several Chinese verbs for playing music instruments

Dear friends,

We will introduce some Chinese verbs (characters) for "play" the music instruments like piano (keyboard), guitar, violin, and wind instruments. For examples: 

play piano 彈鋼琴, play guitar 彈吉他, play violin 拉小提琴, play the flute 吹笛子, etc. Please watch the following video for the lesson today:

The 1st verb:

play keyboard instrument

彈

tán

play piano

彈鋼琴

tán gāng-qín

彈(play) + 鋼琴(piano)

The example phrase:

She plays the piano very well.

她很會彈鋼琴

Tā hěn huì tán gāng-qín

她(she) + 很會(very good at) + 彈鋼琴(play piano)

the adverb:

very good at something

很會

hěn huì

很(very) + 會(able, know how)

Please check the analysis of the phrases and vocabulary of this lesson via my site:

http://www.chinese-word.com/lessons/lesson-55.html

The 2nd verb:

pluck or play string instrument

彈

tán

play guitar

彈吉他

tán jí-tā

彈(play) + 吉他(guitar)

note: the 1st and 2nd verbs are the same character 彈(tán) which is generally used when "pluck, play" stringed instruments with fingers or plectrum.

The example phrase:

He plays the guitar very well.

他很會彈吉他

Tā hěn huì tán jí-tā

他(he) + 很會(very good at) + 彈吉他(play guitar)

for the 2-character word:

guitar

吉他

jí-tā

note: the 2-character Chinese word 吉他(guitar) is a modern phonetic translation from "guitar," just like 咖啡(coffee). These Chinese characters are not related with the words, just for pronunciation by the general public usage.

The 3rd verb:

play string instrument with bow

拉

lā

note: the original meaning of this Chinese character 拉(lā) is a verb "pull, drag" in English.

play violin

拉小提琴

lā xiǎo-tí-qín

拉(play) + 小提琴(violin)

the 3-character word:

violin

小提琴

xiǎo-tí-qín

小(little) + 提琴(violin, viola, cello)

and for other string instruments:

viola

中提琴

zhōng-tí-qín

中(middle) + 提琴(violin, viola, cello)

cello

大提琴

dà-tí-qín

大(big) + 提琴(violin, viola, cello)

double bass

低音提琴

dī-yīn tí-qín

低音(low-pitched) + 提琴(violin, viola, cello)

The example phrase:

He is learning how to play the violin.

他正在學習拉小提琴

Tā zhèng-zài xué-xí lā xiǎo-tí-qín

他(he) + 正在(in process of) + 學習(learn) + 拉小提琴(play violin)

the 2-character words:

in process of

正在

zhèng-zài

正在 is used as "be + verb+ing" in English.

learn

學習

xué-xí

Please check the analysis of the phrases and vocabulary of this lesson via my site:

http://www.chinese-word.com/lessons/lesson-55.html

The fourth verb:

play wind instrument

吹

chuī

note: the original meaning of this Chinese character 吹(chuī) is "blow, puff" in English.

play the flute

吹笛子

chuī dí-zi

吹(play) + 笛子(flute)

the 2-character word:

flute

笛子

dí-zi

which originally means the flute made in bamboo and played horizontally, rather than the Chinese vertical bamboo flute 簫(xiāo).

The example phrase:

She is practicing playing the flute.

她正在練習吹笛子

Tā zhèng-zài liàn-xí chuī dí-zi

她(she) + 正在(in process of) + 練習(practice) + 吹笛子(play the flute)

the 2-character words:

in process of

正在

zhèng-zài

正在 is used as "be + verb+ing" in English.

practice

練習

liàn-xí

Please check the analysis of the phrases and vocabulary of this lesson via my site:

http://www.chinese-word.com/lessons/lesson-55.html

That's all for the lesson today. Thanks for reading my blog and please remember to subscribe my YouTube channel for encouragement. Thank you very much!

Regards,

Andres Leo