(phrases)   read books  and  listen to the music

kànshū     hé   tīngyīnyuè

看  书     和   听 音 乐

(clauses)    I watched movie at home and also watched one at school.

Wǒ zài jiā kànle yíge diànyǐng, zài xuéxiào yě

我 在 家 看了 一 个 电影，在学校 也

kànle yíge diànyǐng.

看了 一个  电影。 （No “ hé”）

(sentences)  I have two sisters.And he has no sister.

Wǒ yǒu liǎngge jiějie.Tā méi yǒu jiějie.

我  有  两个 姐姐。他 没有 姐姐。（No “ hé”）

 

Chinese characters are the basic symbols of the Chinese written system.There are often two systems of Chinese characters:traditional characters and simplified.Some Chinese-speaking regions and people use traditional characters (Taiwan and HongKong) and others use the simplified versions.Ancient historical documents and texts were written in traditional characters.In modern times,many regions and the majority of Chinese users employ the simplified version of characters.Computer technology,namely the word processor,has simplified use of both versions along with the easy conversion of texts from one system to the other.

In English,family name is usually stated after the given name.For example:John Smith.

But in Chinese,family name is always stated first.For example:Yáo míng 姚明.

Family is more important than individual.So family name is stated first.

1) Kungfu———————  功夫        gōngfu

2) Yinyang——————   阴阳        yīnyáng

3) Kowtow——————— 叩头        kòutóu

4) Tofu————————  豆腐        dòufu

5) Litchi ———————   荔枝        lìzhī

6) Chow mein—————  炒面        chǎomiàn

7) Mahjong——————   麻将       májiàng

8) Feng shui —————   风水        fēngshuǐ

9) Tai chi———————  太极        tàijí

10) Typhoon—————— 台风        táifēng