Today’s word of the day is 笑 (xiào) which is a verb that means to laugh or smile. Let’s practice by making different words, phrases, and sentences with 笑 (xiào).
笑话 (xiào huà) Joke
The first word is 笑话 (xiào huà) which is a noun that means joke. In this word, 话 means ‘words’. So it literally means laughing words. A way of using it in a sentence is 我听不懂你的笑话。 (Wǒ tīng bù dǒng nǐ de xiàohuà.) I don’t understand your joke. Say this if you want to be a killjoy because people in China usually laugh along even if they don’t understand the joke to help the person save face.
笑容 (xiào róng) Smile
Another word we can create with 笑 (xiào) is 笑容 (xiào róng). This is a noun that means smile. Let’s again look at each character of this word, 笑 (xiào) means smile, and 容 means expression, so it is the way someone smiles. A way of using it in a sentence is 你的笑容很甜。(Nǐ de xiàoróng hěn tián.) Your smile is very sweet.
可笑 (kě xiào) Laughable
Finally, we can create the word 可笑 (kě xiào) which is an adjective that means laughable. 可 means ‘can’ and 笑 means to laugh. If someone says something that makes no sense to you and sounds ridiculous, you can react by saying 真可笑! (zhēn kě xiào!) That is so laughable.
Thank you so much for teaching me. I found myself using it everyday at work here in Taiwan:)