What does it mean word for word?
The character 唱 (chàng) means 'to sing' and the character 歌 (gē) means 'song'.
Which one should you use?
The expression 演唱一首歌曲 (yǎn chàng yī shǒu gē qǔ) is slightly more formal and emphasizes performing or giving a vocal rendition of a song. The expression 奉献一曲 (fèng xiàn yī qǔ) is used to express the act of dedicating a song to someone or a specific occasion.
Is it said differently in some regions?
The expression 唱首歌儿 (chàng shǒu gēr) is often used in northern China, particularly in Beijing and surrounding areas.
How does it change in a sentence?
The phrase 唱歌 (chàng gē) is a separable verb construction where 唱 is the verb and 歌 is the object, meaning it can be split by other words like duration or aspect markers. To express that someone sang a song in the past, you can add 了 (le) after the verb and a measure word before the noun, as in 唱了一首歌.
How do you pronounce it?
chàng gē
Did you know?
- The measure word 首 (shǒu) used in 唱一首歌 originally referred to the head of a poem, as songs were historically based on classical poetry.
- In China, the phrase 唱歌 (chàng gē) is often associated with 'KTV', a massive social culture where people rent private rooms to sing for hours regardless of their skill level.
- The word 歌 (gē) for 'song' is also used in the term 歌手 (gē shǒu), which means 'singer', literally translating to 'song hand'.
Examples in context
- 我喜欢唱歌。Wǒ xǐhuān chànggē.I like to sing songs.
- 他在唱歌吗？Tā zài chànggē ma?Is he singing a song?
- 我们一起唱歌吧。Wǒmen yīqǐ chànggē ba.Let's sing a song together.
Example conversation
Two friends are at a KTV karaoke bar.
- 伟 Wei晓雯，你想唱歌吗？Xiǎowén, nǐ xiǎng chànggē ma?Xiaowen, do you want to sing a song?
- 晓雯 Xiaowen我想，但我不会唱歌。Wǒ xiǎng, dàn wǒ bù huì chànggē.I do, but I cannot sing.
- 伟 Wei没关系，我陪你唱歌。Méiguānxì, wǒ péi nǐ chànggē.It's okay, I will sing with you.
- 晓雯 Xiaowen谢谢你，伟。Xièxiè nǐ, Wěi.Thank you, Wei.
