Mandarin v.

English
For the sake of convenient comparison, consider the following thirteen
English emotion words, with the Mandarin counterparts (if any) directly next to
them.

ENGLISH

MANDARIN
VERBS

ACTIVE

PASSIVE

ACTIVE

PASSIVE

(to) like

(to be/is) liked by

(xi huan)

?() (bei xi huan)

(to) enjoy

(to be/is) enjoyed by

(to) gladden
(to) elate

4
5

(to) love
(to) hope
(to) wish

(to be/is) gladdened

by
(to be/is) elated by
(to be/is) loved by
?(to be/is) hoped by
?(to be/is) wished by

(xiang
shou)
N/A

() (bei tao xi)

?() (bei shang
shou)
N/A

6
7
8

(to) surprise
(to)
sympathize
(to) dislike

(to be/is) surprised by

(to be/is)
sympathized by
(to be/is) disliked by

(to) hate

(to be/is) hated by

(ai)
(xi wang)
(qi wang)
(jing)
(tong
qing)
(bu xi
huan)
(tao yan)

() (bei ai)
?() (xi wang)
?() (qi wang)
() (bei jing dao)
() (bei tong
qing)
?() (bei bu xi
huan)
?() (bei tao yan)

10

(to) anger
(to) infuriate

(hen)
(ji nu)

() (bei hen)
() (bei ji nu)

11

(to) sadden

N/A

N/A

12
13

(to) worry
?(to) priden

(to be/is) angered by

(to be/is) infuriated
by
(to be/is) saddened
by
?(to be/is) worried by
?(to be/is)pridened by

(dan xin)
N/A

?() (bei dan xin)

N/A

ADJECTIVES
1
2
3

(is) likable
(is) enjoyable
(is) glad
(is) happy
(is) elated
[(is) fortunate/blessed]

4
5

(is) lovable
(is) hopeful

() (hen tao ren xi huan)

() (hen you yi si)
() (hen kai xin)
() (hen gao xing)
() (hen kuai le)
() (hen yu kuai)
() (hen xing fu)
() (hen tao ren ai)
() (hen xi wang)

(is) surprised
(is) sympathetic

()() (hen you xi wang)

() (hen jing ya)
() (hen tong qing)

8
9
10
11
12
13

?(is) dislikable
?(is) hatable
?(is) anger-able
(is) sad
(is) worried
(is) proud

() (you tong qing xin)

() (hen bu tao ren xi huan)
() (hen tao ren yan)
() (hen rong yi ji nu)
() (hen shang xin)
() (hen dan xin)
() (hen jiao ao)

1
2
3

?Likeability
?Joy
Happiness

4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13

Love
Hope
Surprise
Sympathy
?Dislikability
Hate/Hatred
Anger
Sadness
Worry
Pride

6
7

NOUNS
N/A
(xi yue)
(xing fu)
(xi)
(ai)
(xi wang)
(jing xi)
() (tong qing xin)
N/A
(chou) / (yuan hen)
(fen nu)
(bei shang)
(fan nao)
(zi hao)

It is notable to point out the following things from the given examples.
English verbs are often accompanied by to (if active) and to be/is/etc (if
passive), while Mandarin verbs are only accompanied by a prefix of sorts [] in the
passive forms. [] literally means to be done something by someone else in the
roughest of terms. The someone else part is extremely important to the definition
of the word, and emphasizes the passive nature of this particular verbal form. While
the English passive verbs suggest that a person is currently in a state of an
emotion, the Mandarin passive verbs suggest that a certain emotion is inflicted
upon someone by another person.
This pattern of prefix words continues down to the adjectives. English
adjectives are often accompanied by the word is (or any form of the word) right
before, while Mandarin adjectives are often accompanied by the word []. This
word literally translates to very, as in very happy or very sad. This suggests
that when used as adjectives, Mandarin emotion words are heightened in intensity,
whereas English adjectives continue to carry a state of being connotation (is

happy, is sad). It is also crucial to point out that Mandarin adjectives do not work
without the word [], just as English adjectives do not work without is or at least
a form of is. Just as one cannot say that Jill happy, one cannot say Jill ,
because both examples would be grammatically incorrect.
However, this does not apply to all uses of Mandarin adjectives. For instance,
one can say the happy dog, but one cannot say the dog, because the latter
is also grammatically incorrect. In order for the phrase to work, it would have to be
rewritten like thus: ( dog). This addition of the word [] is
analogous to the use of the in the English phrase the happy dog. It works as a
definite article that cements the existence of the subject.
Another thing to notice is that not every instance of Mandarin adjectives
requires the use of []. Consider the example of hope:
5

(is) hopeful

() (hen xi wang)
()() (hen you xi wang)

If one were to directly translate the two given Mandarin listings above, the
top one would literally mean he/she hopes (a lot), whereas the bottom one would
literally mean to have (a lot of) hope. The character [] means to have while
[], as indicated earlier, means very, and in this case specifically boosts the
notion of having to having a lot of. There is no direct translation for the English
phrase is hopeful in Mandarin, thereby suggesting that hope cannot be a state
of being in Chinese culture. Rather, hope is seen as a tangible thing that can be
acted out and/or possessed, but it cannot become the essence of a person.
Now, consider the case of sympathy:
7

(is) sympathetic

() (hen tong qing)

()() (you tong qing xin)

In this example, the top Mandarin phrase does translate rather closely to is
(very) sympathetic, although it means to sympathize a lot more directly. The
bottom phrase literally means to have (a lot of) sympathy, which is similar to the
translation of to have (a lot of) hope from earlier. The difference here is the
addition of the character [], the Mandarin word for heart, and thus the phrase
[] means sympathetic heart. This suggests that Chinese culture treats
sympathy as an extension from the inner most area of a person to a second person
who receives the sympathy. This contrasts greatly with the English adjective phrase
is sympathetic, which again conveys the idea of a state of being. The use of
adding on the word [] to adjectives is extremely common in Mandarin, and can

often be used to turn adjectives into nouns. Taking the example from earlier, if []
was eliminated to leave [] by itself, this phrase would become a noun
(sympathetic heart), which is analogous to saying that someone has sympathy.
Although there are plenty of Mandarin emotion nouns, they are not commonly
used in the culture. The most prominent thing that sets them apart from English
emotion nouns is the fact that the Mandarin nouns appear to be more extreme
versions of English emotions. This is especially so for 9-13:
9
10
11
12
13

Hate/Hatred
Anger
Sadness
Worry
Pride

(chou) / (yuan hen)

(fen nu)
(bei shang)
(fan nao)
(zi hao)

While hate/hatred has quite a heavy connotation in English, the given

Mandarin counterparts actually convey the feeling of bitter resentment and
vengefulness in addition to hatred. Similarly, the Mandarin phrase for anger more
directly translates to fury and rage, the phrase for sadness translates to
grief, the phrase for worry translates to the presence of troubles and
obstacles, and the phrase for pride translates to boastfulness or selfindulgence. The elevated degree of Mandarin emotion nouns suggests that
Chinese culture views emotions themselves as being extremely powerful, possibly
even overbearing. In fact, one would most likely not hear these words used in daily
conversation often.
It is now important to note that of all three of the parts of speeches included,
only the Mandarin adjectives section has a phrase listed for all thirteen emotions.
This indicates that adjectives constitute the majority of Mandarin emotional
expression, although the key ingredient is the prefix word []. While it is true that it
usually accompanies Mandarin emotion adjectives, it can also be used before
Mandarin emotion active verbs. For instance, one can say that, which
means He really likes dogs. The English translation clearly indicates that likes is
a verb here. However, in the Mandarin context, the phrase [] doubles as an
indirect adjective.
Due to the fact that the character [] is so prominent to the Chinese culture,
its literal meaning has nearly become neutralized. Phrases such as or
directly translate to I am very happy and I am very angry, but unlike
these English counterparts, the utilization of [] is normal and instinctual. It is used
100% of the time, even if a person isnt feeling particularly happy or sad, while the
addition of the word very suggests that someone is more than the emotion stated
(e.g. very happy = more than happy, very sad = more than sad).

This double feature of the word [] of conjoining verbs with adjectives is

extremely important to Mandarin, and also makes up for the lack of certain emotion
words. For instance, there is no common Mandarin verb for to gladden or to
sadden, but one can say [] (He [did something] so that I became
happy) or [] (He [did something] so that I became sad). Both of
these show that someone can clearly cause someone to gladden or sadden, and
that the person receiving these verbs becomes happy and sad. To put it another
way, one person executes the action (emotion verb), while the speaker receives the
action and consequently ends up being described by the verb. This becomes an
adjective that describes the speakers emotions. All of this is accomplished only
because the word []. Omitting it from either of these sentences would be
grammatically incorrect, which emphasizes just how important [] is to Mandarin
emotion verbs and adjectives.
Only the most common emotion phrases have been discussed, but the
patterns and significance of [] applies to all Mandarin emotion words. Overall,
adjectives dominate the language, with verbs being a close second while nouns are
rarely used at all. These findings indicate that cultures in which Mandarin is the
primary language view emotions as crucial human descriptors and allow people to
fully convey who they are at all times.