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WorksheetsMandarin Cognate Coincidences
Total questions: 21
Worksheet time: 23mins
INTRO: Mandarin and English do not share any words that are true cognates. A cognate is a pair of words that have a common ancestor.
Chinese and English are from different language families and don't share any ancestors.
However, there are many loanwords between English and dialects of Chinese.
See how many you can guess in Mandarin!
Great! I'm ready to try.
Okay, what's next?
孔夫子 kǒngfūzǐ (hint: name of a famous historic figure)
(a)
太極 tàijí (hint: a type of exercise)
(a)
颱風 táifēng (hint: a type of severe weather event)
(a)
比基尼 bǐjīní (hint: a type of clothing)
(a)
咖啡因 kāfēiyīn (hint: a type of chemical drug)
(a)
沙发 shāfā (hint: a type of furniture)
(a)
咖喱 gālí (hint: a type of food)
(a)
高尔夫 gāoěrfū (hint: a type of sport)
(a)
夹克 jiākè (hint: a type of clothing)
(a)
镭射 léishè (hint: a type of technology)
(a)
逻辑 luóji (hint: a type of mental skill)
(a)
níngméng 柠檬 (hint: a type of fruit)
(a)
mǎkèbǐ 马克笔 (hint: a type of classroom supply)
(a)
màikèfēng 麦克风 (hint: what you rarely use on Zoom :P )
(a)
摩托 mótuō (hint: something essential in cars, etc.)
(a)
Àolínpǐkè 奥林匹克 (hint: an event every four years)
(a)
披萨／比萨 pīsà/bǐsà (hint: a type of food)
(a)
维他命 wéitāmìng (hint: a health product)
(a)
瑜钾 yújiā (hint: a wellness exercise)
(a)
CLOSING: To me, these loanwords were easy to understand and they felt like easy cognates to learn between Mandarin & English.
Absolutely!
Mostly
Somewhat
Not at all
