祝大家新年快乐！(Zhù dàjiā xīnnián kuàilè!) Wishing everyone a happy new year soon!
In the spirit of the upcoming new year 2022, today we will look at 3 Chinese words related to the new year.
倒数 (dào shǔ) Countdown
The first word is 倒数 (dào shǔ) which means ‘countdown’. Let’s look at each character of this word, 倒 means to turn over and 数 (shǔ) means to count. The countdown to the new year is called 新年倒数 (xīn nián dào shǔ)
烟火 (yān huǒ) Fireworks
Another word we can create is 烟火 (yān huǒ). The 烟 here means smoke and 火 means fire. So it literally means ‘smoke fire’, can you guess what this means? That’s right, it means ‘fireworks’. A way of using it in a sentence is 最美的跨年烟火秀在哪里? (Zuìměi de kuà nián yānhuǒ xiù zài nǎlǐ?) Where is the most beautiful New Year’s Eve fireworks show?
新年愿望 (xīnnián yuànwàng) New Year's resolution
Finally, we can create the word 新年愿望 (xīnnián yuànwàng) which means ‘New Year’s resolution. Let’s again look at each part of this phrase, 新年 means a new year and 愿望means wishes. I want to ask all of you listeners this 你的新年愿望是什么？ (Nǐ de xīnnián yuànwàng shì shénme?) What are your New Year’s resolutions?