搭配【dāpèi】

A noun in Chinese comes with its own verbs, and the English verb rarely carries over. "Make a mistake" is 犯错误, "wear glasses" is 戴眼镜, "play the piano" is 弹钢琴. Learn the verb and noun together as one unit.

"Make" and "do"

English uses "make" and "do" for many things; Chinese uses a different verb for each.

• 做饭, 做作业 – make a meal, do homework
• 犯错误 – make a mistake
• 交朋友 – make friends
• 开玩笑 – make a joke
• 下决心 – make up your mind

Wearing: 穿 or 戴

穿 is for anything you put your body into: clothes, trousers, shoes, socks. 戴 is for things you put on: hats, glasses, watches, gloves, rings.

Playing: by how you play it

The verb comes from the action. 打 is for games hit with the hand and for cards, 踢 for kicking, 弹 for plucked and keyboard instruments, 拉 for bowed ones, 下 for board games.

Raising: 提高 or 增加

提高 raises a standard or quality: 水平, 质量, 效率. 增加 raises an amount: 人数, 收入, 时间.

Typical mistakes

• × 做错误 → 犯错误
• × 穿帽子 → 戴帽子
• × 打钢琴 → 弹钢琴
• × 增加水平 → 提高水平
• × 提高人数 → 增加人数