Expressing Emotions in Chinese: A Beginner’s Guide

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Hello, language lovers! 🌟

Have you ever found yourself wanting to express your feelings in Chinese but didn’t know how? Whether you’re excited, sad, or anything in between, being able to convey your emotions is a vital part of communication. In this post, we’ll cover basic words and phrases in Chinese to help you express your emotions and interact with others.

 
 

A Quick Gance

Vocabulary

觉得 [jué de]     – Think / Feel

感到  [gǎn dào]   – Feel

快乐 [kuàilè]     – Happy

伤心 [hāngxīn]   – Sad

…

Sentence

我觉得 [Wǒ juéde]     – I feel

我感到  [Wǒ gǎndào]   – I feel

Vocabulary To Describe Feelings​

Verbs

1. 觉得 [jué de] – Think / Feel

  • It is a verb that indicates a personal perception or opinion about something. 

2. 感到  [gǎn dào] – Feel

  • It is a verb that specifically refers to sensing or experiencing emotions or feelings.

Adverb

1. 很 [hěn] – Very

  • It is mainly used to intensify the degree of adjectives or verbs, similar to “very” in English.
  • Since “很” intensifies the degree, “感到很” is used to convey that one has a relatively strong perception or experience of a particular feeling

2. 有点 [yǒudiǎn] – A little / A bit

  • It is used to modify adjectives or verbs as well, expressing a relatively light degree
  • 感到有点” combines “感到 (gǎn dào)” with “有点 (yǒu diǎn)” which indicates a relatively mild degree. So “感到有点” is used to express that one starts to experience a certain feeling to a small extent. 

Feelings

Chinese

Pinyin

English

1. 快乐

kuàilè

Happy

2. 伤心

shāngxīn

Sad

3. 生气

shēngqì

Angry

4. 紧张

jǐnzhāng

Nervous

5. 兴奋

xīngfèn

Excited

6. 疲倦

píbèi

Tired

7. 恐惧

yànjuàn

Scared

8. 厌倦

yànjuàn

Bored

9. 失望

shīwàng

Disappointed

10. 幸福

xìngfú

Bliss / Blissful/ Happy

 

Sentences To Express Your Feelings

1. Using “我觉得” (Wǒ juédé) – “I feel”

  • Structure: 我觉得 + [emotion/feeling]
  • Example: 我觉得很开心。(Wǒ juédé hěn kāixīn.) – “I feel very happy.”

2. Using “我感到” (Wǒ gǎndào) – “I feel”

  • Structure: 我感到 + [emotion/feeling]
  • Example: 我感到紧张。(Wǒ gǎndào  jǐnzhāng.) – “I feel nervous.”

3. Using “我感到很” (Wǒ gǎndào hěn) – “I am very”

  • Structure: 我感到+很 + [emotion/feeling]
  • Example: 我很失望。(Wǒ hěn shīwàng.) – “I am very disappointed.”
  • Further explain: When people express their feelings with varying degrees, whether strong or mild, they may simply use the short forms 我很 + emotions or 我有点 + emotions, skipping the verb 感到, such as 我很开心 or 我有点紧张.

4. Using “我觉得…很” (Wǒ juédé… hěn)

  • Structure: 我觉得 + [subject] + 很 + [emotion/feeling]
  • Example: 我觉得这部电影很感人。(Wǒ juédé zhè bù diànyǐng hěn gǎnrén.) – “I feel this movie is very touching.”

Other Learning Resources

If you want to learn more words and expressions, you can click this link to watch these videos:

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