Happy New Year in Chinese

By Sujanti Djuanda – Chinese teacher at Lingolearn.com

Chinese is a fascinating exotic language and is spoken by approximately fifth of the world’s population. It is considered to be one of the most complex languages not to mention it has also many dialects. The most common spoken dialect is Mandarin. The Chinese characters that compose the Chinese language are considered to be amoungst oldest writing system in existance today.

In spite of its complexity, many people consider Chinese to be interesting and worth learning. Because of its complexity many people who visit or have communication with Chinese people prefer to learn phrases and sentences that are topic related to ease their process of introducing themselves to the language.

One of the common topics to many new beginners is the happy new year in Chinese. There are many words and phrases connected with the happy new year in Chinese that can be learnt, especially since it is possible to say Happy new year in Chinese in more than one way.

The common phrase of Happy New Year in Chinese is written:

Happy New Year!· = [xīnnián=New Year]· [kuàilè=happy] = 新年快乐

It is also possible to say happy new year in chinese with the phrase:

Good New Year! = [xīnnián=New Year] [hǎo=good] = 新年好

Or simply saying:

Wishing you a Happy New Year. = [zhù=wish] [nǐ=you] [xīnnián=new year] [kuàilè=happy] =祝你新年快乐.

However when addressing someone respectfully there is another form of the word nǐ=you, which is nǐn=you: In that case the sentence would look like that:

Wishing you a Happy New Year. = [zhù=wish] [nǐn=you] [xīnnián=new year] [kuàilè=happy] =祝您新年快乐.

It is also common to wish prosperity for the coming year and in that case you can say:

May you prosperous in the New Year! =· [gōngxǐfācái= wishing you prosperity in the New Year]！恭喜发财

Or say:

Wishing you a Happy New Year, have a healthy body, successful job and all the best for you. [zhù=wish] [nǐ=you] [xīnnián=new year] [kuàilè=happy], [shēntǐ=body] [jiànkāng=health], [gōngzuò=job] [shùnlì=smooth, successful], [wànshìrúyì= all the best (for wishing someone well)] = 祝你新年快乐，身体健康工作顺利，万事如意。

There are also many relating words on Chinese that are useful to know:

[chúxī= New Year’s Eve] = 除夕

[niányèfàn= a reunion dinner of a whole family on Chinese New Year’s Eve] = 年夜饭

[niánchūyī=the first day of New Year] = 年初一

[bàinián= pay a New Year call] = 拜年

[guònián=to celebrate a new year, to spend Chinese New Year with family]·= 过年

[hóngbāo= red paper envelope containing money as a gift] = 红包

It is not, however, enough to know some words, it is also important to know how and when to use them. Here are some examples that can help understanding of when and how to use those words.

Example 1:

The entire family has a reunion dinner on Chinese New Year’s Eve. =·[chúxī= New Year’s Eve] [quánjiā=entire family] [tuányuán= reunion] [chī=eat] [niányèfàn= a reunion dinner of a whole family on New Year’s Eve] = 除夕全家团圆吃年夜饭。

Example 2:

Everyone goes to pay a New Year call on the first day of Chinese New Year. =·[niánchūyī=the first day of the new year] [dàjiā=everyone] [qù=go] [bàinián= pay a New Year call]= 年初一大家去拜年。

Example 3:

When celebrating the Chinese New Year, he joked, “May you prosperous in the New Year! Please give me a red envelope! = [guònián= to celebrate the new year] [de] [shíhòu=time, moment] [tā=he] [kāiwánxiào=joke] [shuō=say], [gōngxǐfācái= wishing you prosperity in the New Year] [hóngbāo= red paper envelope containing money as a gift] [nálái=bring it here] = 过年的时候，他开玩笑说，“恭喜发财，红包拿来。

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