What’s your love situation?

The Chinese Valentine’s Day has just passed. Some of you may have received gifts from your loved ones, while others may not. Chinese Valentine’s Day is a very romantic day for couples, young and old to get together. Speaking of romance, let’s learn trending Chinese words concerning a person’s love situation.

单身 (dān shēn)

People don’t receive gifts on Valentine’s Day for various reasons. One of them may because they are single. In Chinese it is called 单身 (dān shēn). In this word, 单 means “single” or “only one”, while 身 means a person’s body. So, literally 单身 means “a single body”.

Let’s see an example:

小王：莉莉，长得真漂亮！你有男朋友吗？

Xiao Wang: Lily, you are so beautiful! Do you have a boyfriend?

莉莉：谢谢，我还是单身。

Lily: Thank you. I am still single.

Bachelor‘s Day Falls  on November 11

There are other words to express the status of being single such as单身汉(dān shēn hàn) and 光棍儿 (guāng gùn r). Both of these words refer to a man who is single. Do you know the very famous Chinese festival called 光棍儿节? The festival may get its name from its date 11.11, which consists of four single “1”. In China, 光棍儿节 is a festival for single men to party, to drink beer and to celebrate the opportunity of being free.

初恋 (chūliàn)

What’s the meaning of 初恋 (chūliàn)? 初 (chū) in Chinese means "first," and 恋 (liàn) means "to fall in love." So 初恋 (chūliàn) means "first love." 初恋 (chūliàn) can be used to describe the first time you fell in love as well as the first person you fell in love with.

Romance of Being in Love

Usage of 初恋：

1. 这么多年，他还是无法忘记他的的初恋。

   After many years, he still cannot forget his first love.

2. 她是我的初恋。She is my first love.

      

已婚(yǐ hūn)

初恋(chū liàn) is like eating an unripe apple: bitter-sweet. Some bear fruits, some don’t. For those who are married, we can call their love situation as已婚(yǐ hūn). 已 is short for 已经(yǐ jīnɡ), which means “already”, while 婚 means “marriage”. The Chinese character 婚 has a very interesting explanation. 婚 consists of two parts: “女” which means woman, and “昏” which means “dizzy” or “faint”. In Chinese, some people believe women agree to get married only when they are dizzy and unconscious of themselves.

Being married is called 已婚 in Chinese

未婚(wèi hūn)

The Chinese character 未 means “not (yet)”.

For example:

我还有很多工作未完成。

I still have a lot of work that are not finished yet.

Knowing the meaning of 未, it will be pretty easy to understand the meaning of 未婚. Can you guess its meaning? And what’s your current love situation?