(huǎng yán) - lie, falsehood in Mandarin
huǎngyánTraditional: 謊言
Translation
lie, falsehood
Word origin
A compound of 谎 (huǎng, to lie, built from the speech radical 讠with 荒 for sound) and 言 (yán, words), so words that are lies.
- Origin
- compound
- Root
- 谎 (huǎng, to lie) + 言 (yán, words, speech)
Stroke order
谎
言
Examples
言。
This is a complete lie.
言拆。
His lie was soon exposed.
言善。
Some lies are well meant.
言。
I do not want to hear any more of your lies.
言。
A lie is always found out in the end.
谎言 (huǎng yán) is a lie as a thing: the falsehood itself, the sentence somebody uttered. It is a noun and only a noun, and it sits comfortably in written and dramatic language.
To lie as an action you need 撒谎 (sā huǎng), which is a separable verb-object pair. English lets "lie" be both noun and verb; Chinese keeps them apart, so 他撒谎 is he lied and 他的谎言 is his lie. Trying to use 谎言 as a verb is the mistake to avoid.
The white lie has its own phrase, 善意的谎言 (shàn yì de huǎng yán), literally a lie with good intentions. It comes up often enough in conversation about family that it is worth banking as a chunk.
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谎言: worksheet, infographic and listicle
Free printable study downloads for the Mandarin word "谎言" (lie, falsehood): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.
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Start your free weekThis word is part of lesson 45.