Today’s word of the day is 惊 (jīng) which means ‘shock’. Let’s practice making different words, phrases, and sentences with 惊 (jīng).
吃惊 (chī jīng) To be surprised
The first word is 吃惊 (chī jīng) which means ‘to be surprised’. Let’s look at each character of this word, 吃 means ‘to eat’ and 惊 means ‘shock’, so it literally means ‘to eat shock’. A way of using it in a sentence is 最让我吃惊的是他的无知。(Zuì ràng wǒ chījīng de shì tā de wúzhī.) What surprised me the most was his ignorance.
惊讶 (jīng yà) To be amazed
Another word we can create with 惊 (jīng) is 惊讶 (jīng yà). This means ‘to be amazed’. A way of using it in a sentence is 你流利的汉语令我很惊讶。(Nǐ liúlì de hànyǔ lìng wǒ hěn jīngyà.) Your fluent Chinese has amazed me.
I bet you’ve heard this many times from Chinese people when they hear you speak Mandarin Chinese!
惊喜 (jīng xǐ) Surprise
Finally, we can create the word 惊喜 (jīng xǐ) which means surprise. The 喜 here means happiness. A way of using it in a sentence is 我想给你一个惊喜。(Wǒ xiǎng gěi nǐ yīgè jīngxǐ.) I wanted to give you a surprise.