In Mandarin, instead of saying ‘humph’, you say heng（哼) when exasperated. If you want to say ‘hey look’, as in ‘hey look, here’s your jacket’, you say nuo (喏) .
It’s interesting to think that there are Chinese characters for even the most inane vocal expressions; somebody had to figure out a way to visually represent even things like the sound you make when you spit (pei 呸). Check out this list of interesting Chinese particles to learn more of the huffs, guffs, sighs and cries of Mandarin. Use ’em properly in speech, and people might have to take a second look to make sure you’re not a local.
If you want to learn some sweet things to say to your hubbies or honeys, check out this list of love idioms. Some of them are more suited for the heartbroken though, so make sure you don’t get your sentences crossed.
Equally interesting is this list of Chinese slang. These are the adjectives like ‘cool’ and ‘wicked’ in English, but they’re more like cow (niu 牛) and fire (huo 火).
And here’s 8 Mandarin phrases you will never need to use, we hope.
