Learn Chinese characters-to Add Fuel

With the increasing influence of China, Chinese language learning is becoming popular and Chinese characters or phrases can be seen on more and more occasion such as “中国制造” on products, or people chanting “加油” in Olympic Games. So, what do these words mean? And how do we pronounce them? No hurry! From today on, we will introduce the series of ”learn Chinese characters”, good news for those who want to learn pinyin or Chinese characters.

In this article, we will particularly focus on the word"加油 (jiāyóu)". Jia4 means to add in Chinese, while You2 means gas or fuel, so literally, "加油 (jiāyóu)" means "to add fuel". Why do Chinese say “add fuel” to encourage their players? It may confuse many foreigners who is trying to learn mandarin.

What is the relationship between petrol stations and athletes? When a car is running slower, probably the gas is running out. The example is just like an athlete running out of energy. It means something like "Come on!" or "Go! Go! Go!" and can be heard during any sporting event or game in China. Isn’t it interesting?

Now do you get the meaning of 加油 (jiāyóu)? You can stay tune to our “learn Chinese characters” series, which will introduce more popular Chinese characters in the future. You can also seek Chinese tuition at iChineselearning school, one of the best online mandarin schools in China.