MDBG Chinese Reader

Lookup

Find 1000 "idioms" with Chinese Reader

From the Lookup window, search for idiom or lit. The translation dictionary uses the tag "(idiom)" and "Lit." (literal) for these expressions. There are over 1,000 entries.

Constraining Lookup

Find idioms with "lead" in the definition

Since 1000 entries may be inconvenient to browse, narrow your range of adding another keyword. For example, idiom lead return 24 entries.

Breakdown

Understanding components of expressions

Tip: Another way to narrow your range is to group entries. In the example above, the yellow star from the header row was dragged into the blue band. Now your favorite idioms (those you've previously tagged as your favorites) are grouped together.

Select any Chinese phrase and right-click. Choose Breakdown.

Breakdown

Understanding components

Chinese Reader's new Breakdown function logically decomposes phrases and words into component words. Understanding the components can help you understand similar compound words and phrases.

Copy+

Generating Study Sheets

Want to study idioms and expressions with a Study Sheet?

1. Select all the entries (Ctrl+A)

2. Right-click Copy+. MDBG Chinese Reader will generate a formatted study sheet that may be pasted into your favorite word processor or spreadsheet.

3. From Microsoft Word or Excel, choose Paste - Keep Source Formatting (K).

4. Use Microsoft's table formatting functions to customize the look you want.

Sample MDBG Study Sheet

Learning idioms and expressions

A formatted study sheet typically contains:

• Chinese idiom or expression with RubyText (Pinyin)
• Table with simplified and traditional Chinese, Pinyin and English definition

Shading has been manually added to the table to more clearly show the compound words and its components. The original expression is at the top and darker entries are reduced to components without shading.

Sample MDBG study sheet for idioms and expressions