[Guest Post] Expressing Feelings in Chinese

One of the most important parts of learning a new language is learning to express your feelings. If your native language is English then you will find that there are tons of words you can use to express your emotions. Many of these may translate fairly well if you’re trying to learn some other Indo-European language. However, the situation is entirely different when you’re trying to learn Chinese because a lot of words simply won’t translate. It’s also the same for Chinese words that express emotions. The best place to start is to get some Common Chinese words for common emotions and learn them. You can grow more sophisticated from there.

Chinese Words for Common Positive Emotions

Word in Chinese	Word in Pinyin	Word in English
畅快	chànɡ kuài	Carefree
放心	fànɡ xīn	never mind
感动	ɡǎn dònɡ	Moved
高兴	ɡāo xìnɡ	happy/exciting
哈哈	hā hā	Haha
激动	jī dònɡ	Excited
开心	kāi xīn	Honeyful
快乐	kuài lè	Happy
冷静	lěnɡ jìnɡ	Cool
满意	mǎn yì	Satisfied
平和	pínɡ hé	Mild
轻松	qīnɡ sōnɡ	Relaxed
热情	rè qínɡ	passion/enthusiasm
舒服	shū fu	Comfortable
希望	xī wànɡ	Hope
喜欢	xǐ huɑn	Like
喜悦	xǐ yuè	Joy
幸福	xìnɡ fú	Happy
愉快	yú kuài	Pleasant
愿意	yuàn yì	willing to do

Chinese Phrases for Common Positive Emotions

Phrase in Chinese	Phrase in Pinyin	Phrase for English
保持冷静	bǎo chí lěnɡ jìnɡ	keep calm
对音乐感兴趣	duì yīn yuè ɡǎn xìnɡ qù	be interested in music
非常激动	fēi chánɡ jī dònɡ	very excited
非常快乐	fēi chánɡ kuài lè	very joyful
非常兴奋	fēi chánɡ xīnɡ fèn	very excited
感到高兴	ɡǎn dào ɡāo xìnɡ	be happy
共同爱好	ɡònɡ tónɡ ài hào	common interests
合作愉快	hé zuò yú kuài	pleasant cooperation
快乐极了	kuài lè jí le	extremely happy
冷静一下	lěnɡ jìnɡ yí xià	calm down
让人感动	rànɡ rén ɡǎn dònɡ	Moving
让人开心	rànɡ rén kāi xīn	make someone feel happy
生日快乐	shēnɡ rì kuài lè	happy birthday
太好了	tài hǎo le	It’s wonderful
太谢谢你了	tài xiè xiè nǐ le	thank you very much
态度很好	tài dù hěn hǎo	with a good attitude
玩得开心	wán de kāi xīn	have fun
喜悦的表情	xǐ yuè de biǎo qínɡ	joy expression
心情畅快	xīn qínɡ chànɡ kuài	carefree mood
心态平和	xīn tài pínɡ hé	mind of peace
有意思	yǒu yì si	it’s very interesting
真舒服	zhēn shū fu	really comfortable

 

 

 

 

 

Chinese Words for Common Negative Emotions

Word in Chinese	Word in Pinyin	Word in English
悲观	bēi ɡuān	pessimistic
不好	bù hǎo	not good
沉默	chén mò	silent
担心	dān xīn	be worry about
害怕	hài pà	afraid/frightened
怀疑	huái yí	suspicious
简单	jiǎn dān	simple
可怜	kě lián	pitiful
可惜	kě xī	feel sorry for
恐怕	kǒnɡ pà	perhaps
哭	kū	cry
累	lèi	tired
马虎	mǎ hu	careless
难	nán	hard/difficult
难过	nán ɡuò	sad
批评	pī pínɡ	criticism
生气	shēnɡ qì	angry
头疼	tóu ténɡ	headache
忘记	wànɡ jì	forget
抑郁	yì yù	depressed
着急	zháo jí	anxious

Chinese Phrases for Common Negative Emotions

Phrase in Chinese	Phrase in Pinyin	Phrase in English
不开心	bù kāi xīn	unhappy
对不起	duì bù qǐ	feel sorry for
别着急	bié zháo jí	don’t worry
很头疼	hěn tóu ténɡ	have a terrible headache
有点儿难过	yóu dián ér nán ɡuò	feel a little sad
越来越疼	yuè lái yuè ténɡ	more and more painful
不放心	bú fànɡ xīn	feel worried about
不愿意	bú yuàn yì	unwilling to do
对什么都没兴趣	duì shén me dōu méi xìnɡ qù	have interest in nothing
很担心	hěn dān xīn	feel very worried
太难过了	tài nán ɡuò le	too sad
不喜欢	bù xǐ huɑn	dislike
不满意	bù mǎn yì	unsatisfied

This is a great place to start if you want to be more expressive when speaking to your Chinese friends and family. You will be better able to sympathize and empathize with them and your Chinese will improve too!

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About the Author:

Cathy Baylis is an assignment help freelance content writer specializing in personal growth, career development, leadership, and education. Writing is not only her hobby but profession at the same time.