to like, to love

"To take joyful delight in something"

喜 [drum (壴) + mouth (口) → the sound of celebration];

     "joy," "delight," or "to rejoice"

欢 "cheerful," "merry," or "enthusiastic"

打球

dǎ qiú

to play ball

"to engage in ball-playing"

打 "to hit"

球 "ball" or "sphere," covering all ball-related sports

电视

diànshì

television

"electronic vision"

电 Derived from the character 雷 (thunder),

     representing natural electricity

视 "to view" or "vision"

跳舞

tiàowǔ

to dance

跳 "to jump," "to leap," "to bounce," or "to skip"

舞 "to dance" or "to wield"

跳 emphasizes the physicality (jumping, stepping, rhythmic movement)

舞 adds the artistry (grace, performance); 舞 alone is more abstract/artistic

对不对？

duì bu duì?

Is that correct?

(yes/no question)

sometimes

"there are moments when..."

有 "to have" / "there is"

的 possessive/descriptive particle (like 'of' or '-ish')

时候  "time" or "moment"; 

         时 time; think of it as the "what time" or "when" part 

        候 "to wait" or "a situation"; historically, it refers to a period

                 or condition, often linked to  seasons or timing;

                 putting 时 and 候 together creates a fuller, more natural-

                sounding expression of "a point in time" or "a moment"

             (similar to how in English we say "a moment in time" or

                "a period of time" instead of just "time.")

周末

zhōumò 

weekend

周 "week"; this character originally referred to a cycle or

     a full circle (as in 週期, "cycle") and later came to

     present a seven-day week

末 "end," "tip," or "last part"; it often refers to the

     conclusion of something, such as 月末 (end of the

     month) or 年末 (end of the year)

外国

wàiguó

foreign country, abroad

“outside country”

我请客

Wǒ qǐng kè

it's my treat; I'll pay

请客 literally means "invite (someone as a) guest," and in modern usage, it usually implies paying for others at a meal or event

所以

suǒyǐ

therefore, so, as a result

the reason why

所 originally a nominalizer (turns verbs into nouns) or a

     passive marker in classical Chinese; it often

     indicates "that which" or "the thing that"

以 "by means of," "because of," or "with"

music

音乐 encapsulate the idea of organized, meaningful sound that brings pleasure

音 "sound"; originally depicted a "voice" or

    "sound" (derived from "言" [speech] + a mark

    indicating tone); refers to audible vibrations,

    including speech, noise, and musical tones;

乐 (yuè) when meaning "music", and (lè) when

     meaning "joy"

(音): Organized, intentional sounds (as opposed to random noise), 

(乐): The art form (yuè) that brings joy (lè)

some; there are those who...

lit. "those that exist" → "some (of them)"

有 "to have," "there is/are," or "exist"

的 a grammatical particle used for possession

    or description; in "有的," it nominalizes "有" to

    mean "those that exist"

他们

tāmen

想不想

Xiǎng bùxiǎng

It still means "matter," "affair," or "thing to do" — same as 事, just with a northern accent or local flavor; 儿 (ér) is added to the end of a word to modify its sound, often to make speech smoother or reflect local dialect

好吗？

Hǎo ma?

因为… 所以…

yīnwèi… suǒyǐ…

星期

xīngqī

week

星 "star"

期 "period", "time"; means a fixed duration;

     implies a cyclical or scheduled interval;

The 7-day week was not native to China; traditional calendars used 10-day weeks (旬 xún). The term 星期 reflects cultural adaptation ( first in Japan, later in China) of Western astronomy and timekeeping.

好久

hǎojiǔ

a very long time

好 literally means "good," but in this context, it

    intensifies the meaning of the next character (similar

    to "very" or "so"; 好大 "so big", 好多 "so many")

to think, to feel

to find (an opinion)

觉 to perceive, to sense, or to feel; to wake up

得 a particle indicating: capability, or degree/completion

觉 (jué) alone can mean "to perceive," but adding 得 (de) turns it into a smoother, more natural verb (similar to how English adds "-ing" or "-ed" to verbs)

meaning, idea, intention

意 "meaning," "intention," or "will"

思 "to think," "to consider," or "thought"

The conceptual (意) the what—the intended meaning or purpose; the cognitive (思) the how—the thought process behind it.

只想

zhǐ xiǎng

just want

睡觉

shuìjiào

to sleep

"to sleep + sleep state" → "to sleep"

睡 "to sleep"

觉 "sleep"

睡 (action) + 觉 (sleep state) → A versatile verb for "to sleep."

算了

suànle

forget it, let it be, drop the matter

算 (reckon) + 了 (done) → "Consider it done" → Drop the matter

算 "to calculate," "to reckon," or "to consider"; 

    "to let something pass"

了 grammatical particle: indicates completion of

    an action or a change of state

别人

bié rén

 other people,  someone else

别 "other," "different," or "separate"

不错

búcuò

not bad, pretty good, quite nice

错 "wrong," "mistake," or "fault"

Like English ("not bad" = "good"), Chinese uses understatement for moderation or politeness; 

literal 不错 = "not wrong" implies "actually quite right/decent."

有意思

yǒuyìsi

interesting, fun, meaningful

有 "to have", or "there is"

意 "meaning," "intention," or "will"

思 "to think," "to consider," or "thought"

Adding 有 ("have") transforms 意思 (meaning, idea) into:

"Has meaning" → "Meaningful"

 "Has thought/interest" → "Interesting" or "fun."

去找

qù zhǎo

to go and find/look for

to go search for

去 (go) + 找 (look for) → "go (in order to) look for" or "go find"

去 "to go" (movement away from the speaker)

找 "to look for," "to search," or "to seek"

画画儿

huà huàr

to draw, to paint

画  to draw / to paint (verb)

画儿  a drawing or painting (noun, with 儿化 sound)

下棋

xià qí

to play chess; to play a board game

"to place chess pieces"

下 literally means "to place" or "to play" in this context

     (like placing pieces on a board)

棋 chess or board game

上网聊天儿

shàng wǎng liáo tiānr

to go online and chat, chat online

上网  to go online / to access the internet

聊天儿  to chat (儿化 version of 聊天, common in northern

           speech)

玩游戏机

wán yóuxìjī

to play video games, to play on a game console

玩   to play

游戏机   game console / gaming device

逛街

guàng jiē

to go shopping, or to stroll around the streets (usually to shop or browse)

逛   to stroll / roam / wander (especially for leisure)

街   street

今天我请客

Jīntiān wǒ qǐngkè 

发票

fāpiào

official receipt, invoice

发   to issue / to send out

票    ticket / receipt

麻将

májiàng

mahjong

麻   hemp (historically, the tiles were made from this material)

将    general or leader; in this case it just forms part of the name

xiàngqí

象棋

Chinese chess

象   elephant (but here it refers to a symbolic or

      representational figure)

棋   chess or board game

围棋

Wéiqí

Go (game)

围   to surround

棋   board game / chess