Hello, everyone! I'm Justine, a 29yo french student who is currently completing a PhD in history and studying mandarin chinese on her own in the meantime. With this blog, I wish to improve my chinese learning by tracking my progress and mostly organizing my many learning notes! Feel free to interact with me on this blog, which will be mainly a french-chinese language blog.
50+ fundamental crime, suspense, & mystery Cdrama vocab words
I'm currently watching 《模仿犯》, so I was inspired to put together this list of essential vocab for 犯罪剧/悬疑剧/推理剧. I tend to gravitate towards dramas that fall into these genres.
I've sorted the words into categories. These were determined by vibes only. Definitions are adapted from MDBG, my loyal companion for nearly 10 years.
The Case
案子 ànzi - case / law case / legal case / judicial case
案件 ànjiàn - case / instance
办案 bàn'àn - to handle a case
破案 pò'àn - to solve a case
报案 bào'àn - to report a case to the authorities
命案 mìng'àn - homicide case / murder case
作案 zuò'àn - to commit a crime
现场 xiànchǎng - the scene (of a crime, accident etc) / (on) the spot / (at) the site
证据 zhèngjù - evidence / proof / testimony
真相 zhēnxiàng - the truth about sth / the actual facts
The Investigation
厘清 líqīng - to clarify (the facts) / clarification
线索 xiànsuǒ - trail / clues / thread (of a story)
细节 xìjié - details / particulars
痕迹 hénjì - vestige / mark / trace
追踪 zhuīzōng - to follow a trail / to trace / to pursue
追问 zhuīwèn - to question closely / to investigate in detail / to examine minutely / to get to the heart of the matter
排除 páichú - to eliminate / to remove / to exclude / to rule out
嫌疑 xiányí - suspicion / to have suspicions
怀疑 huáiyí - to doubt (sth) / to be skeptical of / to have one's doubts / to harbor suspicions / to suspect that
跟踪 gēnzōng - to follow sb's tracks / to tail / to shadow / tracking
不对劲 búduìjìn - fishy / wrong / not right
隐瞒 yǐnmán - to conceal / to hide (a taboo subject) / to cover up the truth
The Victim
被害者 bèihàizhě - victim (of a wounding or murder)
受害者 shòuhàizhě - casualty / victim / those injured and wounded
幸存者 xìngcúnzhě - survivor
失踪 shīzōng - to be missing / to disappear / unaccounted for
消失 xiāoshī - to disappear / to fade away
绑架 bǎngjià - to kidnap / to abduct / to hijack / a kidnapping abduction / staking
突然，虽然，忽然. and the other 然's can often get mixed up, so here's a quick explanation of some of the most common ones!
突然 (Túrán): This means suddenly or unexpectedly
居然 (Jūrán): This kind of means suddenly, but more in the sense of "surprisingly" or to suggest disbelief at something that happened.
忽然 (Hūrán): This also means suddenly or unexpectedly, but it has a more stronger connotation.
既然 (Jìrán): This is a conjunction meaning "since" or "now that"
既然the weather is great, let's go out!
既然 you aren't busy, let's go watch a movie.
不然 (Bùrán): This means "otherwise" or "or else";
You should study, 不然 you won't do well on the exam.
虽然 (Suīrán): This means although or even though.
虽然 I'm not good at singing, I still like to go to the karaoke.
当然 (Dāngrán): 当然 means certainly or definitely and can be used as a reply:
Can you help me with A? 当然!
自然 (Zìrán): This can mean nature or naturally.
China's 自然 is very beautiful.
She speaks Chinese 得很自然.
仍然 (Réngrán): This can mean "still" or "yet".
I仍然 haven't read that book.
依然 (Yīrán): Similar to 仍然, this also means still" or "yet" but it's usually used in more formal and literary works, whereas 仍然 is more often used in spoken language.
果然 (Guǒrán): 果然 can be used to mean "indeed" or "as expected"
This movie is 果然 interesting.
竟然 (Jìngrán): This is an adverb used to suggest surprise or something unexpected.
He竟然forgot her birthday.
显然 (Xiǎnrán): This means "clearly" or "obviously".
This soup 显然 hot.
偶然 (Ǒurán): This means "accidentally" or "by chance".
We 偶然 met at the same cafe.
How many other 然's do you know about? Drop a comment!
程度补语(chéngdù bǔyǔ) - Complemento de grado (ej. 你画得很好)
时间补语(shíjiānbǔyǔ) - Complemento de tiempo
处所补语(chǔsuǒ bǔyǔ) - Complemento de lugar
数量补语(shùliàng bǔyǔ) - Complemento de cantidad
可能补语(kě néng bǔ yǔ) - Complemento potencial (indica si acción es posible o no) Ej 看得清楚 吗？
状态补语 (zhuàngtài bǔyǔ)/情态补语 (qíngtài bǔyǔ) - Complemento de estado (describe un estado que se alcanza, se parece mucho al complemento de grado) Ej 她来得有点晚
定语从句(dìng yǔ cóng jù) - Oración atributiva
从属句(cóng shǔ jù) - Oración subordinada
层次句(céng cì jù) - Frases (subordinadas) a niveles (lit. frases a capas)
流水句(liú shuǐ jù) - Frases que fluyen (frases largas con muchas subordinadas) (lit. frases como agua fluyendo)
感叹句(gǎn tàn jù) - Frase exclamatoria
假设句(jiǎ shè jù) - Frase hipotética
转折句(Zhuǎnzhé jù) - Frase transicional
让步句(Ràngbùjù) Frase concesiva
反问句(fǎn wèn jù) - Pregunta retórica
反义词(fǎn yì cí) - Antónimo
同义词(tóng yì cí) - Sinónimo
简化字(jiǎn huà zì) - Caracteres simplificados
繁体字(fán tǐ zì) - Caracteres tradicionales
意味(yì wèi) - Significado
谐音(xié yīn) - Homófono
文字游戏(Wénzì yóuxì) - Juego de palabras
缩语(suō yǔ) Abreviación, acrónimo
意译(yìyì) - Traducción semántica (Ej 新年 como Año nuevo)
音译(yīn yì) - Transliterar, representar sonidos/caracteres de una lengua usando otra (Ej. traducir "Italia" como "yìdàlì" porque el sonido es similar)
I remember when I couldn't decipher anything they were saying on the radio and felt like Mandarin was like a secret code language. Like, I couldn't understand the syllables they were making at all. It was just gibberish to me
Now I can perfectly follow along, even with words I don't know, and I'm really happy about how far I've come
